I
f braid was always better, then 
mono would have mostly 
disappeared from our shelves, 
however, it hasn’t and is still 
sold in every tackle store 
throughout Godzone.
Mono is less expensive and if 
you’re not a hard core ‘fish all 
the time’ fisher then it makes sense 
to spool your reels with mono. There 
are, however, several situations 
where you get excellent value for 
money and advantages when you 
should spend the extra money on 
braid – even when old habits die 
hard and mono is hard to let go of.
BRAID FOR LURE FISHING
Fishing with lures has been 
around for an exceptionally long 
time. In most situations braid 
is better for lure fishing (jigging, 
softbaiting, top water) than mono 
with no stretch and keeping in 
direct contact with the lure.
When actively fishing lures with 
braid you maintain much greater 
contact with your lure especially 
when softbaiting and fishing large 
or small metal lures like micro jigs 
or larger knife jigs for species like 
kingfish. This advantage can’t be 
overstated when lure fishing as 
having greater control over your 
lure means you can fish it more 
enticingly - this is the whole purpose 
of fishing with a lure. A lure is 
designed to move in erratic ways 
or in ways to trigger a strike and 
the best control comes from using 
braid instead of mono. Having a 
radar-like touch over your lure also 
helps you to know when to strike 
and when a fish may be mouthing 
or interested in your lure. Knowing 
which lures are getting attention 
helps you make choices around 
persevering or changing a lure.
MONO BEST WHEN 
GAME FISHING
The only situation where braid may 
not be so good is when trolling 
lures. Mono is good for trolling 
lures as lures will spin more easily 
with braid (I think it has something 
to do with the weight of the line 
being less resistant to spinning) 
and can produce a lot more line 
twist even when using swivels.
Braid has become more affordable 
over the years so spooling 
small reels makes sense from 
a budget point of view.
Softbaiting is one of those fishing 
methods that is dependent on 
braid to work the lure effectively.
Feature
26  FISHING IN GODZONE MAGAZINE

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