Who Uses Braid for Their Top Waters and What Test? 2024
Brett's_daddy reply :
I'm thinking my heavy rod will be for both larger top waters (Whopper Plopper 130, Spro Rat, MS Mini Slammer etc.) and frogs and was thinking of using Power Pro braid in maybe a 50lb. or 65lb. test. This will be going on a Daiwa Tatula CT most likely. I know that most people suggest mono for top water but I've heard of people using braid too so for a rod/reel combo that will be used for both I'm thinking braid would be the wiser choice.
Siebert Outdoors reply :
I use braid for a frog. Typically I use 65lb.
Brett's_daddy reply :
Now I'm waffling between Power Pro Spectra braid and Sufix 832 as well as what pound test. I'm leary of going below 50lb test as i watched a buddy of mine launch his new Savage Gear 6" line through Trout and the line snapped and he lost his brand new lure that he had only cast like 3 or 4 times that night and he was using 30lb. braid. He couldn't believe it, he said he laughed at his friend who told him he should be using 65lb. - 80lb. braid but that it looks like he knew what he was talking about after all.
Cgrinder reply :
I have used 50 lb Power Pro for walking topwaters and it was fine. Currently I use thin braid and a 12-15 lb mono or CXX leader.
For frogs, rats, and wakes, 50 lb should be fine. 65 is also fine. I don't think you're throwing anything large enough to worry about casting a bait off. Probably throw a leader with the rats and Slammers.
Turkey sandwich reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 2:55 AM, Brett's_daddy said:Now I'm waffling between Power Pro Spectra braid and Sufix 832 as well as what pound test. I'm leary of going below 50lb test as i watched a buddy of mine launch his new Savage Gear 6" line through Trout and the line snapped and he lost his brand new lure that he had only cast like 3 or 4 times that night and he was using 30lb. braid. He couldn't believe it, he said he laughed at his friend who told him he should be using 65lb. - 80lb. braid but that it looks like he knew what he was talking about after all.
I use braid almost exclusively for top water and spool 30-40lb test. Even on rods spooled with 2+ year old line, I have never seen braid just snap. The only likely ways that this would happen would be either a bad knot (that's how 90% of break-offs probably occur, despite our egos not letting us admit it) or because the line was damaged. Damaged 80lb braid will fail just as quickly as damaged 20lb braid.
RoLo reply :
General Topwater: 30-lb Braid
Heavy Cover: 50-lb Braid (formerly used 65, but scaled back)
Roger
J Francho reply :
I use Tuf-Line SuperCast 20#. Its a coated, fused superline with a mono core.
IndianaFinesse reply :
I would vote for 40-50 pound braid as a compromise between frogs and big topwater, base it on how much cover your fishing in and around.
Brett's_daddy reply :
I also plan to direct tie to the lure as I'm not confident in my leader knots.
the reel ess reply :
I have a dedicated frog (I consider rats and some other large topwaters to be in the frog category) setup with PowerPro 50 lb braid on it. But the rod is way too stiff for most treble topwaters. I use a 6'6" M rod with 15 lb Big Game for that purpose.
In an effort to maximize my rods, I use the frog rod for jigs and heavy T rigs too. About the only treble lure I'd use this rod for is the SPRO rat. It's the Cabela's Frog model Tournament XT 7'3" Hvy-Fast. But, man, does it lay the smackdown on fish with the frog.
jbsoonerfan reply :
I only use braid for topwater in heavy cover. Open water it's mono for me. I have found that I can't wait long enough to set the hook and set it before they have it fully engulfed and miss way more fish than with mono. JMO though
Brett's_daddy reply :
My rod I'd be using for this is new to me, it's an Irod Fiber 7'5" Heavy/Fast Fred's Magic Stick model. I haven't tried it out yet as there's still ice on the lakes/ponds and snow in the yard (but it's going fast).
Attila reply :
My original topwater rod was actually a flipping stick that I fished with 65lbs braid. I was big into frogs and the good old Moss Boss back then, and I never had a problem using the heavier braid as it helped me get fish out of cover that looked just nasty at times. I stopped that style of fishing simply because it's too hard on my tendon damaged hands. Thanks to new innovations and lighter tackle, I may start doing it again and if I did I wouldn't hesitate at throwing 50lbs braid into those same slop piles to pull out bigger fish now simply because the blanks, reels, and line is a lot better now than it was 15 years ago.
When I started fishing topwaters in my home lake I found I was casting around docks and open water, rock with weed transition structure. The bass were predominantly smallmouth and were very line shy. I ended up throwing light 6lbs test mono with my poppers and did really well. It also helped me use and rely on the reels drag system more which I think helped me become a better angler.
Last year I tried running braid only for my topwaters, ranging from walker type lures to poppers. I found that running 30lbs Power Pro Super 8 Slick braid in timber brown gave me a greater hookup ratio due to the no stretch factor from braid and I never had a fish break off due to using a lower pound test line which would happen at times when I was throwing lighter mono. Yes, I have had to adjust to the zero stretch factor and when I set the hook, but it doesn't take much to make that adjustment and I find it also helps make you become a better angler too.
Long story short, I believe braid gives you a better hook up percentage especially on longer casts and will pull fish out of cover that you can and can't see. From now on I wouldn't change for anything.
A5BLASTER reply :
For my Top water lures aka other then frogs I use 15# mono, those types of lures don't see thick grass or brush.
For frogs I used PP 30# for several years but two days ago I respooled to the PP 40#because I needed more line and the tackle shop was out of 30, don't really see a diffrence in the two and I fish this in heavy slop,grass,brush.
A-Jay reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 2:37 AM, Brett's_daddy said:I'm thinking my heavy rod will be for both larger top waters (Whopper Plopper 130, Spro Rat, MS Mini Slammer etc.) and frogs and was thinking of using Power Pro braid in maybe a 50lb. or 65lb. test. This will be going on a Daiwa Tatula CT most likely. I know that most people suggest mono for top water but I've heard of people using braid too so for a rod/reel combo that will be used for both I'm thinking braid would be the wiser choice.
On 4/6/2017 at 2:55 AM, Brett's_daddy said:Now I'm waffling between Power Pro Spectra braid and Sufix 832 as well as what pound test. I'm leary of going below 50lb test as i watched a buddy of mine launch his new Savage Gear 6" line through Trout and the line snapped and he lost his brand new lure that he had only cast like 3 or 4 times that night and he was using 30lb. braid. He couldn't believe it, he said he laughed at his friend who told him he should be using 65lb. - 80lb. braid but that it looks like he knew what he was talking about after all.
On 4/6/2017 at 3:43 AM, Brett's_daddy said:I also plan to direct tie to the lure as I'm not confident in my leader knots.
On 4/6/2017 at 3:50 AM, Brett's_daddy said:My rod I'd be using for this is new to me, it's an Irod Fiber 7'5" Heavy/Fast Fred's Magic Stick model. I haven't tried it out yet as there's still ice on the lakes/ponds and snow in the yard (but it's going fast).
Braid use for one ounce plus baits ~ Pros & Cons
Pro's - Long Casts, Solid Hook sets Cons - If test is too low baits snap off on casts, Could pull hooks on treble hook baits,
Mono use for one ounce plus baits Pros & Cons
Pro's - Line rarely snaps of on casts. Treble hooks may not pull out during fight Cons - Line stretch on long cast may prohibit effective hook sets, Reel spool capacity dwindles pretty fast at 20lb test & up.
Six of one - half a dozen of the other.
A-Jay
XpressJeff reply :
I use 30# Power Pro, no leader!
wdp reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 5:47 AM, XpressJeff said:I use 30# Power Pro, no leader!
+1
Angry John reply :
Frogs strait 50-65lb braid. Heavy hooks need the power. Top water over an ounce same setup with a 3' 20 lb mono leader. Small treble top water below an ounce 14 lb mono second setup.
Mike L reply :
50# power pro for all top water regardless of what I'm throwing.
Mike
NHBull reply :
Top water in open water, anything larger that 20-30 lb test is rope
Angry John reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 8:06 AM, NHBull said:Top water in open water, anything larger that 20-30 lb test is rope
What is your largest topwater??? An understanding of what you base this opinion on is inportant...
NHBull reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 8:11 AM, Angry John said:What is your largest topwater??? An understanding of what you base this opinion on is inportant...
Point well taken.....my larger swim bait is the WP130, large Rat....typically in the 2 once range
Brett's_daddy reply :
Let's reverse the theory...who uses Mono for frogs? I have a large spool of 17lb. Sufix Superior that I could spool up on my reel that's going on this rod too...would that be more feasible for both treble hook topwater lures and frogs than braid?
J Francho reply :
Any shoehorning will be a compromise. Why not use the what years of experience has taught us?
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 8:49 PM, Brett's_daddy said:Let's reverse the theory...who uses Mono for frogs? I have a large spool of 17lb. Sufix Superior that I could spool up on my reel that's going on this rod too...would that be more feasible for both treble hook topwater lures and frogs than braid?
Good luck setting the hook on frogs with mono...
Brett's_daddy reply :
Sounds like something in the range of 30 - 50lb. braid would be a better compromise for both techniques? I do have spinning setups too but the biggest rod I have for that is a 7ft. Fenwick HMG MH/F.
moguy1973 reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 3:40 AM, J Francho said:I use Tuf-Line SuperCast 20#. Its a coated, fused superline with a mono core.
This is also what I currently use. When this line is done I have a spool of 40# Power Pro waiting to go on. I use it for all topwater.
smr913 reply :
For walkers and poppers I use 30-40# PP. Only downside to braid is that it gets hung on the hooks easier and unlike mono you can't just shake your rod tip to fix it; you have to use your hands to unwrap the line from the hooks. I never feel like I get very good hooksets from a kayak with mono either.
moguy1973 reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 9:54 PM, smr913 said:For walkers and poppers I use 30-40# PP. Only downside to braid is that it gets hung on the hooks easier and unlike mono you can't just shake your rod tip to fix it; you have to use your hands to unwrap the line from the hooks. I never feel like I get very good hooksets from a kayak with mono either.
I guess that's a good thing about using the PP slick or the stuff I'm using the TUF-Line Supercast, both of which are coated so the hooks don't grab it as easily.
gimruis reply :
On 4/6/2017 at 8:49 PM, Brett's_daddy said:Let's reverse the theory...who uses Mono for frogs?
This is exactly what I thought when I first started reading this thread. Does anyone actually use mono for frogs? I'll answer that and it is a NO and there's a reason everyone uses braid - it works better. I'll take it one step further too: I'll bet that almost everyone uses a bait caster with heavy braid for frogs.
A-Jay reply :
Here's 10lb braid on spinning gear & a walking bait. I was catching smallies last September.
A-Jay
NorthE97 reply :
Not meaning to highjack this thread but... if you're using braid for topwaters with treble hooks, say poppers and walking baits, do you use a fast action rod or moderate action rod or back off the drag to compensate for the no/little stretch braid? I wouldn't want to pull the bait away from the fish.
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