A friend of mine just asked me a question about the different action required to catch a speckled trout on suspending baits on braid vs mono. I thought it was a great opportunity to look at this in depth and bring out some opinions of others on the topic.
Lets look at some of the differences in the lines. Monofilament is stretchy and braid has no stretch. Mono typically will have a memory (a curl caused by being wrapped around a spool); braid has no memory. Monofilament, with a specific gravity of close to 1.17, slightly more dense than water, typically sinks, but very, very slowly. Braid's specific gravity is less than water at .97 and will typically float anyway since it is porous and on each cast the water is slung out of the lines spaces and voids.
His specific question was ...having two equal set ups except for one having 30lb braid and the other having 12lb mono, how would one work the rod or change the rhythm of the action so that the suspending lure was worked with the same action,depth, timing and rhythm of the other?
So here is my 2 cents worth; ya'll chime in and see if we get some consensus.
My general opinion is that it will be mostly situational depending on lure and depth. With a Fat Boy or Maniac 'walked' shallow just under or on the surface I don't think there will be much difference at all since the lure will be worked fast enough to keep slack and curl out of the mono... it may require a slightly more gentle twitch with the braid rod since braid doesn't stretch at all...but no real difference with this technique because of the speed and shallow depth.
I see the real difference with fishing deeper ...say 4 feet and deeper areas under a weaker bite caused by weak tide, high pressure, etc. etc. In these situations i'd use the smaller corky or devil ,or really slow it down with the sinking maniac. It's cool the maniac has that cross over ability. So, on a long cast with the mono each lure will slowly sink ...but if one tries to take up slack, the memory (curl in line) will actually slowly pull the lure through the water... here's another place where the flat face of the maniac mullet comes in handy as the resistance of the lure helps feel the lure as well. Anyway, in my opinion, the mono setup should cause a more subdued presentation with the suspending lure. Ie... given the same force imparted on the twitch the mono set up suspending lure will be less jerky and due to the curls in the line it will also be more consistently in the same part of the water column. The braid lure could be a little higher in the water column and more erratic.
With the braid in this scenario it seems that it takes it a little longer to get to depth and i have to give a more relaxed twitch and work it slower..perhaps even wait a little longer between twitches... this is only a minute subtle difference but may make a difference catching cold sluggish fish. Also, on calm mornings the 'pop' of braid during a twitch may be a little too 'out of the ordinary' and cause a wary old trout to become suspicious... but probably only during calm conditions.
I think an angler has to choose one line and get confident with what ever that set up is... it may take changing up your rhythem of twitch, timing the depth and rate of pull to work them exactly the same... So if a buddy that you're fishing with has a different set up than you and you're casting side by side ...and he's flat out putting it on you ;-) don't be afraid to change it up to draw the strike from your set up... first try working it exactly as they do, then work it slightly faster or slower...but be confident with what you're doing. And another thing...if you're not sure if its a fish or not...set the hook. Does anyone remember back in the 70's Doug Hannon did a short underwater film where a 7lb large mouth 'mouthed' a crankbait without the angler even noticing... many a winter trout may be overlooked if you are waiting to feel that decisive 'thump' ... you may miss a lot more...some of which probably weren't even fish...but i think you'll capitalize on the ones that you never felt bump it.
Gaining more confidence.. use a suspending lure more often...even when you'd rather catch a fish on top or with plastic...if you use the suspending lures more often and work it different ways, rhythms, and depths you'll quickly become more confident with your set up whether it's braid or mono.
In the end...if there is a difference it's very subtle and only slight but worthy of taking a look. Set the hook more often when in doubt and change it up a little.
So, any thoughts from those that have used both and decided to use one over the other?
For those that want to learn more about how to work each lure and the conditions under which one might use one lure over the other...check out the TroutSupport.com DVD 'Finding & Catching Big Speckled Trout". All of our dvd's come with a money back guarantee and free 1st class shipping.
Lets look at some of the differences in the lines. Monofilament is stretchy and braid has no stretch. Mono typically will have a memory (a curl caused by being wrapped around a spool); braid has no memory. Monofilament, with a specific gravity of close to 1.17, slightly more dense than water, typically sinks, but very, very slowly. Braid's specific gravity is less than water at .97 and will typically float anyway since it is porous and on each cast the water is slung out of the lines spaces and voids.
His specific question was ...having two equal set ups except for one having 30lb braid and the other having 12lb mono, how would one work the rod or change the rhythm of the action so that the suspending lure was worked with the same action,depth, timing and rhythm of the other?
So here is my 2 cents worth; ya'll chime in and see if we get some consensus.
My general opinion is that it will be mostly situational depending on lure and depth. With a Fat Boy or Maniac 'walked' shallow just under or on the surface I don't think there will be much difference at all since the lure will be worked fast enough to keep slack and curl out of the mono... it may require a slightly more gentle twitch with the braid rod since braid doesn't stretch at all...but no real difference with this technique because of the speed and shallow depth.
I see the real difference with fishing deeper ...say 4 feet and deeper areas under a weaker bite caused by weak tide, high pressure, etc. etc. In these situations i'd use the smaller corky or devil ,or really slow it down with the sinking maniac. It's cool the maniac has that cross over ability. So, on a long cast with the mono each lure will slowly sink ...but if one tries to take up slack, the memory (curl in line) will actually slowly pull the lure through the water... here's another place where the flat face of the maniac mullet comes in handy as the resistance of the lure helps feel the lure as well. Anyway, in my opinion, the mono setup should cause a more subdued presentation with the suspending lure. Ie... given the same force imparted on the twitch the mono set up suspending lure will be less jerky and due to the curls in the line it will also be more consistently in the same part of the water column. The braid lure could be a little higher in the water column and more erratic.
With the braid in this scenario it seems that it takes it a little longer to get to depth and i have to give a more relaxed twitch and work it slower..perhaps even wait a little longer between twitches... this is only a minute subtle difference but may make a difference catching cold sluggish fish. Also, on calm mornings the 'pop' of braid during a twitch may be a little too 'out of the ordinary' and cause a wary old trout to become suspicious... but probably only during calm conditions.
I think an angler has to choose one line and get confident with what ever that set up is... it may take changing up your rhythem of twitch, timing the depth and rate of pull to work them exactly the same... So if a buddy that you're fishing with has a different set up than you and you're casting side by side ...and he's flat out putting it on you ;-) don't be afraid to change it up to draw the strike from your set up... first try working it exactly as they do, then work it slightly faster or slower...but be confident with what you're doing. And another thing...if you're not sure if its a fish or not...set the hook. Does anyone remember back in the 70's Doug Hannon did a short underwater film where a 7lb large mouth 'mouthed' a crankbait without the angler even noticing... many a winter trout may be overlooked if you are waiting to feel that decisive 'thump' ... you may miss a lot more...some of which probably weren't even fish...but i think you'll capitalize on the ones that you never felt bump it.
Gaining more confidence.. use a suspending lure more often...even when you'd rather catch a fish on top or with plastic...if you use the suspending lures more often and work it different ways, rhythms, and depths you'll quickly become more confident with your set up whether it's braid or mono.
In the end...if there is a difference it's very subtle and only slight but worthy of taking a look. Set the hook more often when in doubt and change it up a little.
So, any thoughts from those that have used both and decided to use one over the other?
For those that want to learn more about how to work each lure and the conditions under which one might use one lure over the other...check out the TroutSupport.com DVD 'Finding & Catching Big Speckled Trout". All of our dvd's come with a money back guarantee and free 1st class shipping.
I am sure that I am the only one on the board like that. 
