Malta Fishing Forum

Hi Guys,

I wanted to share some information I stumbled upon regarding spinning gear. This info hereunder is a list of things I wanted to get to know about, which I found from various resources such as MFF members and online websites. Please highlight any information which you think is not correct or invalid as this would help other beginners like me in getting a better picture.

Basic spinning gear

• To start this type of fishing one has to have a good spinning rod & reel together with some lures or/and spinners. Further more, one has to have a good fishing line, either mono in the range of 0.25 to 0.35 (less/more diameter depending from the type of fish you are after) or a good braided line 20lb to 30lb (check rod line weight).
• Most of the experts suggest and advise amateurs to start off by using a rod of 2.70meters, ideally a two piece rod, medium action from 10g – 40g would do. Ideally a spinning rod should be either a one piece to two piece rod which enables you to have a better casting action and more strength over a telescopic spinning rod.
• Fishing net or gaff
• Good pliers (or fishing gloves) to help you unhooking the fish
• Spare split rings & treble hooks
• Electrical tape (sometimes can be useful :))
• Polarized Sunglasses

Spinning Rod & Reel

When buying a rod and reel, one has to take into consideration various things. The rod and reel have to be light as much as possible. A spinning session with a heavy rod & reel would exhaust you, and would be troublesome in moving from one spot to the other. Things to take into consideration:

• Rod & Reel weight
• Fish you are targeting
• Select the reel according to the type of rod you are going to be using. A light spinning rod should be paired with a small reel whilst a medium to heavy rod should be paired with a bigger reel (4000, 5000).
• Reel Gear Ratio, Line Capacity, number of ball bearings (No of roller bearings & stainless steel or shielded), spare spool, line retrieve per crank and max drag
• Your fishing spot (longer or shorter rod)

Spinning Line (braid or mono?)

Braid or Mono? Both mono and braid line have there pros & cons.  Basically when I first started searching I found that braided line had various advantages over monofilament and some of them included:

• Thinner diameter and more strength
• No stretch (which helps a lot in feeling all the lure action and maybe better fish hooking
• No memory

On the other hand mono seems to be:  

• More abrasion resistant
• knots hold better

Braid & Leader

How should I match the braid to the leader? Which knot should I use?

• At first I was going to match the fishing line diameter of the braid with the leader, eventually after asking for some help I found out that it would be best to match the breaking strength of both lines. Most of the anglers seem to determine the leader diameter according to the fish you are after, others seem to apply a leader with a little bit less break strain from the main line.
• When using a leader, one can either wind some line on the reel or just use a 50cm leader. Which one is best? A knot going through all the guides would result in a less casting range thus I guess the 50cm would do better.
• Which knot to use to join the braid to the leader? Most anglers use the Albright knot and Uni-to-Uni.

How should I connect the leader to the lure?

The most common way is to use a snap on swivel; this enables you to change the lure quickly depending on the situation you are in. These are some of the most commonly used knots (to directly connect the lure to the leader): Rapala Knot, Palomar Knot, Uni Knot and others.

Good braid and Good Leader?

• Most of the anglers like to use Power Pro Braid, which seems to be quite a good braid, others use TUF Line XP. Both are good braided lines however the TUF Line XP has a bit more strength when compared to the Power Pro.
• One of the best leaders used is the Toray Blackwater shock leader. This leader is very strong and is also 100% fluorocarbon. One the other hand Yo-zuri Hybrid Fluorocarbon seems also to be a very good line too.

I found a good braid....now what colour should I select?

• Everyone has its own preference with regards to this issue however sometimes depends on the situation. Various anglers use high visibility yellow, which seems to be more visible in low light conditions. Thus making it easier to see where the line is going. Would it be visible to the fish? If you use a fluorocarbon leader might resolve the problem. However others tend to use the green moss colour which is less visible and more natural looking.

How should I spool the braid on the reel?

In winter conditions the braid holds quite well, however from the internet seems that in hotter conditions the braid seems to slip. To avoid such situation anglers are either:

1)   Applying a small layer of mono and then wind on the braid to hold better or

2)   Or put a small amount of electrical tape around the base of the spool and wind the braid directly on it.

A good amount of tension is made whilst spooling the braid on the spool. This enables the braid to sit properly on the spool. Another tip would be to apply silicone lubricant spray gradually over the braid whilst spooling the reel.

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Special thanks goes to Skip & MartinB for their support  ;D!

Thanks,
chrifene.

Chrifene :) i though I already told you that your kit was good lol

Spool the braid on with your reel, do not let anyone spool it on for you with any fancy machines, you will be very sorry.  Shimano invested a lot of money and time to develop the Stradic you bought!! It's designed for braided it lines so you would never be able to do a better job manually.

Yes you are right clutch_kick but I wanted to share some info thats all.. :) I am waiting for my kit ....hope it gets home asap :) . ... cu and thanks to 2 u too!

well done chris

Well done, topic made sticky

An interesting write which I enjoyed reading through and informative. Well done.

Glad i could help mate...best of luck & tight lines!! Hopefully you'll get to try out your new gear...that is if this wind ever calms down  >:(

Thanks guys, yes hopefully I will have everything in place very soon....the weather is not helping right now :(.

i have been trying to tie my braid straight to my lure as i do not need a leader and the braid keeps getting cut right at the knot!!! can anyone help me

Double up the braid when tying the knot.

Why arent you using a leader?

Well for whatever reason you aren't using a leader,(?!),One of the possible causes is it sounds like the knot is catching against the split ring or something similar..try using a solid ring attatched to the split ring/lure connection and tie the braid to that,as the solid ring is a uniform solid shape and will stop the braid catching on anything.
If that isn't the problem then check the braid on dry land! Tie a lure or hook on to the braid and hook it into something and do a simple pull test to see if the knot fails as braid can deteriorate over time or continous use.

ok thank you for the help i just started using a leader!!! its allot batter with it!!!!

Thanks for the information chrifene .
I found a very good tutorial " How to spool new fishing line onto the reel " on youtube and I think it is very useful for beginers

Yes indeed it is a good video. Funny enough I bought my spinning gear a year ago and haven't used it once due to work & study. Hope to go fishing soon...very soon. Cya.

Thank you so much for the basic information!

Hi guys,

I always used to fish with mono line...i bought a braided line to try it as i heard it was better to fish with braid for the reasons you mentioned. My only problem is that the braid is doing me big nodes :/

There are various reason for such problem which is often referred to as "Parrucche" in Italian or "Bird Nests" in en. Most common problem is that you might have over spooled your reel hence you should leave some mm less from the edge of the spool, might be quality of the braid or even type of reel etc.

some reasons for that nodes are:
1) Wind ftom the side
2) over spooled reel
3) when u use light lures and you swap with heavier
Alla of them are from mine experience till now..I hope that I help you a bit. .