BASS BARN banner

What pound/how much braided line for Tuna

36K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  Libation 
#1 ·
What pound braid and how many yards for Tuna fishing in NJ? I was thinking about 350 or so of 80lb would be good. Any other opinions? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
YMMV said:
What pound braid and how many yards for Tuna fishing in NJ? I was thinking about 350 or so of 80lb would be good. Any other opinions? Thanks!
Yardage depends on the size reel. What size reel? Then drop the 80 to 60 for tuna. JMO.
 
#3 ·
I think you could put like 1200 yds of 100 lb Power pro(='s 20lb mono) on 50 class reel. I would go heavy as possible to get the benefit of the stronger line. Just watch for tournaments, if you fish them. The braid will put you over 100 lb class strength with like 80 lb test. But again you will not need more than 1200 yds of line, especially if you can set your drag at 30 lbs. That brings another point. You entire set up is only as good as the weakest line or knot. So set drag accordingly
 
#4 ·
Not sure of the weight of the fish but 60 to 70 pounds was our call on a bluefin. Used my Shimano Charter Special with 300 yards of 30 pound Fireline. Never took more than half the line. Was more worried about the 50 pound leader breaking than the 30 Fire. That stuff just beats up on fish. I don't have enough confidence in PowerPro to use that strength line in that situation. Had it break on way to many occasions. Just my opinion.
 
#5 ·
Big Ack said:
Yardage depends on the size reel. What size reel? Then drop the 80 to 60 for tuna. JMO.
Well as far as the reel. I will be using a Accurate 870.. or something along those lines.

I was considering using 65lb braid with a top shot but just wanted some more opinions.

I will be targetting BFT, Mahi, Wahoo, maybe some smaller YFT.
 
#6 ·
chunking said:
Not sure of the weight of the fish but 60 to 70 pounds was our call on a bluefin. Used my Shimano Charter Special with 300 yards of 30 pound Fireline. Never took more than half the line. Was more worried about the 50 pound leader breaking than the 30 Fire. That stuff just beats up on fish. I don't have enough confidence in PowerPro to use that strength line in that situation. Had it break on way to many occasions. Just my opinion.
Funny you said that. My buddy was thinking about using his Shimano Charter Special for Tuna. His is spooled with 50# Sufix.
 
#7 ·
We have caught a fair share of good sized fish on charter specials and TLD 15's loaded with 30 to 50 lb Power Pro without any issues. Most of my overnight chunking this year will be on TLD 15's loaded with 50 lb braid. The smaller reels are easier to handle and work just fine. The drag can be set at 12 lbs and you can put 1000 yds of 50 on them if you want
 
#9 ·
Pound & Braided line for Tuna

Your original idea of 350 to 400 yds of braid on any reel for chunking should be fine.
Depending on reel size / capacity I would go 65# not so much for the extra line strength but more for the abrasion end . The thinner diameters can get nicked & fail easier.
You're leader is usually under the LB of the mainiline so you should fine. I use HC on some Western Filaments XP std braid & Plus HC , it's by far the tougest braid out there and realistically priced.
As with "all" braids drag setting is key ,set lighter no stretch in braid, ,the caviat' being the spool maintains the drag lbs more evenly as far as setting due to the m spol diameter not changing drastically when a fish decifdes to run .
Medium taper rods are also good choices for braid use. they absrb more shoch under a load!
 
#10 ·
For what its worth, trolling with braid actually works quite well, but you should use a top shot of mono for the purpose of shock absorption. We generally troll with 50-100 yard mono top shots and have yet to have any issue on either the chunk or the troll after several years of experience.

For the reel discussed (Accurate 870), you will most likely be jigging and chunking. While 350 yards of 80 is nice, you might want to up the capacity a hair and go with 60 or 65 lb spectra and a 60lb top-shot. This will increase your margin of safety in case you hook something special
 
#13 ·
Darrin G. DGREENEMACHINE said:
What does a 30 hold in mono?

My 870 has 400 tds of 50 lb izorline and 120 yds of 30 lb momoi diamond for a top shot.
Damn, I didnt even know the 870 could hold that much line. Maybe I should consider a 270 for the "excitment" factor. :D Or maybe I just lost my marbles.

Thanks for all the input guys! More are always welcome too! :)
 
#15 ·
oh and not that I"m the be all or end all but some questions I have pondered with other more knowledgable folks that I are...

are you talking inshore lumps in 150 feet of water or the canyon?

if I fish can't go more than 50 yards deep, then you need less line capacity because you can chase em...

if thay can go 6000 feet deep you have an entirely different set of circumstances on your hands in most people's opinion...

inshore I would break out the 870 almost any time, unless there were large bluefin around..

offshore, i have never hooked a tuns more than a football with it because we always waited to get the fish behind the boat and identify the size class, lest we be left standing there with our rod in our hand, so to speak... we never seemed to get those fish up there for ID in enough numbers to break it out...
 
#16 ·
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I just got a new jigging outfit loaded with braid. We were setting the drag over the weekend and couldn't help but notice the braid running off the spool at a quick pace and getting pretty darn close to my hand/thumb. Anyone have problems with getting cut by the braid? Do you wear a glove? In the past, I've used my left thumb to guide the line and put a little extra pressure on the fish when using mono. I don't think this will work with braid. Any recommendations?

Thanks
 
#17 ·
TDunn said:
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I just got a new jigging outfit loaded with braid. We were setting the drag over the weekend and couldn't help but notice the braid running off the spool at a quick pace and getting pretty darn close to my hand/thumb. Anyone have problems with getting cut by the braid? Do you wear a glove? In the past, I've used my left thumb to guide the line and put a little extra pressure on the fish when using mono. I don't think this will work with braid. Any recommendations?

Thanks
I use a product called thumbdinger. Its a cover for my thumb so I don't get cut from the braid.
 
#19 ·
On an Accurate 870 I would use 300-400yds of 65# solid Izorline. I know all the rage is with hollow spectra these days, and in most circumstances I would agree with its use. In this application, if I remember your previous post about this reel and its use for tuna/bottom fishing, I would go straight 65 and a short topshot. If you use it for deep dropping you will be glad you have the thinner line. 400yds is more than enough capacity, 300yds is probably sufficient also. I wouldnt go over 500yds. If you buy a spool they come in 300yd and 500yd lengths. Anything more than that you are wasting your money. If you evere have the need for more than 400yds of line something is wrong!

For deep dropping for tiles 300yds may be a little tight depending on the current and drift. For tuna, avg size anyway, you wont need that much line. 300yds of 65 and a topshot of 50lb mono you will take anything up to 100lbs assuming you have good knots and nothing comes between you and the fish. I have caught and seen many tuna caught on braid and its definately an advantage. The low stretch allows you to recover line much faster.

Learn to tie a bimini twist, uni knot and a double uni knot and you are good to go with solid core line. Buy yourself some of Basils windons and topshots and go fishing. You will have flexibility of fishing the right topshot for the task and the all the line strength you need.

Good luck.

Brett
 
#22 ·
Cut thumb problem

TDunn said:
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I just got a new jigging outfit loaded with braid. We were setting the drag over the weekend and couldn't help but notice the braid running off the spool at a quick pace and getting pretty darn close to my hand/thumb. Anyone have problems with getting cut by the braid? Do you wear a glove? In the past, I've used my left thumb to guide the line and put a little extra pressure on the fish when using mono. I don't think this will work with braid. Any recommendations?

Thanks
We were fishing all braid, inshore and off shore. We fish with Penn 30's loaded with 550 yards of 50 pound power pro. We use a leather thumb guard to protect our thumb. Finnatics has them in Ocean City. Have yet to have a problem with the braid. We scale our reels to 17 pounds, and put them in 3/4 strike in the rod holder.
This past winter we have taken three of out set ups and put a 100 yard topshot on them for chunking. I have read that the braid stand out like rope in the water.
Just my opinion.
Joe Termite
 
#24 ·
If this is really a tuna trolling setup, pile as much JB 100 on there as you possibly can depending on the reel (for when the eyball, blue suit, or 400# mako eats you), leaving enough room for 100-150 yds. of Momoi mono for the topshot. Have a quality shop (like us :cool: ) do the serve so you don't have to worry about the braid to mono connection rolling thru the guides or separating. You will be good to go for years, simply changing out the topshot as needed.
 
#26 ·
I'm a big believer of Hollow Core Spectra w/ a top Shot of Mono for a trolling set-up! JB has the name but also the price tag. We have been really happy w/ Diamond Braid Hollow core. Only a penny per yard more than normal Diamond Braid.

By using hollow core, you will save $ in the long run. We replace it every 5 years (instead of continually throwing away all the mono), and replace top shots of 125 to 150 yards of Momoi when ever necessary. We keep a dozen back up Top Shots on the boat, so we can replace a problem on the fly. We are coming up on the 4th season with no failures. As mentioned above the Top Shot gives you the stretch you need for explosive tuna strikes.

We splice a loop in the tag end of the braid, and attach the top shot also terminated with a spliced loop w/ a double Cats Paw. If this connection is done properly it is 100%.

Hollow core is easy on the hands, and will not slice to the bone like normal braid. I'm a big believer in jigging the baits during a bite, to incite multiple hook ups. If the reels had normal braid, you would not catch me touching them. Just too dangerous!

For my 50 wides we use 80lb Hollow Core, for my 80s we just put on 1000 yds of 130lb Hollow Core, leaving room for about 145/150 yards of 125 Top Shot.

For Top Shots I utilize the local manufacturer, Tournament Cable. For YFT and inshore BFT we use 60 lb test Smoke Blue Momoi. When targeting Big BFT and Big Eye we switch up to 125 Smoke Blue.

BTW we did break JB Hollow Core on a Big Eye this year! It was on a rod brought aboard, and was in its 5th season of brutal Big Eye Chasing. The break was mid spool w/ no apparent chafe,
so don't get complacent, keep your eyes and finger tips on the lines when retrieving, looking for any wear.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top