I use, and for the most part like, braid to flouro leader on my spinning gear. The drawback is the bow in the braid, both above and below the surface. Would a slight increase in the weight of sinker/jig head help with reducing this bowing? For instance, moving up in weight from 3/16 to a 1/4 or 5/16?

 

Joe

 I also fish light braid & leader on spinning gear.

Leaders for me are almost always at least 20 ft long and can be FC or mono. 

Line sag is usually not a problem for me unless it's very pronounced;

making strike detection a little harder. 

Most times that happens when I am fishing 'cross wind'.

I cannot effectively fish ANY BAIT with a strong crosswind – cannot do it – tried as I may – just hate it.  So I’m either casting straight downwind or into the wind – either way, I can feel my bait, there’s no big sag or bend in my line and most importantly, I catch fish. 

 So when deciding where & how to position my rig, I’m generally either getting the wind right off the bow or right off the stern.  Now that’s all well & good but if the structure I want to fish doesn’t offer an area that is 10 or 11 feet deep for me to Talon down into – I’m pretty much stuck doing the one-legged trolling motor dance the whole time – it’s a skill and a struggle at times.

I'm running a Fortrex (no spot lock) – but I’m not bitter.

A-Jay

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 I also fish light braid & leader on spinning gear.

Leaders for me are almost always at least 20 ft long and can be FC or mono. 

Line sag is usually not a problem for me unless it's very pronounced;

making strike detection a little harder. 

Most times that happens when I am fishing 'cross wind'.

I cannot effectively fish ANY BAIT with a strong crosswind – cannot do it – tried as I may – just hate it.  So I’m either casting straight downwind or into the wind – either way, I can feel my bait, there’s no big sag or bend in my line and most importantly, I catch fish. 

 So when deciding where & how to position my rig, I’m generally either getting the wind right off the bow or right off the stern.  Now that’s all well & good but if the structure I want to fish doesn’t offer an area that is 10 or 11 feet deep for me to Talon down into – I’m pretty much stuck doing the one-legged trolling motor dance the whole time – it’s a skill and a struggle at times.

I'm running a Fortrex (no spot lock) – but I’m not bitter.

A-Jay

I understand exactly what you’re saying. My leaders run 15-20 feet.

I fish from the back in club tourneys. With little to no wind there is no problem. It’s days with a stead breeze that are problematic. Especially when the boats position does not allow me to cast far enough ahead without crossing the boater’s line. With the shortened casting distance my bait is behind the boat before it hits bottom in deeper water or when dragging it from shallow to deep. This is what prompted my question of additional weight to keep better contact with the bait.

12 minutes ago, 5/0 said:

I understand exactly what you’re saying. My leaders run 15-20 feet.

I fish from the back in club tourneys. With little to no wind there is no problem. It’s days with a stead breeze that are problematic. Especially when the boats position does not allow me to cast far enough ahead without crossing the boater’s line. With the shortened casting distance my bait is behind the boat before it hits bottom in deeper water or when dragging it from shallow to deep. This is what prompted my question of additional weight to keep better contact with the bait.

Got it ~

Sounds like you're on the right track then.

Maybe 'Power Shot'.

Using a 'Heavier than normal'  drop shot weight.  Like  3/8, 1/2 oz  or more,  on your drop shot with a bait that won't spin and twist up your line.

A-Jay

1 hour ago, 5/0 said:

I understand exactly what you’re saying. My leaders run 15-20 feet.

I fish from the back in club tourneys. With little to no wind there is no problem. It’s days with a stead breeze that are problematic. Especially when the boats position does not allow me to cast far enough ahead without crossing the boater’s line. With the shortened casting distance my bait is behind the boat before it hits bottom in deeper water or when dragging it from shallow to deep. This is what prompted my question of additional weight to keep better contact with the bait.

In deep water, heavier weights are probably appropriate without negatively affecting your presentation. A couple other options that should help are shorter leaders, shorter casts (more vertical) and possibly lighter main line (braid).