I am generally new to fishing but I had an idea that I would like some thoughts on. You take a medium light rod (spinning or baitcaster) and you put on a simple braided line (around 15 lb braid), but you can attach any leader necessary. 6 lb fluoro or less for your trout. 10-12 for bass. etc. I realize you may need a stronger rod or heavier line for different scenarios like pulling bass out of heavy cover or catfishing, etc. But I'm just talking about a general use setup. with this setup can you still fish topwaters with a mono leader and not have the action messed up from sinking line since the mono will float well? and then switch another day to a fluoro leader for some trout or fishing a crankbait? My main concern is the action of my lures being negatively affected. Another positive I can think of would be the castability of the braid whilst keeping the benefits of the other lines. And at the end of the day if I just want to run straight braid I can do so. Maybe a heavier braid would be even better for rough situations and I can tie a double uni knot for some more braid or simply use the leaders. What are yall's thoughts? 

I chose a medium light rod by the way because it has the versatility to throw bigger lures like crankbaits and frogs, but can still throw a small inline spinner type of lure. 

 

I fish your braid to leader theory and it works just like you describe.  Most of my leaders are 10, 15/16, and 20, in both sniper and maxima ultragreen.  I have been exploring more abrasion resistant floro because of zebra mussels, but this covers a vast majority of my fishing.  I can't tell you if one ML rig will do everything for you; but if I cut down to 3 rods it would be one of them.

 

scott

I don't think you're going to be pleased throwing crankbaits or topwater on a ML regardless of what line you choose it's just not going to have enough azz.

For a all purpose rod I personally would move up to a medium if not MH.

5 minutes ago, rangerjockey said:

I don't think you're going to be pleased throwing crankbaits or topwater on a ML regardless of what line you choose it's just not going to have enough azz.

For a all purpose rod I personally would move up to a medium if not MH.

Ditto X2

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

My baitcaster setups are M/F for Topwater straight FC and MH/F for crankbaits,jerkbaits,swim jigs, stariaght FC.  Some may agree are or disagree but this it what works for me.

My spinning set up is 15 braid to 7-10 lb leader on a medium rod and it can do a lot of things. I agree with above posts ml is probably too light for some of what you describe. Baitcaster i run 20 braid to 10 mono for topwater no problem and I've used my jerkbait rod for topwater swapping fluoro for mono. I'm up north so rarely run into any bass bigger than 3-4 lbs. 5-6 lbs max.

 

I have a Steez MML spinning rod that is probably closest to what you describe, the first part of the blank is quite light and would work fine for small treble hook baits but definitely more a medium when you load up on it. Very pricey rod but one of my most versatile.

 

 

7 hours ago, Cael B said:

I chose a medium light rod by the way because it has the versatility to throw bigger lures like crankbaits and frogs

You're going to have a tough time throwing a frog on a ML... the idea of using the same rod for a wide variety of uses has merit, but it also has limits. 

A medium light spinning is handy on a couple things, under a 1/4 ounce crank baits and pop r’s , definitely not a general use rod at all though. rangerjockey is right about that. You should step up on power imo. I use a ML spinning for small Shimano crank baits,pop r’s and small float n fly presentations. On line for me I use Yozuri Hybrid and PLine CX and CXX as well as Daiwa Samurai FC. No braid for me. 

3 hours ago, F14A-B said:

A medium light spinning is handy on a couple things, under a 1/4 ounce crank baits and pop r’s , definitely not a general use rod at all though. rangerjockey is right about that. You should step up on power imo. I use a ML spinning for small Shimano crank baits,pop r’s and small float n fly presentations. On line for me I use Yozuri Hybrid and PLine CX and CXX as well as Daiwa Samurai FC. No braid for me. 

So if I stepped up my power to a medium, do you think I could throw my general crankbait size and go up to frogs without any issues. I can cut out the small spinners, I already have a rod that can fish those type of lures. My real concern is will braid to a mono leader sink my topwaters because of the braid? Or is the leader enough to get the job done?

 

A medium spinning rod will still throw a 1/8 oz spinner or other things just fine.  It will be a little stiff for trout or small bass in creeks, but it will give you a good bit more oomph for bigger lures and fish.  A 7’ medium rated 1/8-1/2 with 10-15 lb braid and various leaders will cover a lot of territory.  

I've never had a problem with braid sinking a mono leader. Works fine for me.

2 hours ago, Cael B said:

So if I stepped up my power to a medium, do you think I could throw my general crankbait size and go up to frogs without any issues. I can cut out the small spinners, I already have a rod that can fish those type of lures. My real concern is will braid to a mono leader sink my topwaters because of the braid? Or is the leader enough to get the job done?

 

Depends on the crank baits. You're not gonna have success with say 6xd but a typical squarebill or DT 6 you’ll be good to go. Will you have success with a frog on a medium rod? Dunno.. braid to mono won’t hurt but using a medium power rod probably will. 

3 hours ago, Cael B said:

So if I stepped up my power to a medium, do you think I could throw my general crankbait size and go up to frogs without any issues. I can cut out the small spinners, I already have a rod that can fish those type of lures. My real concern is will braid to a mono leader sink my topwaters because of the braid? Or is the leader enough to get the job done?

 

 

Even most MH may struggle to really drive the hooks home on a frog. There's a reason most people throw a Heavy or XH for frogs with 50-65lb braid. I have caught fish in open water on frogs with a MH and 20lb braid though, not saying it can't be done.

 

Braid floats, outside of specialty sinking braid, you should have zero issues with topwater.

 

I'll add another voice to a M or MH being much more versatile than a ML, and also repeat that there are limits to its universality in that you may be able to throw a wide variety of lures on it but will not be particularly dialed in on many of them and will have to accept losing fish because of it. Jack of all trades master of none and all that.

I have caught a good handful of frog bass on a medium rod, specifically my Abu Garcia Black Max.

 

It's my all around do everything rod. It doesn't cast light lures as well. But it does good with 1/4 ounce roostertails and beetle spins, squarebill crankbaits, and is a bit light for some things like frogs and large crankbaits. But I make do with it often because I bank fish and I don't want to carry a rod for everything. I might get out to a spot and decide to throw a frog for example.

 

Hooking up is not a problem, I normally set the hook twice with a frog because I am always running mono.

 

Braid is hard to deal with on a baitcaster in my opinion. It digs into itself whenever you catch a larger fish, or whenever you have a snag. It gets wrapped around the guides, the lure's hooks, into the split rings. It is just generally less manageable than mono.

 

That said... if you're into making do, braid is okay, and you can make do with it for the things it's less than ideal for. I'd rather make do with mono most of the time than the other way around.

9 hours ago, Cael B said:

So if I stepped up my power to a medium, do you think I could throw my general crankbait size and go up to frogs without any issues. I can cut out the small spinners, I already have a rod that can fish those type of lures. My real concern is will braid to a mono leader sink my topwaters because of the braid? Or is the leader enough to get the job done?

 

As has been said braid floats, it's great for topwater. What crankbaits are you wanting to throw ?