South African Carp Fishing ‘Indaba’

To answer the question: “Should I switch from mono to braid?” we put the question to carpers Johan Hierons, Gilbert Foxcroft and John Dearden. Here are their thoughts.

Johan Hierons

I use both braid and mono- braid when I’m boating the lines out and mono when casting. For me anything past casting distance for the safety of the carp, braid is better.

Gilbert Foxcroft

If I fish out more than maximum casting range from the bank, I will switch to braid main line with a 24lb mono leader for shock absorption.  I use both braid and mono and have no issue switching around. 

John Dearden

The first question is: why do you want to change? Unless there’s a real case that mono is failing you, don’t bother just because you’ve read about it or it’s fashionable. I changed over from mono because I wanted to fish greater range with my existing reels and wanted better control at that range. I found I could not control the fish with mono at 400m-plus and prevent them getting into snags.