# Top Shot?



## PJIII (Oct 29, 2011)

This might sound like a dump question but what is the purpose of adding mono or flor to braid (top shot). What or the pros and cons of not doing it? This is my first post but have been reading post on this forum for months now. Love the info I get. Im from Louisiana have a condo in Perdido Key and trying to figure out this wreck fishing. Im always up for different ways to fish.


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## timeflies (Oct 3, 2007)

I am not an offshore guy, so if you are looking for an offshore specific answer, I may or may not be of any help. I can think of a few benefits though:
1. Cost. If you have a reel that holds 500 yds, but will never encounter a fish that takes you past the first 250, mono saves a lot of money. Put the braid on top and just swap it out.
2. Slippage: may not be as bad with newer braids, but earlier braids would slip around the spool. I always put a little mono down first for the grip. When mono gets wet then dries it shrinks and holds on tight to the spool. Some old ambassadeurs used to crack at the spool because of this. 
3. As for flourocarbon, again it is more expensive than mono. If I want flouro, I will tie it on as a leader. But I cant fill my spool with it.
4. I can think of any benefit to putting a top shot of mono on top of anything other that mono of a different # test rating for whatever reason. I certainly wouldnt put a mono topshot on top of braid, makes no sense.

Hope I helped


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

I'm the other side of the coin from that last guy. On my trolling rods, I spool them with braid and a top shot of mono which acts as a shock absorber on the strike because braid just has no stretch. On my bottom fishing rods I just spool up with braid and no top shot. This makes it easier to power a fish off the bottom because the braid doesn't stretch. Sure it's more expensive that way but to me it's worth it because I loose less fish and if I happen to hook a monster that runs while bottom fishing I have the line to bring the beast to bay.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

All it will ever take is one spooled reel to make you wish you had completely filled your reels with braid instead of mono. I only keep maybe 100 yards of mono on all of my 50's and 80's. We are not talking about leader so I'm not going there. For my bottom reels, I have nothing but braid on them. Braid all the way to the swivel, then whatever bottom setup I am going to use. Spinning reels-nothing but braid on them either.


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## PJIII (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks for the info. I love braid and didn't know why you top shot with mono. Now I do thank you


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## Pinksnappertrapper (Dec 7, 2007)

Woody, You start out at the spool using braid? or do you do a few wraps of mono and then fill with braid?


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## sniperpeeps (Mar 5, 2011)

Captain Woody Woods said:


> All it will ever take is one spooled reel to make you wish you had completely filled your reels with braid instead of mono. I only keep maybe 100 yards of mono on all of my 50's and 80's. We are not talking about leader so I'm not going there. For my bottom reels, I have nothing but braid on them. Braid all the way to the swivel, then whatever bottom setup I am going to use. Spinning reels-nothing but braid on them either.



+1 braid all the way


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Pinksnappertrapper said:


> Woody, You start out at the spool using braid? or do you do a few wraps of mono and then fill with braid?


If you have a textured arbor, then you can start at the spool. If it's a smooth arbor, then wrap it with mono first. JMO


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

The top shot has tons of benefits

1) shock absorbency
2) less visible
3) easier to tie in a hurry than braid (for most)
4) generally breaks before the braid, saving money in the case of a snag or locking up the drag on a big fish
5) can be changed on the water giving you more options in regards to length, hi-vis over lo-vis, fluoro vs mono, etc, etc

You never need to wrap mono on a spool before braid. just put one full wrap of electrical tape or duct tape and then tie. The braid will sink into the tape and hold. Thats how we spool reels here at our shop as do many others and have never had a reel brought back for slippage. I will say that even on my bottom reels, I still add about 3 rod lengths of mono or fluoro of the appropriate size on top of my braid. I double the braid with a bimini and then connect the mono or fluoro with a no-name (bristol) knot. I've never had the connection fail and if I snag up, the mono will break and not the braid. If it frays, I just cut it back. By doing this, I have several reels that have never been in need of respooling or topping off after many years. They've only lost about 3ft of line from them.


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

I do the same as Chris V on most of my trolling reels and bottom reels. What works just as good for braid to make a double line is a 6 to 8 turn Surgeons Knot. For me it's faster and easier to tie and is just as strong. I use about 10' of Fluorocarbon on all my reels other than Grouper or deep drop. Most of our Snapper fishing is done up high or on top of the water and the small amount of Fluorocarbon has to help.


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