What's your line of choice for saltwater rockfishing?

I run 30 lb ande tournament on one rod. And 50 lb power pro on the other. Just depends on currents and wind. I like the.mono when current is slower. It will hold bottom fine. I notice when current rips ,when i jig with mono it leaves contact with the bottom. So thats when i like to run the braid. Less diameter less drag. 

Since the subject said rockfishing, I'll only address that here. The setup would vary if I was targeting big lingcod or other species. Also from the kayak so far I fish mostly fairly shallow (less than 100 ft. of water). The two setups described are used for all rockfish and keeper-class lingcod, on various spinning reels/rods.

• lighter setup: 30 lb. moss green powerpro mainline, with 14 lb. mono break-off segment (aka "weak link") and 20 lb. mono leader
• slightly heavier setup: 30 lb. moss green powerpro mainline, with 20 lb. mono break-off segment and 50 lb. mono leader

I know a lot of guys don't like the extra hassle of break-off segments. I don't find it to be a hassle and I never lose mainline to a snag.

The 14/20 setup allows me to fish on a medium/light spinning rod with as little as 1/2 oz. on calm days in less than 80ft. of water. More regularly this would be used for a 1-2 oz terminal setup in similar conditions.

The 20/50 setup gives me a bit more confidence when targeting lingcod and cabezon and provides additional abrasion resistance for getting down in crevices.

I use braid for my mainline because of its thin diameter and ease of use. I like the sensitivity when jigging too. By using mainline that is heavier than necessary combined with a break-off segment, I can share the same reel among several rods depending on the type of fishing I want to do, and just adjust the drag accordingly.

edit: 12 in. break-off, 3-4 ft. leader after that.

I'm hung up on doing as little tying and messing around with leaders and management of terminal tackle on the water as possible. ...

... I probably should re-examine my tackle managment system to make using pre-tied leaders less of a hastle.

I never tie a leader on the water for bottom fishing, and very rarely for any other kind of fishing.  Pre-tie your leaders with surgeon loops at both ends.  Coil them up like fly-fishing leaders.  I assume you have a terminal swivel on the mainline.  All my leadheads and jigs have snaps on the eyes.

Need a new leader? Pull one out of the box, uncoil, snap one loop to mainline swivel, snap the other loop to the jig. Fish.

30 or 40 fluorocarbon (approx 15ft) connected to 50 braid.

I'm hung up on doing as little tying and messing around with leaders and management of terminal tackle on the water as possible. ...

... I probably should re-examine my tackle managment system to make using pre-tied leaders less of a hastle.

I never tie a leader on the water for bottom fishing, and very rarely for any other kind of fishing.  Pre-tie your leaders with surgeon loops at both ends.  Coil them up like fly-fishing leaders.  I assume you have a terminal swivel on the mainline.  All my leadheads and jigs have snaps on the eyes.

Need a new leader? Pull one out of the box, uncoil, snap one loop to mainline swivel, snap the other loop to the jig. Fish.

Exactly.... need to go back to doing that. I typically run more than one jig head or shrimp fly on my line at a time, and its super fast and super easy to tie a palomar knot for each drooper versus the duolocks though (except for a snapswivel at the connection between the mainline and leader). If I get hung up or snagged its usually the bottom most jig that will break off. I just cut the leader off there and tie on new droopers above. I realize the line is weakend by that point, and replacing the leader would be prudent.

Looking into the hollow core spectra, for making up "wind-on" or "top shot" leaders that would preclude the use of snaps all together using the "Chinnese handcuff type splice. This should make things ultra versitile for switching between fishing types also. I've never done this before but sounds right up my alley... Anyone recommend good the threading needles/hook latches for tying these up? -Such as these: http://www.bluemarlinchronicles.com/DaHo_spectra_braided_line_hollow_threading_needles-40.htm

Jerry Brown seems to have this dialed in and is local too! http://jerry-brown-industries.com/

Jerry Brown seems to have this dialed in and is local too! http://jerry-brown-industries.com/

I've been using Jerry Brown line for a year now and can't tell the difference between it and Power Pro.

Jerry Brown seems to have this dialed in and is local too! http://jerry-brown-industries.com/

I've been using Jerry Brown line for a year now and can't tell the difference between it and Power Pro.

I've been avoiding Powerpro since getting a bad spool.  After two lost salmon on a fresh spool I swore off Powerpro.

I had Hoggs load me up with Jerry Brown on 3 reels last year and have been loving it!

-Spot- 

All of these reports of bad PowerPro have me a little skittish... I just spooled up a new saltwater reel a week ago! Smile on me Quality Control gods!

ok... Going back through this, only Kardinal_84 used the word "topshot" versus using a "leader". Until now... I was ignorant about the benefits of using hollow core Spectra braid (other than for fly fishing application). Is anyone else splicing up "wind-on" top shots using hollow core braid versus solid core and tying them on with knots (Blood, Bimini, Albright, Surgeon, etc...)?

Erik

Erik
After emailing you earlier today, i did a little searching. This link is pretty informative regarding line, and backing mono with braid. Also, as i suggested, you tube search and you will find tons of how to videos on knotting them together in the way you want.

http://www.sportfishingmag.com/techniques/rigs-and-tips/back-it-braid

Looks like a lot of people on here are running the same setup as me.  Heavy braid dropped down to a lighter mono tip.  I think I run 60lb braid ( i don't have a favorite brand)  dropped down to 30lb mono. 

I find that the rocks and coral do serious damage to the braid but the mono can easily withstand a weekend of abrasion off the bottom.

I like to do the similar thing when bass fishing except lighter line for both. 

Thanks, WR. Thats a great article. I have been reading through a lot of material on the subject and watching a lot of videos since I started this post, and a lot of the manufacturers and experts say pretty much the same thing with only a few minor differences in their splices. I have ordered some DaHo threadding and reverse latch needles, adhesives, serving thread and and such, so no knots for me! I found BHPtackle.com had everything and good information as well. I'm going with 60# Jerry Brown Line One hollow core and I'm going to try Seaguar 40#Florocarbon for leader. I will probably make up some smaller weight wind-on leaders for salmon/trout trolling at some point.

Maybe this is overkill and a lot of hastle to go through, but after much thought the goal is to:
a. Reduce knot tying/rigging time on the water.
b. Streamline/simplify tackle required on the kayak.
c. Make re-rigging on the water faster & easier.
d. Make replacement of leaders regularly after snag-ups/stretching line.

There are many other benefits of going this route, but I'm sure I will learn more after I dive into this. Since there will be no swivel, I'm curious to find out if line twist will be a problem. 

For the jig, I'm going to make up a dual purpose fixture for making splices as well as rod repair re-wrapping guides. No, I wont be using Legos (http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12244.msg135548#msg135548) like Ndog uses, but rather quick clamps like shown in WR's link.
Erik

Ya know, I voted for mono because that's what I predominately use. 

Took a look last night and my heaviest mono mains do not go over 45 lb while the heaviest braid I've got is 65 lb on a spinner i use to toss frogs and mice for bass that needs to be taken off and wrapped correctly. My next higher braid? Suffix 832 in 30lb on my surf reels. With 25 lb pink or blue floro tops just spider hitched or albrighted together.

Call me old or call me traditional, ( just don't call me john luddd) I j,ust don't use the newer stuff  all that much.

HA! I should have said Ned Ludd not John [ modern adaptation of the legend  .....ever hear someone call another a Luddite?? He is infamous as the man who refused to use computers because they are evil  Never existed, though ]
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite          that's the true version...... basically I was saying I didn't want to adapt to new technologies because I'm happy with the old methods that are proven to work....

When I converted to braid I used a 30-50 foot mono top shot.  As the mono got scraped up I cut it back until it was too short, then I replaced it.  Then one year I went with straight braid and typical mono or fluoro leaders, and never went back to a top shot. 

I found casting with the knot required for a top shot would occasionally be an issue, so I coated my knot with superglue or nail polish.  That helped.  But I was still worried about the strength of the join.

The only reason I've found for a mono top shot is the stretch the mono gives.  Setting a hook with mono and with braid is different.  Mono has some give and is forgiving to a sharp, hard hook set.  With braid you can easily rip the hook out.

Now, with just braid and typical leader lengths, I rarely explicitly set the hook. With the no stretch braid the fish itself sets the hook.

Keep your hooks sharp.  Check them every time they come up and dress them as necessary.