ADVICE....Tuna line and knot

[nmc02]

I was curious what brand of 80 lb top shot would be recommended??????????? Jinkai, Momoi, etc & What knot is best to attach the top shot of 80 lb to the braid underneath. So mant opinions. Thanks in advanced.

[Garone Custom Rods]

As far as mono goes I like something with good abrasion resistance, especially on the party boat. Personally I have used Berkeley big game, and hi seas quattro with good results.

As far as the best connection that would be a loop to loop using hollow core spectra. No knots and when done correctly 100% strength.

If I am not using a wind on with hollow core, I will typically use a Uni-uni or another knot that I do not know the name of. I am a firm believer that whatever knot you use it must be tied correctly and you must have confidence in tying it. A knot that is not tied correctly is not going to be strong.

[Gerry Zagorski]

http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/

With the Albright knot the heavier of the 2 lines is doubled (white in this video) and the lighter of the 2 (blue in this video) is used for the wrap. So in your case the mono would be doubled and the braid used to make the wrap.

As far as a top shot line, I would use a high quality floro carbon line like Seagar since Tuna can be line shy at times. There's been times that we've had to downsize as low as 30 - 40 pound leader to get them to bite.

Interesting when we were fishing for Giants with Tuna.com, they are very particular about their leaders. They use a barrel to join the leader to the main line, a crimp on the hook and stretch the leader after crimping it to the hook. Anything that is shinny like the metal on the crimps get's hit with a black sharpie to reduce it's potential for glare. Each time the leader is brought up they wipe it down with a piece of cloth to get any slime off of it as well. If the leader is on the deck and gets stepped on by accident it gets changed. Sounds extreme but I guess when you do this or a living, every little detail can increase your odds of a hook up and landing.

[AndyS]

KISS, no braid, 60lb. Jinkai, palomar knot

[Gerry Zagorski]

If you are fishing bait, I'm with Andy, all mono is fine but even then most will still add a floro leader with barrel connection. If you are jigging, braid is the way to go since it has no stretch and that tranfers the action from the rod tip to your jig better. The braid is also colored so you can tell how much line you have out. This helps a lot when you are marking fish on the sounder at a certain depth and you want to keep your jig there.

[njboarder]

I like Jinkai mono. Low memory and very soft & thin for the #.
Regarding knot, if you have hollow braid, just insert mono into hollow. If you have solid, you could try PR knot. Jiggingworld sells a nice bobbin.

I used to put braid backing for more capacity, but now I just go straight mono on my penn 50, keeping it simple like AndyS said.

[Tenacious Sportfishing]

Nick,
BAIT---3 1/2 turn 80 lb momoi to barrel, 5 turn cinch 60 lb seaguar to barrel, palomar to circle hook
JIG----uni to uni 65 lb braid to 60 lb seaguar, palomar to snap swivel

[Ol Pedro]

80 lb. Izor backing with 150 yards of Andy pink 80 lb. top shot with a Modified Albrite connection . Palomar swivel connection to what ever leader material you want . I have had good luck with Seaguar Floro , Quatro , Hi Seas , and Pink Andy. A lot of times I use whatever is on the reel . Palomar hook connection .

[AndyS]

I remember catching tuna before braid and flouro leaders. Did this fish get smarter over the years

[Gerry Zagorski]

No fishermen did