Couple of things. One, I can't ever imagine using mono to jig the Ditch with, ever again. Braid is superior in every way. I used to run 30# or sometimes even 40# mono for jigging. Try breaking that off when you hang a jig---and you do hang much more often with mono due to not feeling the jig in trouble soon enough to rescue it. 65# braid, 40# mono leader, and I rarely have to climb more than 10' up the bank to snap the leader. With heavy mono, it'd be up to the service road, walk a couple of hundred feet, and even then, you couldn't thumb down on the spool tight enough to get 30# to break. I know more than one person who broke their fingers by slipping them between the spool and the reel frame to break off. Using braid lets me use a lighter jig, and reduces hang-ups even more as a result. It also lets me get down and actually feel the bottom during those 25-30 kt SW crosswinds. Mono for jigging the Canal? Never again. I'd go back to nylon squidding line first
For plugs and eels, it really depends on where I'm fishing and the type of plug. It really helps to use a softer rod, like an Arra 1204 (the "new" 1203), or a GSB 120 1L, or even better, S-glass. It also helps if you don't try to horse a fish, or fight it by"hi-sticking". If I'm fishing places where I have to really lay on the lumber, I use mono. 20# Big Game has always been my "go-to" line for spinning reels. I've never had a problem with it. I bump it up to 25# for conventionals. And I always use mono for throwing surface poppers--in the Canal or anywhere else. You get too much loose line with braid and that spells trouble.
Pete, I also have never had a wind knot or birds' nest using any kind of line on either on my Van Staal reels. Whether it was mono, Fireline, or even Whiplash when they made it. Don't know whether its the reel, or just the fact that guys named Mike have the horseshoe when it comes to avoiding tangles
