Old-Fashioned Braided Fishing Line For Slip-Bobber Stops

Old farts like myself remember the days when bait-casting reels were often spooled with braided line (mono was still catching on for use with conventional reels).  This line was nothing like the small-diameter, slippery braided lines of today.  It was low-tech stuff, and I don't know if it's even made anymore.  I certainly can't find it.

I find that that old-fashioned line makes the very best stopper knots for slip bobbers, and best by a huge margin too, but I'm running out of my ancient supply.  I also find that the store-bought, pre-tied stopper knots are made using just about the worst choice of material, because after a several casts and passing through the rod guides, the line starts to fray and the leading edge of the knot puffs up and it can't be re-snugged on account of the fraying.  Then, if it snags badly on a rod guide during a cast, and at some point it will, you'll get the worst backlash ever if you are using a conventional reel.  Gosh, I'd like to find some more of that old-fashioned braided line, just for bobber-stop knots.  Anyone have any ideas, or a next-best alternative?

jemstone, I don't want to post pictures of my collection of rods & reels or line.  :-)

If you can find the tip up ice fishing line it sure looks like and old fashion braid to me. I have some of the old 30# moss green power pro the that seems to be pretty thick rough and course. I have more invested in line than I have in Rods and Reels, good line is not cheap! There is a small example in the attached photos.

A small sample of decent fishing line

You are referring to Braided Dacron.  That stuff was like casting a rope!!  I put that on my bait casters and tightened them down to teach my kids how to cast a bait caster.  Initially the could cast 10 feet, but the rats nests were easy to get out.  They can now cast bait casters with mono or braid or what ever they so choose.

You can find a variety of beads with very small holes in the crafts department at Walmart. CARPIO 

Crappie Bob:  You use these things?

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/vmc-sinker-stops

I think this brings up the same issue that came up earlier in the discussion, since the normal reason for using slip bobbers is to suspend your bait at much greater depth than is possible to having hanging free at the end of your rod when casting.  Having stop knots that can pass easily through rod guides and onto your reel means there is no limit to how deep you can fish.  You can do that with with these kinds of stoppers?

Tied my own stop knots with Dacron for decades. Made a jig for a "Rudy's Snell Tyer" to build in advance on thin plastic tubes like the store or keep a bit in the box/bag to tie on a rigged line. Also works to make an adjustable length from a slip sinker to the rig.

My favorite line was the cheapie catfish line available in many colors including hi-viz orange and chartreuse. Coming on 50 yard spools and priced pretty much as cheap as it gets. for the most part a 4mm bead will have a suitably small hole to stop on the knot. Additionally, if you leave a bit of a tag on the rig side bead stoppage is more reliable. 20 - 36# test makes the right knot diameter to stop easily while still slipping thru your guides and spooling well. Smaller does work better for guide travel and low profile spooling but stopping at a bead is much less reliable.

Still got my tying box and enough line to make maybe 50,000 more knots. The knots on the right were proof of concept and the ones left were from my "production days".

i use those tiny little rubber weight stops.  i get them at Bass Pro.  they don't frey or wear from the water  They work for me 

The Everlasting Slip Bobbers come with glass bead inserts in the top and brass inserts in the bottom to prevent the grooves from occurring.  I've been using those lately with braid since I don't ever really snap the braid, so I don't lose bobbers.  I just make sure my sinker is on the braid, so that if it snaps its likely my fluoro leader and a hook only and the bobber stays on.

We actually used to take the cheaper bobbers and push metal beads into the tops to prevent the grooves too years ago.  But it takes the right kind of plastic, some crack and some just flex when you push a bead into it.

I've found out the hard way that if you get the clearance between the line and the hole in the bead too small, any debris in the water (algae, cottonwood, etc) and the line won't slide well or reliably through the bead.

Also, if you fish braid with slip floats that have an integral bead, keep an eye on the hole in the bead, as the braid does a nice job of cutting a groove in it, which of course the line catches in.

In fact, the lighted floats I use most (Gamakatsu Fireflys) attach via a snap swivel which slides on the line, and I have had the braid actually abrade a groove in the plated steel of the swivel eye, causing the same issue.

Been using the 40# dacron off my old 5000D for more than 20 years, and at 8' or so per season, it will probably last a while yet, only about 1/2 gone.   But I may run out of the beads I bought at the craft store soon.....

I bought a 200-yard spool of Cabela's brand fluorescent orange fly line backing (either 20# or 30#). It is 100% Dacron and made in the USA (Colorado, IIRC). The entire spool costs about $9-10 and will last most anglers the rest of their lives! They also have fluorescent yellow and white, I believe. I like the fluorescent orange because from 30-40 feet away I can see if my line hung up in the slip bobber on the cast and my bait is not in the strike zone. A black knot on the water is nearly invisible, even with the best set of eyes! If you want something 'slipperier', get gel-spun backing. Same thing, but has a waxy coating on it. The regular Dacron once wet (lube with saliva before snugging your knot) slides just fine on your main line. I cut a 1/4" slit in the side of the plastic box the spool came in with a utility knife, fed the end of the spool through the slit and keep a small par of scissors in my tackle bag. The box acts as a dispenser and you just cut what you need and tie it on! Small craft beads are what I use for stops. I usually get orange or red, and have a small bag of glow for night time walleye fishing. Works well and is way less than buying knots, plus the floor of my boat isn't covered with 1/2" straws.

If you need beads with smaller holes, check the crawler harness components.  Not all have small holes, but some do.  That is where I found them the last time I had to buy some.  There is also 1 brand of pre-tied slip knots that come with a larger red bead with a smaller hole in it, but I forget the brand.  Overall though I agree most of the pre-tied ones suck, but there usually is 1 that is decent.  I think they tend to be orange and the material is thinner than the others.

I did recently use one of the thicker ones that frays and it irritated me just this past weekend.  I was thinking, when did I ever tie that piece of crap on this rod!.....as I lost a minnow due to it catching.

Okay, this was not a super-popular topic last year, but I wanted to follow up since this info might be useful to someone.  Thanks to Fish Hound for the idea!

The idea of using dental floss turned out to be a good one!  I have now found that using waxed dental floss is the perfect solution.  The small diameter of the dental floss gives it a better grip on small-diameter braided line, and the wax improves the grip even more.

The only issue is that many bobber-stop beads have a hole that is large enough to let the stop knot pass right through, or at least get jammed up in there!  So, you need beads with a small-diameter hole, or you can back up the dental-floss knot with one of those store-bought stopper knots (which I have otherwise avoided since they slip). But a standard bead with an extra-small hole is best, because then only the dental-floss stop knot has to go through your rod guides, and it goes through the guides better than anything else I've tried.  You won't even know it's there.

You might consider lead core line and remove the lead. The sheath is dacron and the lead is pretty easy to pull out in short pieces. Some friend must have a tangle of scraps or give you a section off a  spare spool. 

Grey Beard

I never gave a thought about a bait caster!  You are limited to about the length of your rod because the rollers on the new spinning reels won’t allow a rubber stopper go through, they are too narrow. I am somewhat limited tying them so it takes me a while. Any suggestions to what brand is the best?   Thanks for the input.       CARPIO