x2 40lb mono keeps them pinned. 

Why do most anglers and professional trollers like woodyb8 use monofilament on St. Clair... because they're just being cheap and don't mind losing fish... or because it helps them to put more fish in the boat? I switched to mono out of utter frustration after losing several large hooked fish halfway back to the boat... and haven't looked back since.

I had extensive casting and trolling background with braid, so was also very skeptical of mono before switching.  However, after thinking about it I determined that any comparisons I was making to casting with braid simply does not hold water.

When casting most of the time you are pointing your rod at the lure and when the fish strikes you are instantly setting the hook by bending the rod and putting pressure at the initial strike.  When you're trolling everything is already loaded and tight, and although you would think the braid would have the edge getting hooks initially (and this might very well be true), any perceived advantage is negated once the fish is hooked IMHO.

The only time I use braid for trolling is when moving slow, like under 2.5 MPH, then getting hooks quickly with the near zero stretch becomes more important to me.

Super trollr, I would like to hear some good reasons why you feel mono is junk other than “Laz uses it”. Seriously, have you experienced catching any decent number of muskies trolling with mono? IMHO anyone can repeat or copy what they've heard, or seen on YouTube.

How about we just stick to making recommendations from our own experience so that others with less experience can better weigh the pros and cons and then make better, more informed decisions.

Your statement of mono being junk is without substance if you have never used it.

Years ago I interviewed Martin Williamson about his big fish and he gave me a tip while fishing with friends; “shorten your line so your the first lure through”. We both chuckled about doing that to r friends, but it's also going to put the percentages in your favor so... he was a very nice man.

I have friends who have fished with ML quite a bit, and they all seemed to think that the wire line adds “something”.  I don't necessarily buy that but, there's no doubt that wire can be a useful tool when used properly.  The most obvious is extra lure depth, and it's also almost always the first lure through as you say. Those are 2 lethal combinations, especiallyin clear water situations.

I would use the old dacron before mono casting

That's a good point HH because normally you're not getting that much extra depth with wire unless long lining. I actually quit wire about 15 years ago, mainly because it's kinky and just harder to manage.  I can remember the exact circumstance; was fishing with my good friend Bruce Wisner on the Elk Chain, and because it was dark I couldn't see the loop the wire line, when I went to pull my lure back up, it was gone. We were up early fishing the same area the next morning and with virtually no wind, there was my lure floating on the surface with a few feet of line, and what was left of the loop. You could also try a transom planer board if you want to run a bait further back, we use them to help separate the spread behind the boat. 

That sounds about right Todd; it's kind of amazing how you can almost predict which rods are going to go off after a while. About 10 years ago when we had Green Bay to ourselves all summer there was an unbelievable spot, on spot, on spot, that was rightly nicknamed the G spot. It was normally the first troll in the morning, and whenever I was with somebody new I would run the outside board on the edge of the weeds there (they actually came all the way to the surface then). Just before the G on that spot I would say; “ hey keep an eye on that outside board rod”… Zip - zip, they would usually say something like “are you F kidding me?”  That fishery is crazy beat up now... nothing that good lasts very long, but it was absolutely amazing then, way better than the Ottawa was even in the mid/late-90s.