Picked Up A New Abu/browning Baitcasting Combo

[JamesD]

After a hell of a day on the water, I ended up snapping my zebco baicasting rod a few inches above the reel, ended up trading a buddy my 7' ugly stick for a 6'6 Browning aeroglass & cork handle Med/Heavy baitcasting rod & an Abu Garcia 5000 series reel. I think I came out on top of the deal, but now I'm hunting line for it. I've been running what I believe is 65lb test Spider wire on my 5500C and I've been pretty satisfied with it, but now I'm looking for something that will be just as dependable. The trick is that I don't want a half-empty spool of line, I want to fill it, so I need to find a 300yd filler spool (NO KNOTS!!!).

Line capacity is as follows:

12@205

14@180

17@130

m/mm

0.30@255

0.35@185

0.40@145

Anyway, I found Berkley Fireline in the 50lb variety in 300yd fillers for around $30, and spider wire in 50lb for about $25. I'm kind of intrigued by Spiderwire's Camo braid after I saw some suffix camo mono at academy today.

I'm going to hit up Bass Pro this weekend after payday and see what I can find there, I'm pretty dead set on Braid because it doesn't give me as much trouble as mono when a backlash happens. Any of you have any recommendations that I may have missed in my hunt for line?

Oh, and as always, pics:

[BigMoneyGrip]

You can save by filling about half of you spool with cheap mono, then filling the rest with your braid. This will also stop the braid from slipping on the spool.

[JamesD]

That's something I've considered, I mean, it is after all more cost efficient, I just didn't want to deal with a large knot in the spool hanging things up.

I've started fishing off of a dam with heavy current & let the current take line for about a hundred yards the other day.... I was hoping to keep the strength of the braid throughout the entire spool.

Got any braid suggestions?

[MichiganFishing1997]

I like my Suffix 832, havent had much trouble with PP, i did not like spider wire at all when i had it, it came apart too much. I would make sure to back it with some mono or the braid will slip, even if you just use enough mono to barely take up any space in the spool.

[JamesD]

How heavily did you use the spiderwire for it to come apart? I haven't had any trouble out of mine yet. I haven't heard much about the Suffix braid. Care to share?

[MichiganFishing1997]

This case wasnt on my own gear, but both of my brothers, we fish a lot but its braid, which lasts much longer than any other line. In both cases Light and Heavy pound Spiderwire braid, it was very flat, and the strainds in the braid, seemed to seperate and fall apart, I have used Spiderwire mono and hated it, by now im just a fan of the brand all together. I have PP on my baitcaster and a spinning reel or two, on the higher pound PP braid it seems to get a little less smooth, but it still worked great, maybe the new PP they have out has that fixed. This year i got into suffix 832 and i love it, havent had any problems with it, it fades a pretty good amount but so does the PP. The choice is yours, with either PP or 832 you will be happy.

[rockchalk06]

I have both Suffix and Power Pro. I prefer the Suffix myself. Seems smoother and more limp. PP was very stiff and took more line conditioned and use to soften up. For the price difference I choose Suffix.

[new2BC4bass]

My oldest braid is Sufix Performance 40# green.....about 3 years old. It faded quick, but that doesn't seem to hurt its performance. Pulled my PB LMB out of a Hydrilla bed with it this spring. Another time I let a fish run too far when using a shiner for bait. Couldn't break it by hand. Pulled the boat thru 4 or 5 Hydrilla beds before we got to the end of the line. I have some 10# white 832 on a spinning rod, but can't comment on it yet as it hasn't been used enough. Put 30# Fireline on a spinning reel. Boy is that stuff messy. Used my fingers to maintain tension while spooling the braid on. They were covered with green. This line hasn't been used that much either since I prefer B/C whenever possible.

My brother-in-law uses nothing but PP. I used his gear before buying some rods and leaving them there. Never had a problem with it. If you don't want to use mono for backing, then put some tape around the spool before spooling on the braid. You just need to make sure the braid has something it can dig into instead of slipping around the arbor.

[JamesD]

Sorry if I mislead you all, I'm well aware I need a mono backer on the spool so it doesn't slip. I may actually end up filling the spool with 125yds braid, and then back filling it with mono anyway.

Anywho, I'll swing over to Bass Pro this weekend and check out the Sufix Braid and see how I like compared to the spider wire & fireline. here's some pics for you fella's

[JamesD]

Power Pro was only $10 at walmart, beat fireline by a couple dollars, and they had the 30lb verson... so I rolled with it. Only had 8lb mono, so I threw 30-50' on there & tied up a nail knot in the center of the spool and rolled my braid on.

[BASSHUNTER1961]

I use both PP and Sufix 832, and find they work equally well. After tying the braid and mono together, put a piece of clear packing tape over the knot, it keeps from having that lump from the knot in the middle of the spool.