Braid For Spinning Reel

[AlecFish]

Hello all, 

 

Bass fishing season is nearly upon us in New England and I need to start getting ready now. 

 

This is my first go on using braid on a spinning setup so it'll be interesting to see how that works. 

What pound test of braid would you recommend for a '30 size' spinning reel?

 

 

Where I fish the vegetation can be pretty thick and I'm tired of line breakage due to heavy vegetation. 

 

 

[FishTank]

20lb works for me.  It's usually equivalent to 6 lb mono.

 

BTW, welcome to the forum.

[AlecFish]

Thanks! It looks like an great forum. 

 

Whoa, equivalent to 6lb, that's crazy. Any particular brands or is it all pretty much the same? 

 

Also, when it comes to spooling it on the reel since braid is particularly expensive is it fine to put a mono backing on it? 

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard, Alec!

 

I use 10lb braid on my spinning rigs and 

always use a leader. A 3000 size is a bit

deeper of a spool, definitely put mono

backing on it, maybe 50 yards or so just

to save you some braid off the spool for

another reel.

 

I catch some pretty big bass on 1000 size

reels all the time - it's what I use for bass

fishing when using spinning gear.

[gulfcaptain]

Agree with backing and 20lb, although all mine are smaller then that and spooled with 10lb and leader/topshots of 8lb or less.  As for brands, I like 832, but also like Spiderwire Stealth, but only have used it on my spinning rods.  It seems to lay nicely on the spool and wasn't as stiff as Power Pro is when brand new.  Also, make sure when you do spool it up, under fill it just a bit otherwise it may become a bit of a mess just because of how limp braid is and how it lays on the spool.  Also get yourself some line conditioner and treat it before you fish it (KVD is pretty good).

[yakingfisherman]

20lb sounds good since you are fishing in heavy vegetation.

[SirSnookalot]

First question is bank or boat, from a boat you pull fish out of cover and from bank you pull them thru the cover to land them.  From a boat 10 or 15# is fine, bank 20# may be a better choice, nothing over rides the knot(s) in importance .

It's one's own preference to use backing or go straight braid, either way is ok.

If this is your first time using braid I would not get overly confused with brands, any of the popular ones will suffice.

[Weld's Largemouth]

Sufix 832 advanced, in 20lb test.

10 lb is too light, for me at least.

Never have break offs with Sufix 832 adv unless I tie a bad knot. Plus it lasts FOREVER.

Also, Spiderwire is garbage, worst line I have ever, ever used. Dont get it

Good luck.

[Crestliner2008]

I have several spinning reels set up with braid. I use 30# test PP on a 7' MH spinning rod for bass in heavy cover. I use 10# test PP a couple of medium action and light action spinning rods. Braid on any spinning reel makes it a great combination. I would, however, recommend you using a fluorocarbon leader on any such rigging. Simply because of the abrasion resistance of fluoro vs. straight braid. Join the two with the Alberto knot and you're good to go.

[gunsndrums1]

I use 20lb berkely trilene on 3 spinning reels and have had no problems with it, i love it for getting lures unstuck because it has great power

[RAMBLER]

I like 30 lb PP on a size 40 spinning reel on a 6 1/2 medium rod.  I can skip a trick worm in under shoreline brush with this.

 

I actually lost a bass, in logs, using mono (t-rigged trick worm), went back a week or so later and caught a bass in the exact same spot (same bass?) using the braid.  It went around, under, and over logs and that braid held up and I landed the fish.  It took some patience to work it out of the logs. 

 

With 30 PP I can rip a hook out of the lily pads that I would have lost with something lighter.

[AlecFish]

First question is bank or boat, from a boat you pull fish out of cover and from bank you pull them thru the cover to land them.  From a boat 10 or 15# is fine, bank 20# may be a better choice, nothing over rides the knot(s) in importance .

It's one's own preference to use backing or go straight braid, either way is ok.

If this is your first time using braid I would not get overly confused with brands, any of the popular ones will suffice.

 

I'm actually a kayak Fisherman, I have a tarpon 120 rig and a trolling motor mounted. I can get pretty much anywhere and the heavy cover is usually where the big ones hang out at. 

 

It seems like 20lb is the best bet so I'll just go with that, I found some pretty cheap stuff KastKing on Amazon 300yds for $17. 

 

As far as backing goes, what Lb mono should I do and how much should I put on? 

[MickD]

You have a lot of suggestions on pound test.  I'll just say that the lighter it is the better it will cast.  I use a lot of 15 , never go to 20 on spinning any more.  I don't see why you need to underfill with high quality braid properly loaded onto the reel.  If anything it is less sensitve to looping off the spool than mono.  Follow your reel's instruction sheet.

 

As to quality, I've had trouble with non-name brand braids and now use only Suffix and Power Pro (+ a little Nanofil for light work) and they are very good and consistent.  

[SirSnookalot]

Any name brand of braid should give you no problems, the break strength is much greater than the fish can pull plus using the drag takes a lot of stress off the line.  My lines get scuffed up a lot from the brush on the side of the canals, fishing ponds or from a boat the line stays much healthier.

For the last few months I've been using US braid 10#, haven't had a wind knot and I use inline spinners without a swivel quite a bit.  I do like PP slick but at twice the price I don't feel I'm getting twice the performance, plus I've had wind knots.  Until this line proves otherwise I'll be sticking with it, recently loaded 2 of my barracuda reels with the 20# and that's been fine as well.

[HookdUP]

I use 10 and 8lb fireline

[mrc.in.wi]

Braid is only way to go lighter the better.

Google double surgeon knot also.

[Bluebasser86]

I recently bought some Seagur Kanzen braid in the 6/20 size, wow is it thin! I've been using PP super slick, but I might be changing over if I like how this stuff fishes, which so far I really do. 

[BobbyRaeAllen]

I love using braid. I have a bad habit of changing line and trying new lines all of the time, I always go back to braid. I have 15 pound on my finesse rod with a 12 pound mono leader, 30 pound on my topwater rod (usually straight, but I'll use a leader for poppers), and 50 pound for anything else. (other than crankbaits and spinnerbaits). I fish in very thick cover, shallow close combat type fishing. So braid is a huge advantage for me. I recommend power pro. Best overall quality in my experience. But most braided lines will be fine with a good knot. I tie a palomar with braid. And for leaders I tie a double uni, with the braid doubled over, five turns on each side. Its what works for me.

[DCales84]

I gave Sufix 832 a go last season in 20lb test and it has done well. It casts very well and is strong enough to pull lures free from the occasional snag. I have it on a 30 size Quantum Accurist reel and its tied to the reel with no mono backing. I layered electrical tape before spooling on the braid and haven't had any issues. The only drawback with braid that i've found is when fishing finesse tactics such as a senko or other weightless plastics is that it doesn't sink very well and I'm terrible at tying on leaders.

[SirSnookalot]

Any one that has read my posts know all I use is braid and spinning gear.  Over the last 10 years I've tried many different brands, each one performed well with only one not meeting my expectations.  I do expect certain things to happen to my lines based on the areas I fish, types of casts and lighter lures.  None of those things happen when I'm strictly fishing open water, long flowing casts and using lures that load the rod up well.

 

Strength is not the #1 reason I use braid, it's the way it manages.  I'm satisfied with the diameters of most brands, too thin may create more wind knots, weak spots caused by rubbing up against hard brush alongside a canal bank.  That brush may be my main nemesis in freshwater fishing.  Line capacity is pretty much moot, do we have bass stripping off 100 yards of line?  Even inshore where I do most of my fishing a 100+ yards is not common place.  Distance I haven't noticed a significant difference brand to brand or 4 carrier to 8.  In a fair appraisal some of the 8 carriers are smoother and a little less noisy, something I don't find bothersome.

 

When I read comments stating "I have no problem with this line", my answer is why should you?  Wind knots. backlashes, line being weakened then broke is all part of fishing, IMO those are not problems caused by the brand.  Much of it comes down to user error in some fashion.  I now shop price, having found a brand quite reasonably priced which is performing excellently in fresh water, I have spooled up a couple of my saltwater reels, so far so go.

[WPCfishing]

I've never used braid line. I'm seriously thinking I'll try it on a Super Duty Reel. What differences can I expect from the braid as compared to 20# Flouro?

[SGT Rico]

10# PP no leader, and a 1000 series reel size. Line twist is a thing of the past!

[aprilbass101]

Power Pro or Power Pro Super 8 Slick....15# or 20# = 4# mono & 6# mono....Little expensive but good line

[CDMeyer]

On my size 30 reels I use 20 pound spider wire braid. I think it works the best