"First time braid suggestion"

[Spankey]

Let me start off at saying in all my years I have never used or bought Braid line. I know little or nothing about it. I'm ignorant to these products. I can only assume all braid is not created equally. 

 

Im going to buy a pack now to cutoff a potential issue if it comes around. 

 

Im going to be fishing with a new Falcon 7' med. spin Crankbait model with micro guides. New Saharra reel. My initial thought is to use 6-8# fluoro or xl that I have in bulk. 

 

If if it doesn't want to cast correctly and is looking to be a braid type Rod. Will some of these Spiderwires that I see you guys buying at Wally World be a reasonable choice?

 

Not trying to be cheap, may not even be on clearance in my area. Just trying to cut off a possible headache if it comes around. 

 

Braided line suggestions for my setup is greatly appreciated. 

[A-Jay]

I use & enjoy Suffix 832 braid.

 

Braid may help with line twist on most any spinning set up.

 

10lb on the lighter side, 15lb braid's a good middle zone and 20lb on the 'a little heavier' side of your spinning gear.

 

A-Jay

[Hawkeye21]

I use 20lb Suffix 832 braid on my spinning reel.  Before that I used 20lb Power Pro braid and that lasted me 3 years.  Braid is by far my favorite line followed by Fluorocarbon. 

[SFL BassHunter]

Brand is going to be opinion based.

 

There is no perfect brand that every single person will agree on. Fact is as with just about any other line it will all depend on what works for you.

 

You can go with an expensive braid like Suffix and get good results.

 

You can go with a mid priced brand like Power Pro and find good results (this is what I use). Or Trilene (also I have used and is a good strong braid)

 

You can go with a cheaper brand and perhaps get good results like KastKing (has good reviews and I am not mentioning it just because it is a site sponsor) or one of the other Chinese brands (there are many). In this variety I would stick with Kastking because it is the most known of the group. These are generally rougher braids as they don't have any fancy coating unless you go with one of the Kastking models that do have coating.

 

I have personally had bad experiences with Spiderwire, and Stren. My bad experiences have been related to the line breaking far to easily and inconsistently and not at the knot. But there are people that swear by Spiderwire. Just like I am sure there are those that swear by Stren.

 

Like AJ said 10 to 20 lbs works well on spinning gear. I've put 30 Trilene on my dads spinning outfit because of the vegetation we fish in down here and he had no issues.

 

[new2BC4bass]

A reasonably priced braid that works well is Sufix Performance.  It is the first braid I ever bought.  Fads fast, but that doesn't hurt performance.  Saves money instead of buying Sufix 832 Ghost.  

[MickD]

I have not used all braid brands, but I've used enough to conclude skimping on price with no-names is not a good strategy.  Keep in mind that braids last a long time, years.  I have some that are "many" years old and still good.  So cost is not as much of an issue as you at first think.  Also, for most of our fishing we can just have the top 50-75 yards of braid, backing for the rest.  I also believe that some braids have higher prices because they are better lines, people recognize that, and are willing to pay for it.  Best is to find the good names on sale, of course.  I find Power Pro, Suffix, and American Tackle "Bushido" to be my favorites.

[roadwarrior]

I have been using Kastking Mega8 recently and like it, but mine is spooled on a baitcaster. Although I think

#20 might be fine for your spinning reel, the Gold Standard is still Seaguar Smackdown.

 

[Darren.]

PowerPro 10# and PowerPro SuperSlick 8 in 15#

on all my spinning gear. I'd have gone with PPSS8

in 10# if they had it for the deal I got. Otherwise,

I like them both, the SS8 maybe a tad more.

 

10# braid is pretty darn strong, I believe breaks

at higher than 10#, so it's a confidence line for

me. 15 is perfectly fine on spinning gear, too.

 

Downside is if your waters are rife with zebra mussels,

they're like knives to braid.

 

I used Spiderwire in the 90s, not so much this century

(lol, that sounds funny). It's a decent line, but I like

PowerPro much better. I know they sell it at Walmart,

as well.

 

Braid can be an expensive proposition if you find one

you don't like....

[CenCal fisher]

Spider wire is alright but I like power pro more. I feel like power pro has a rounder strand while spiderwire is flatter making it a little harder to pass through small hook eyes when tying a palomar knot. I use 10 and 15 pound braid for my spinning rods. Spool half of the reel with mono then put on the braid. This way you will get two or three reels out of one package 

[fishnkamp]

My wife uses only spinning gear, so her arsenal includes some lighter rods and some heavier combos. Her lighter rigs include 2 G Loomis Spin Jig series rods, both are 6 footers, one handles lures weighing 1/16 to 5/16 lures, the other 1/8 to 3/8 ounce lures. Her 6'6" Berkley Lightning Shock rod allows her to fish crankbaits, rattle traps, jerkbaits and such. These have Pflueger President 30 and 35 size reels on them. i really like to start with half a spool of quality mono, then fill the spool up with Berkley Original Fused FireLine in 14 pound test. The diameter of that line is equal to 6 pound mono.  I often tie a 4 foot leader on as well.

On her 7 foot heavy finesse Irod spinning rod we have a Shimano Symetre 2500 size reel. That rod is her jig and texas rig rod. I again spooled it half way up with mono. It is filled up with Power Pro 30 pound test line.  Her last rig is a Dobyns 7 foot heavy action rod that she will fish frogs in heavy vegetation. It has a Pflueger Supreme 35 size reel and it too has the same mono and Power Pro 30 pound test on it.  This rig may even see some carolina and A rig use and.

 

I like the FireLine for baits you would fish on 6 to 10 pound test mono or copoly line.   For heavier duty lures I like the Power Pro better. If I was setting up your rod I would use the 14 pound FireLine.  It is exactly what we use for that purpose.  

[Team9nine]

Lots of options in the braid market. My suggestion is if it's your first go round with braid, simply pick up a spool of Power Pro and be done with it. Nothing fancy, but it's about the most proven "bang for the buck" braid out there. Kind of like the Curado of braided fishing lines ? 

[jdz197]

If you're just starting off with braid I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it. Spiderwire EZ braid is normally under $10. If you decide you like it, move on up to powerpro 8 slick or sufix 832 or any other high strand amount braid aka 'round' braid that costs twice as much. 

 

Look up wind knots if you're not familiar with them, it'll save you some frustration.

[RoLo]

By all means, make the switch from nylon mono to braided line.

Rather than creating issues with spinning gear, braid will solve issues with spinning gear.

 

With a medium power spinning rod I'd suggest 20-lb braided line.

Mind you, the difference between 10-lb and 20-lb braid is 0.001" (that's 1/1000 inch).

The brand of braid can be selected by giving a monkey a handful of darts.

If you'd prefer to stick with Berkley (who makes your XL), try their 'Berkley Trilene Braid' (great line).

 

Roger

[Choporoz]

I'm with @Team9nine....no reason to overthink this.  I don't know anybody who would advise NOT to use PowerPro.   Many have developed preferred other brands, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you that any other braids aren't only incrementally better for whatever reasons.

[runt4561]

the key to fishing with braid in my opinion is finding a knot that will work. I tried braid off and on for 10 years before I finally found a knot that would hold up. now, I use it on at least 50% of my rods. the knot that I found was the Berkley braid knot. google it. I know many people swear by the palomar or double palomar but I would always break it. the Berkley braid knot is stout. good luck.

[Turkey sandwich]

Most of my rods are spooled with 832 or Powerpro.  Both have fished extremely well. Remember, braid will last years, so spending an extra $5 on a spool that will hold up is a really, really good idea. 

[CTBassin860]

Power Pro or Sufix 832

[Spankey]

Guys, VERY VERY appreciated. I'm not going to even spool with the XL. Should just go with the braid from the get-go with these micro guides. 

 

As said not really trying to be cheap but it appears some of you guys have been buying up the Wally World clearance of the Red box Spider Wire. I'll get to local bait shop where I'm pretty sure I'll be able to touch and see them physically.  My Wally isn't for crap anyway on a good day. Thanks. 

[sully420]

I don't know if this is the same everywhere but dicks sporting goods I'm Minnesota has power pro on sale for 19.99 for 300 yard spools great deal good line. I use 15lb for spinning and it works great

I don't like spiderwire stealth at least on spinning gear. I think the coating on it makes the line too slick and also helps the line twist like crazy just my opinion.

[Spankey]

All replies are appreciated and is a huge help. Thanks, Spank.

[JDNKC]

I am a big fan of power pro.

[BassGirl71]

On 3/23/2017 at 1:39 PM, runt4561 said:

the key to fishing with braid in my opinion is finding a knot that will work. I tried braid off and on for 10 years before I finally found a knot that would hold up. now, I use it on at least 50% of my rods. the knot that I found was the Berkley braid knot. google it. I know many people swear by the palomar or double palomar but I would always break it. the Berkley braid knot is stout. good luck.

I agree the knot is key.  I use the palomar exclusively. I think it can be difficult because if it's not tied correctly it will come apart or break with braid.  But once you get used to it (which comes quickly once it is the only knot you use), it is a good knot for braid- JMO. 

 

And I also agree a lot of it is preference as far as brand.  I like KastKing Fortis, but if you're looking for one that's even more inexpensive but performs well, their Super Braid is good, too.

[new2BC4bass]

On 3/23/2017 at 2:39 PM, runt4561 said:

the key to fishing with braid in my opinion is finding a knot that will work. I tried braid off and on for 10 years before I finally found a knot that would hold up. now, I use it on at least 50% of my rods. the knot that I found was the Berkley braid knot. google it. I know many people swear by the palomar or double palomar but I would always break it. the Berkley braid knot is stout. good luck.

I use a Uni knot with every line.  Never had a problem yet.  Don't expect too, either.