What’s the lightest braid I can spool on baitcast reel?

[Darth-Baiter]

I tried 20lb braid before and it did bite into spool like I was warned against?  30?  Can I go with 30?

 

I gave away a fish finderto a guy.   The same guy ended up trying to sell a reel and gave it to me when I offered to buy it.   The reel is slower. 6.something:1. It’s an Abu Revo SX.  It has what i would guess is 10 lb mono on it.  I almost broke a van window casting my practice plug.  It went way further than expected.   It is smooth and appears unused.   I tried it on my Dobyns Fury 703 and it whips the plug like dream. It out casted the SLX DC that rides the same rod. 
 

im thinking of pairing it with a “all purpose” Med-Hvy to pull chatterbaits and swim-baits.   I’m thinking of the lightest braid I can get away with with a flouro top shot.   I don’t normally fish crank baits. I do fish the occasional jerk bait. 
 

I am just a fish for fun kayak guy. I only have one duty specific setup and that’s my punch rod. The rest are multi-taskers.  I like multi-taskers. 
 

 

[MN Fisher]

Given that 30# braid is about the same diameter as 10# mono, that's about the lowest I'd go. I did give 20# Power Pro a try on my President a couple years ago and had the same issues of digging.

 

Personally - I wouldn't go below 40# braid (12# mono diameter) on a BC...but that's just me.

[CountryboyinDC]

30 lb is what's on the majority of my reels, and I don't usually get any digging in.  That's either Power Pro or Tufline XP.  I have used down to 20 lb braid (I think I used Suffix for some reason) to try to get a crankbait deeper than I was getting with monofil.  It didn't achieve that much and it did cause a couple of major bird nests before I just went back to monofil and copoly.  30 lbs, no problems, though. 

[WRB]

Fin’s Windtamer braid 20# is .010D should work.

Tom

[new2BC4bass]

You can spool on as light as you want.  Whether or not you will actually be able to use that line is another story.

 

You will need to spool the line on tight, and keep it that way.  I purchased a used reel that came with 30# Sufix.  Spent about 20 minutes casting and removing tight spots.  After than I had no problem.  I just hold the line between my fingers every so often and keep pressure on it while retrieving a long cast.

 

Some people use 20# with no problems.  I've never tried that light.

[bulldog1935]

If you go by Jun at Japan Tackle, he says PE 1 line, 0.17 mm (=0.006") is the lightest you should try casting on a baitcaster.  Keep in mind, going this low, you want shallow spool reels to keep the spool inertia down.  PE 1 braid diameter is 10-lb in Sufix 832, and 20-lb in YGK.  This Lew's SP fishes 1/8 oz great, with centrifugal brake set about 6-7 for the light lures

I'm fishing 20-lb Sufix 832 (0.23 mm) on Super Duty and Tournament Pro.  I use Air bearings on the braid reels, and have these deeper spools backed each with a 25-yd spool of 25-lb Seaguar red (0.47 mm).  They fish great for me.  Will fish 1/8 oz, but especially well with 1/4 and 3/8 oz.  They far out-cast fluoro, essentially giving me the same fishing with less effort, which can also widen your backlash fudge room.  

[ThatZX14Fella]

I've used 20lbs pretty extensively with no issues. Just bump it up until you find what works best for you. It costs money, but you also won't know what achieves your needs without trying different things. I've had a lot of guys tell me that they won't use anything less than 50lbs, but I tried it and didn't care for it.

[redmeansdistortion]

It depends on spool.  Deeper spools are easier to manage with heavier line.  20lb and 30lb are usually about the lowest I do on those.  Now with a shallow spool, I run 8lb J-braid and never have any issue.  If I do get a backlash, it's easy to remove since there's only 40 to 50yd on the spool.

[Dens228]

I use 20 lb for my crank and jerkbait rods without issue, 30 lb for everything else.  
Well except frogging and punching. 

[DitchPanda]

40lb power pro is 10lb mono diameter...don't see a reason to go lighter.

[Shimano_1]

I use 30 but prefer 40 minimum on casting gear

[The Bassman]

I'm using 15 lb. PPSSV2 (.019mm) on my Ald 50 with no issues. I just back the spool with mono and top shot it with about 50-60 yds of braid so no dig-in. I get better distance because of less wind resistance. Quieter, too.

[FryDog62]

Lighter shallower reels like Steez SV TW and Alphas SV I use 20 lb Sufix 832 with little to no issues. Just make sure if you crank down on the spool hard after a fish or snag that you pull out some line or make a light cast afterwards to make sure you aren’t buried.
 

Other heavier reels/lures I start at 30 and work up to 40/50/65 depending on technique. 

[JustJames]

Do you really need lightest braid for your all purpose setup, especially for those chatterbait/swimbait? For those setup I use #10-12 Izorline and it is very effective. I don’t loose fish when it suddenly yank the rod out of your hand. I have enough shock absorb to give the big slab on the fish.

For braid there will be some that use thin braid and some that will not recommend under 40lb. A lot depends on how you cast, type and weight of lures.

Light thin braid 20lb and below generally for lighter bait with good aerodynamic. Best for shallow, lightweight spool where you do not need whipped cast. 
Al least 30lb for those hard cast and heavier weight lure. 
I only have one setup with 30lb braid where I use mostly for jig, frog and topwater and occasionally chatterbait/spinnerbait.

I also have CQ50 with 10lb braid but only use for Ned Rig, the rest are 8lb braid/Nanofil but those are shallow spool which doesn’t count for regular use.

Choose the line that match your setup and lure weight and techniques. Moving lure you don’t really no stretch braid.

[Darth-Baiter]

19 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Do you really need lightest braid for your all purpose setup, especially for those chatterbait/swimbait? For those setup I use #10-12 Izorline and it is very effective. I don’t loose fish when it suddenly yank the rod out of your hand. I have enough shock absorb to give the big slab on the fish.

For braid there will be some that use thin braid and some that will not recommend under 40lb. A lot depends on how you cast, type and weight of lures.

Light thin braid 20lb and below generally for lighter bait with good aerodynamic. Best for shallow, lightweight spool where you do not need whipped cast. 
Al least 30lb for those hard cast and heavier weight lure. 
I only have one setup with 30lb braid where I use mostly for jig, frog and topwater and occasionally chatterbait/spinnerbait.

I also have CQ50 with 10lb braid but only use for Ned Rig, the rest are 8lb braid/Nanofil but those are shallow spool which doesn’t count for regular use.

Choose the line that match your setup and lure weight and techniques. Moving lure you don’t really no stretch braid.

What about the occasional jig?  

[NoShoes]

I use 20 lb power pro as my mainline, used to use 15 lb but bumped up to make sure my mainline was well stronger than my leader. Never had a problem.

 

what bad is supposed to happen?

[NHBull]

When I was reborn to the sport, I spent the first year with 10# 832....

Most now have 30#. 

[TcRoc]

I have used power pro 15lb with no problems at all on baitcasters . I think 1 bait caster is still spooled with it. 

[VolFan]

Ease off your drag with the lower lb test braids. I dont have trouble casting it, I have trouble after a large fish. And by large fish I mean snag. 

[FishTank]

Tried 30lb and 20lb.  30lb was ok but 20lb was a mistake.  40lb is now the lowest I will go. 

[J._Bricker]

@They call me “Gaiter Salad”, I use 15lb Power Pro on my dropshot rod. Yep it’s old, well used line but the fish don’t seem to care. I even go with 15lb on the spinning rod I dropshot with cause I can put more line on the spool. As for chatterbaits and swimbaits you might want to go with 30-40lb braid...

[Darth-Baiter]

3 minutes ago, J._Bricker said:

@They call me “Gaiter Salad”, I use 15lb Power Pro on my dropshot rod. Yep it’s old, well used line but the fish don’t seem to care. I even go with 15lb on the spinning rod I dropshot with cause I can put more line on the spool. As for chatterbaits and swimbaits you might want to go with 30-40lb braid...

Thanks.  I’m running 10LB braid on my dropshot if I Remember correctly 

[Bluebasser86]

I've got 20lb braid on a couple baitcasters and it works just fine.

[Bankc]

I usually go 30#, but I have a rod set up with 15#, and it works just fine.  

 

I find that with braid, if you spool it on tight, then digging isn't really a problem.  It only seems to dig when you've got it loose underneath, and then crank something heavy on top.  As long as it packed in tightly down below what you're casting from, it usually works fine.  

 

Now I wouldn't recommend going 15# with something like 10XD or anything where you're going to get hung up frequently.  Also, don't set your drag too tight, or you'll dig that light braid.  

 

I occasionally will respool my braided line, as it starts to loosen up.  I just tie it to an old saltwater reel, and reel it up, then set the drag on the saltwater reel, then reel it back to my main reel.  I also find that if I tighten the line on the spool, I don't need a mono backing or electrical tape to keep the braid from slipping.  Just let it spool up loose the first 5 or so revolutions, and then begin tighten it down after that.  

[WRB]

Line rated by lb test is always misleading. What is important regarding bait casting reels is line diameter. Diameter related to braided yarn is also a misnomer, it isn’t round. Coated braid strands tend be rounder but still deforms because it’s braided. Softer braids tend to flatten or become oval.

For sake of comparison here is a short list of 20 lb braids by diameter.

.005 Suffix Nano

.006 YKG (45lb .010)

.007 Seaguar, Sunline ( 40 lb .010)

.008 Fins Sling, Gamma 

.009 Daiwa, PowerPro, Suffix

.010 Fins wind-tamer*, Spider Wire

.012 Berkley FireLine.

My recommendation has always been Spinning . .010 max, casting .010 min. *Fins Windtamer is designed for bait casting reels.

Tom