Switched to braid, 20, 30 or 40?

[everymanalion]

So I have a 7 foot, medium action ugly stick lite pro with a Lew's 3000 reel on it as my do it all bass/bigger fish rod than my ultra lite. I had 10 pound mono on there for awhile and wanted to try braid. Got some power pro spectra in #40 test spacing out because I thought on the chart on the box it was the equivalent of #10 mono in general I spaced out it's only the equivalent of #10 mono in DIAMETER. So I've been fishing with it past couple days and it's unruly and obviously too heavy for my applications (Biggest fish I'll run into is around 10-12 pounds).

 

I am thinking about just stripping the #40 off today and going with 20 or 30 but I don't want it to dig into itself. What is the better option if I'm usually catching 2-6 pound but I want the option to catch bigger fish with this rod just Incase, can 20 power pro handle bigger fish and not be a pain to fish? Worse comes to worse I might just switch back to mono BUT frogging in heavy cover with mono is hell on earth to where my frog hookups with 40 pd braid the past couple days have been heaven. Any advice? Thanks.

[gim]

I would try the 30 pound test. The diameter of 20 pound braid isn’t much and you may experience some digging on the reel. For frogging the mono just down right sucks. You’ll have better results with 30 pound braid, although I prefer to use even heavier line than that for specifically frog fishing.

[MN Fisher]

Are we talking spinning gear here?

 

If so - I'd go with 30#...that's the heaviest braid I put on spinning gear...also upgrade the braid. Power Pro Spectra is 4-carrier...4 strands woven together. A good 8 carrier braid would be more supple.

[everymanalion]

Yes spinning gear sorry forgot and I have two rods an ultra light and this medium one so I currently don't have enough for just a dedicated frog set up like I said one for smaller fish with the ultra lite and this for "bigger". 

[Junk Fisherman]

You're not going to break the 20 lb line so this comes down line management.  Thicker line is easier to deal with but braid handles nicely on spinning reels already.  I'd go 20 lb but I have learned to go thinner with braid when I am indecisive.  The 30 being a little thicker will be more user-friendly but the 20 will cast better.  

[dodgeguy]

20 lb  Sufix 832

[everymanalion]

Thanks guys. The 40 is so d**n heavy it likes to spool off my rod when casting and in loops and sits limp I don't fish massive baits mostly weightless t rigged senkos and some top water spooks that are heavier  that's the extent of it.

[Tennessee Boy]

“Digging In” is usually not a problem on spinning reels.   I fish 8 lb braid on mine a lot.  That said,  I can’t imagine fishing a frog in heavy cover on a medium spinning rod.  We may have different definitions of heavy cover.  I use a heavy bait casting rod with 65 lb braid for frogging.

[MidwestBassAttack]

For spinning, the max I go is 20lb braid. Never higher as anything higher is reserved for casting gear.

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, everymanalion said:

Thanks guys. The 40 is so d**n heavy it likes to spool off my rod when casting and in loops and sits limp I don't fish massive baits mostly weightless t rigged senkos and some top water spooks that are heavier  that's the extent of it.

did you spool it on very tight with lots of tension?  If not, make a long cast and do that.  Line coming off in loops says loose line on the spool. Never a good thing with braid. 

[islandbass]

Braid jumping off the spool seems odd to me given how limp braid is. 
 

I would second going no heavier than 30# and would prefer 20# braid or thinner for what you described. 
 

Also, as already said and based on personal experience, I don’t know if line dig is an issue in spinning reels. 
 

Also, if you have to go the economic route since the typical filler spool is about 150 yards, you might consider using a mono backing underneath with the braid on top.  For example if your spool holds 300 yards of 8# test and I have a 150 yd spool of braid, I fill the first half of the spool with 150 yds and mono and top it off with my braid. You can really use any ratio. 

[dodgeguy]

Braid does not dig in on spinning reels

[padlin]

I use 15 lb and have not experienced the line digging in, its also not unruly. I do use a backer of mono.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Dont go heavier the 15.  The casting distance between 10 and 15 is noticeable but 10 and 20 is night and day.  10lb breaks at about 15 or more 15 is 20 or more and so on.

10 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Braid does not dig in on spinning reels

Of course it will.  Its not as common as casting gear but the cause is the same.  If that line isnt spooled tight it will sink in especially after a good fish.  A lot of guys that were going from mono to PP when it was new on the market had that issue.  The cast after a fish would go about 10 ft before sneezing out an epic birdsnest.  

[1984isNOW]

1 hour ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Dont go heavier the 15.  The casting distance between 10 and 15 is noticeable but 10 and 20 is night and day.  10lb breaks at about 15 or more 15 is 20 or more and so on.

Of course it will.  Its not as common as casting gear but the cause is the same.  If that line isnt spooled tight it will sink in especially after a good fish.  A lot of guys that were going from mono to PP when it was new on the market had that issue.  The cast after a fish would go about 10 ft before sneezing out an epic birdsnest.  

What he said haha. But really I don't think a regular human will notice the difference in casting distance between 10 and 15, but you will notice a line dig difference- 15 handles much better and will serve all your intended purposes.

[ChrisD46]

I have a spinning rod set up with 20 lb. braid only for a whopper plopper , everything else is braid to FC or mono leader in 10 lb. to 15 lb. braid - you are way too heavy in your braid selection on a spinning set up !

[dodgeguy]

12 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Dont go heavier the 15.  The casting distance between 10 and 15 is noticeable but 10 and 20 is night and day.  10lb breaks at about 15 or more 15 is 20 or more and so on.

Of course it will.  Its not as common as casting gear but the cause is the same.  If that line isnt spooled tight it will sink in especially after a good fish.  A lot of guys that were going from mono to PP when it was new on the market had that issue.  The cast after a fish would go about 10 ft before sneezing out an epic birdsnest.  

ive never seen this even with 10 pound braid .the line lay is totally different because the spools are much bigger and a spinning reel spool  goes in and out causing a totally different pattern.the line roller also prevents a direct pull on the line so i really dont even see how its possible. ive never heard of anybody complaining about line dig on a spinning reel in the 30 years ive fished braid.

[Drawdown]

Before you do anything, put one or two passes of black electrical tape around your spool. Will keep the braid from sliding  on the metal by giving it something to grip onto.

Even when spooled well, things don’t seem to settle in until you’ve cast it a couple times.

 

I wouldn’t personally go heavier than 20lb. And 15 is much easier to handle, I think.

[Darth-Baiter]

On 9/25/2022 at 6:19 AM, dodgeguy said:

20 lb  Sufix 832

this.  this is what all my spinnings (2500) carry.  no issues.

 

my ocean 3000 reel has 20 PowerPro i think.  

[GetFishorDieTryin]

17 hours ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

What he said haha. But really I don't think a regular human will notice the difference in casting distance between 10 and 15, but you will notice a line dig difference- 15 handles much better and will serve all your intended purposes.

Its 8-10ft with a 3" easy shiner and 1/16 owner darter head #1.  I used 15 for years for fw and inshore, but 10 is better with lighter baits.  If you didn't spool your line properly or have poor line management skills you're still going to have an awful mess.   

[GetFishorDieTryin]

7 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

ive never seen this even with 10 pound braid .the line lay is totally different because the spools are much bigger and a spinning reel spool  goes in and out causing a totally different pattern.the line roller also prevents a direct pull on the line so i really dont even see how its possible. ive never heard of anybody complaining about line dig on a spinning reel in the 30 years ive fished braid.

That all depends on the design of the reel, the spool and the line roller and different oscillation systems.  Thats why some reels have superior line management to others. 

It was a common issue with sw guys early on with most round braids.  Especially with the older 706z, 710z and earlier VS reels that were made for mono that's much thicker. A simple search on SOL history of main forum posts will verify that.

[gim]

On 9/25/2022 at 12:12 PM, dodgeguy said:

Braid does not dig in on spinning reels

The OP did not initially indicate that with his first post. I assumed he was referring to a bait caster since he starting talking about frog fishing.

[dodgeguy]

17 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The OP did not initially indicate that with his first post. I assumed he was referring to a bait caster since he starting talking about frog fishing.

He said it was a Lew's 3000 reel which makes it a spinning reel. You are correct though in saying he didn't specify .

[Derek1]

I have big hands so tying any braid  less then 20 is difficult. Sounds funny but true. The casting distance with 20 on a 2500 size reel. Is pretty dang far. Unless you have a situation where you need super long casts with a spinning set up. It’s a non issue, really.  

[jitterbug127]

I still don't understand how the line is "heavy". 40 LB braid on a spinning rod should work just fine. It would be the equal to 10 lb mono diameter. I like 10 lb-15 lb braid on my spinning gear, but I think the OP has his braid installed wrong or something isn't working mechanically with his reel.