PowerPro Got It Wrong?

[BucketmouthAngler13]

My Okuma Stingson 40 holds 190 yards of 10lb Trilene. (Im %100 sure)

Yesterday I filled it up with 20lb PowerPro, and my spool was completely full at 150 yards.

20lb Power Pro is suposed to be 6lb dia. in mono. But how come my spool holds 320 yards of 6lb Trilene and only 150 of "6lb dia" PowerPro? :-?

It seems to me that PowerPro has their facts screwed up. If you do the math 20lb PowerPro is the same diamater of 12lb Trilene! Theres a mighty big difference between 6lb diamater and 12lb.

Anyone else notice this?

[dodgeguy]

yup!!!THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECTLY REPRESENT DIAMETER IS TO MEASURE IT.

[burleytog]

There is no defined standard for line diameter/test strength.

One manufacturer's 6 lb. test might be 0.007" in diameter while another's might be 0.010" in diameter.

That is why I buy all of my line based on diameter rather than strength rating.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

My buddy uses all spinning gear and all braid.  I don't know if it's just him or what, but I noticed his braid doesn't seem to lay tightly on the spool.

I don't know if that is your case, but I culd definitely see how it would effect capacity on my buddy's reels.

[rvrnr64]

Me too. I just spooled up with the Power Pro 6lb. The reel said it could hold 200yds but I only had 150 yds of line so I put some other line on first then went on the Power Pro and had plenty left. This is off your quesion but thoght I'd throw this in. I use spinning gear and had three different lines on today, 10lb Fireline, 6lb Power Pro and 4lb Suffix. Sorry guys but I liked the Fireline the best and it landed a nice 3.5lb smallie.  

[Marty]

I can't answer your questions and I've never attempted to measure the actual diameter of Power Pro or any other line. But the literature packed with PP line says that 20# is the diameter of 6# mono and has an actual diameter of .009". Trilene XL in 6# has a diameter of .009 and Stren is .010.

So I guess the answer must be that PP is "inaccurate" in the stated diameters of their line. I just started using PP this year in 15# test (supposedly 4# mono equivalent), but just added about 50 yards to mono backing so I don't know anything about the spool capacity issue.

[BucketmouthAngler13]

My buddy uses all spinning gear and all braid.  I don't know if it's just him or what, but I noticed his braid doesn't seem to lay tightly on the spool.

I don't know if that is your case, but I culd definitely see how it would effect capacity on my buddy's reels.

I spooled with plenty of line tension. I don't think that has anything to do with it.

[nyumetsu]

just like Burley said.  Different line, different lb test to thickness ratio.  Check the measurements.  Sufix makes some thin stuff, you can try that.

[ThaKing]

same thing happened to me. I have sufix braid and the diameter is different then power pro. I also go by the diameter now and i compare to other lines i use to know what would fit best.

[Alpster]

It's not Power Pro's mistake. I have a reel spooler with a line counter and have spooled dozens of reels with dozens of line types and sizes. many reels - ABUs, many Shimanos, Diawas, Quantums and Floogers. Many lines-Trilene XL, Big Game, Super braid, Ande, Power Pro, Gorilla Braid, Vanish, P-line, Yo-Zuri and others. I have yet to see a reel hold as much line as it says it should and still cast properly. They all seem to exagerate line capacity. Maybe its marketing or maybe a bad conversion from metric units, but it seems to be consistent.

I would worry more with my typical casting distance and how the line fills my spool to the proper casting diameter of the reel spool. I hope this makes sense.

The good news is, as modern lines get better and more expensive, with a little quality backing you can get two spools out of one spool pacakge.  JMHO

Ronnie

[Red]

It's not Power Pro's mistake. I have a reel spooler with a line counter and have spooled dozens of reels with dozens of line types and sizes. many reels - ABUs, many Shimanos, Diawas, Quantums and Floogers. Many lines-Trilene XL, Big Game, Super braid, Ande, Power Pro, Gorilla Braid, Vanish, P-line, Yo-Zuri and others. I have yet to see a reel hold as much line as it says it should and still cast properly. They all seem to exagerate line capacity. Maybe its marketing or maybe a bad conversion from metric units, but it seems to be consistent.

I would worry more with my typical casting distance and how the line fills my spool to the proper casting diameter of the reel spool. I hope this makes sense.

The good news is, as modern lines get better and more expensive, with a little quality backing you can get two spools out of one spool pacakge. JMHO

Ronnie

yeah the backing thing is a great idea, i never thought of it until i read it here...and it has saved me alot so far....i have filled 4 spools with 1 spool of XT...and there is still some left!

[Hawgin]

My Okuma Stingson 40 holds 190 yards of 10lb Trilene. (Im %100 sure)

Yesterday I filled it up with 20lb PowerPro, and my spool was completely full at 150 yards.

So do you make a lot of 150 yard casts, or have a lot of hooked fish spool a 100yds worth of line on you?  

I guess I must be different than a lot of people, because I don't get overly concerned with spool capacity.  I've never had a reel get down to the last 30 yards of line, because I will respool long before that.  I also almost never fill a spool more than 3/4 full at most.  If I were fishing the big bass lakes of Cali I might worry about line capacity so I wouldn't lose a giant if it made a run on me, but even then I think I would go with a reel with a large line capacity.

[Cephkiller]

It's not Power Pro's mistake. I have a reel spooler with a line counter and have spooled dozens of reels with dozens of line types and sizes. many reels - ABUs, many Shimanos, Diawas, Quantums and Floogers. Many lines-Trilene XL, Big Game, Super braid, Ande, Power Pro, Gorilla Braid, Vanish, P-line, Yo-Zuri and others. I have yet to see a reel hold as much line as it says it should and still cast properly. They all seem to exagerate line capacity. Maybe its marketing or maybe a bad conversion from metric units, but it seems to be consistent.

I'm sure this is true, but it does not really explain this:

My Okuma Stingson 40 holds 190 yards of 10lb Trilene. (Im %100 sure)

Yesterday I filled it up with 20lb PowerPro, and my spool was completely full at 150 yards.

As you can see, he is comparing line to line, not the reel's claimed capacity.

I suspect that maybe the braid manufacturers are using the mean diameter or maybe the minimum diameter for their claims. In other words, braided line is not smooth like mono or fluoro. It has peaks and valleys along its surface and can be measured anywhere along those peaks and valleys to obtain various diameter measurements.

[CyBasser]

I suspect that maybe the braid manufacturers are using the mean diameter or maybe the minimum diameter for their claims. In other words, braided line is not smooth like mono or fluoro. It has peaks and valleys along its surface and can be measured anywhere along those peaks and valleys to obtain various diameter measurements.

Exactly.

And this also affects the way the coils sit on each other on the spool. It would be nice if each "peak" entered a "valley" but it just doesn't happen. However tight the coils are, whenever you spool braided line expect that the spool will take less braided line of a given diameter than it would take fluoro or mono. Regarding the diameter, although I don't have a micrometer, it is obvious that 20lb power pro is definitely much thinner than 12lb Trilene XL, while 50lb power pro looks about the same with 17lb XL. Yet my reels (both casting and spinning) will definitely take less power pro than mono. The same also holds true with other braided lines I've used as well, with some being notably worse in this respect than others (powerpro is among the "good" braids in this respect)...