First time user of braid here......I have some questions

[Davis]

Okay so last night I picked up some 30lb Power Pro for tossing some jigs and worms in this swamp that I fish after the ice melts. But I have some questions as I'm brand new to braid.

1) This will be on a spinning outfit......tips on how I should spool it onto my spinning reel?

2) Have heard that braid will knick or cut guides. I'm not the richest dude on the planet. I have an Avid that I will be using this on. To me that's a high end rod for my lifestyle. Should I be concerned of Power Pro nicking up my Avid? I don't want to be replacing rods every couple of years on my budget.

3) I always hear about using mono as a backing. What does this mean?

The reel that I will be applying it on is either going to be my Pflueger President 6735 or a Diawa Exceler 2500.

Any other thoughts or tips for a first time braid user is appreciated. Thanks!

[Tin]

1. With the line coming off the bottom of the spool, and put on very tight. imo

2. I did have an issue with an Avid (2 years ago), it wore a slight groove in the guides. But is was a heavy action rod with 65 pound braid and little or no drag so it was more than likely just my style that did it.

3. First put mono on the spool, just enough to cover it, tie a knot connecting the mono to the braid and finish it.

[Garnet]

If this is a reel that has line on it and the spool is full now. Take 35 pulls off. Just get the line in one hand and pull 3ft pulls.

Tie your power pro to the line and spool tightly. I use a paper towel.

Power Pro will not groove guides. This a back in the day thing when superlines were made of kevalar. Power Pro is spectre and that platic bag you get at the store, same stuff.

Now if it's a new reel Wal Mart is a good place to get cheap mono, just get about the same dai.

Remember you can turn Power Pro around so if you have a 150 spool and you are using 100 ft. at a time thats 6 fill ups.  Using to full spool is a waste of money in normal casting.

Garnet

[kms399]

I have heard of problems with power pro in guides but in 6 years of working at gander mountain i saw it only once and that was a very cheap rod. i have been using power pro on my avids for a couple years now and have seen zero damage.

as far as putting it on the easiest way is to take it in. bait shops will usually run it on their machine, the beauty there is they can keep tight tention on it and it will spool up nice. if you cant do that put enough mono on the spool to lightly cover it, then tie a blood knot. be sure to use mono of the same diameter as the power pro. then set the power pro spool on the floor and the line should come off clock wise i believe, it should come off the spool the same way the reel spins to eliminate twist.

[Linewinder]

Is there a point where one would choose, say monofilament, over braid (or the other way around)?  Too heavy? too light?

I'm contemplating a new spinning outfit for 10-12 lb range and am wondering about braid.

[.dsaavedra.]

power pro will not eat your guides on your avid. they are Fuji Concept or Fuji Alconite. they will not be phased by braid. the only guides braid eats into are cheap ones that are just stainless steel (ugly stik, lightning rod, etc). 50lb power pro has not harmed my avid but it has dug grooves in my ugly stik and lightning rod.

how far can you cast? however far that it, double it. put that much braid on it. fill the rest with mono. in other words, if you can cast 100 feet, then fill up the spool with mono, and then tie on your braid and spool on 200 feet of braid. this will conserve your braid since it isnt cheap. and it doesnt get "old" either so if you want to you could take all of the braid off your spool and just flip it around...tie the end your lures used to be on to the mono backing, and it will be like fresh again.

[.dsaavedra.]

Is there a point where one would choose, say monofilament, over braid (or the other way around)? Too heavy? too light?

I'm contemplating a new spinning outfit for 10-12 lb range and am wondering about braid.

i use mono for trebel hook lures. i use it cuz it streches, which is good to prevent trebels from ripping out.

all single hook lures i use braid. its sooooo much more sensative and zero strech you can get a solid hookset and horse em out of cover. also, its got no memory, so your line wont coil when there is slack when you fish a jig or worm.

[Wayne P.]

Since no one answered your mono backing question, I'll try. You need to have some mono on for backing because the braid is so slick on the reel spool, the whole wound up full reel spool will slip and it will act line your drag is slipping when reeling in a high resistance lure or fighting a fish. It is called "ghost drag". If you insist on filling the whole reel spool with braid, wrap a couple of layers of tape on the reel spool first to eliminate the "ghost drag". Any size line is OK for backing, just use the uni-uni knot connection at 6 turns each.  

[The Next KVD]

This year I'm going to use braid on all of my rods.  Braid lasts forever so it'll really save you money in the long run over mono and fluoro.

[RoLo]

1) This will be on a spinning outfit......tips on how I should spool it onto my spinning reel?

As already stated, you'll want to use nylon monofilament backing so the braided line doesn't revolve as a unit around the reel arbor.

The amount of nylon backing is not at all critical, furthermore the overall sponginess of nylon varies as per line diameter (line test).

2) Have heard that braid will knick or cut guides.

Hell will freeze over first.

3) I always hear about using mono as a backing. What does this mean?

Back to number one.

Any other thoughts or tips for a first time braid user is appreciated.

Okay, suppose you hook a sunken stump about 1-foot across. You get angry like I do, and you rear back on your rod

just short of exploding the blank. More than likely you've caused the braid to "burrow" into the spooled line.

Before making your next cast, simply peel off a few yards of line and it'll be business as usual.

By the by, you can kiss bird-nests goodbye 8-)

I'm sure you'll be real pleased with PowerPro, in fact, you will have joined an elite and growing rank of CHEATERS ;D

Roger

[Davis]

Thanks for the tips guys. Really appreciate it.

Probably not going to use a leader since the water I fish isn't very clear. Should be fine, correct?

Also is a Palomar knot going to be good for tying on my jigs and worms?

[Pond Hopper]

Also is a Palomar knot going to be good for tying on my jigs and worms?

Yep I tie a Palomar on everything using braid just make sure you wet your line before sinching down the knot.