spooling with braided line

[Jetstar]

I am considering spooling some of my reels with braided line. I'm wondering if it matters if the reel is conventional or spinning style. I'll be fishing in 20-100 feet of water. I
bought a few spools of Sufix with 300 yards of braid on each spool. Is it necessary to spool the reel with 300 yards of braid each, or should I back the spool up with mono.
Also, which knots can I use to tie braid to mono. Thanks!!!

[shorebound]

No need for 300 yds of braid and you'll definately want mono backing to prevent slippage. Power pro comes with a handy little instruction for tying a braid to mono knot.

[Jetstar]

Thanks for the advice. I checked around with some friends and they agreed that there is no need to spool with 300yds of braid when fishing in depths of 20-150 feet.
I found some old Ande mono that I will use for backing. Power Pro says to use a uni-to-uni knot to attach mono to braid. Thanks again.

[captkeven]

Just a thought Putting as much braid as you can on a bottom rig gives you more line on the reel per crank. and you'll be able to fish that same batch of braid longer without haveing to add more braid.

[Grouper2]

I put 100 yds of braid and a 20 ft mono shock leader after that. Keep shortening the mono as the line is retied and never have to replace the braid. The mono is also a good shock absorber.

[jaekim]

there can be books written about this topic...lets see here...some of my observations and person experiences

PROS:
no stretch
greater sensitivity
can pack a lot more line onto a reel b/c of thin diameter
no 'disease' from fighting a big fish (you know, the weird way mono kinks up after being stressed)

CONS:
break points are highly UNDERstated so forget IGFA records on it...lines break at 50-200% of what the box says
braided knots tends to slip and/or break easier than mono (despite that, i still use improved clinch/palomar and sometimes san diego...hear a 5-7 twist uni works best)
watch braided diameters on conventional reels
backlash on braided can get very very nasty
you have never seen a messier tangle than a bit of kelp, or grass, coupled with a braided + mono/fluoro tangle...it gets pretty ugly

as for braided lines, i dont like izor...gets too yarnlike over time
not a fan of the crystal lines...just feels funky
i used to think powerpro was the best out there until i ran across the daiwa saltiga lines...uses yneema fibers, silicon impregnated...feels like wax but doesnt rub off in time like the powerpro colored coating does...expensive, 40 bux for a 300 yd spool...but it lasts a long time (hear cabela's has their own version thats cheaper)...another positive is the colored bands so you can see how far your line is out...marked every 25 yards.

so let me give you a couple of scenarios:

a) so cal surf fishing...straight braided to krocs, castmasters, lucky crafts...no mono. on spin reel (no backlash issues)...however, you can get weird wind knots...but i think thats caused by packing too much line on the spool and sometimes a piece of line can get mis looped over the spool (hanging up on drag, etc) and then when you cast it flies up and fouls...just make sure you leave about 1/8 of an inch from lip of spool to the line...

fishing carolina rig from surf: spectra to swivel then fluoro leader
fishing drop shot from surf: spectra to swivel then leader (but depending on how lazy i am i have been known to do a mono topshot here of about 30 yards...makes it easier to retie b/c drop shots have a tendency of breaking at the hook

b) fishing off a boat using conventional reel: here's where it can get tricky...i have a couple of newell reels, i'll use the s229 as the example. the gap between the spool and housing is relatively big...i spooled up with 50 lb spectra b/c i was afraid of the spectra getting between the gap and getting fouled...i should have used 65 lb b/c i still got the line stuck...it was unpleasant to say the least...the way around that is to spool up with a top shot...50, 100 yards, whatever, pick a number...chances are if you are fly lining baits you wont get a 100 yard cast anyway on a boat...

i dont troll, so i dont have anything to contribute

rock/bottom fishing: spectra to swivel then whatever rig i am using on fluoro/mono

i tend to use spinners in surf (here in socal i prefer light lining on 9' sticks and sub 1 oz sinkers/spoons)...dont really 'bomb' 4-8 oz weights on squidders down here)
i tend to use conventional/casting reels on my boat...mainly b/c i cant really feel bottom as well on a spinning vs. conventional...but thats just me.

hope this helps a little

[jaekim]

hey jet

i dont know...i just dont like having lots of knots and various points of failure on the most critical connection i have with a fish...therefore, i just spool up with braided...

as you spool up, put a piece of that blue foam tape on the spool to give your line something to 'bite' into...have heard rumors of wet spectra spinning in the spool (dont know if thats a myth) and also spectra digging into aluminum spools (again, never happened to me...but have heard of it)...anyways, thats just my 2 cents

i have friends out here that tell me i'm nuts fishing the surf for mainly perch using braided line

well, personally, i like the way braided line is so sensitive i can feel if the bottom is rocky, hard bottom, sand or mud, and where the holes are 75-90 yards away using a drop shot...yes, you can feel all of that fishing braid

i've had 7" perch nail a carolina rigged grub that felt like a freight train b/c there is no stretch...there is no mistaking "was that a hit"

so there are lots of other posi

however, you also have to teach yourself a different way of hooksetting

swing for the fences and you'll rip the bait about 5-10 feet away from the fish (whatever the arc of your swing is + velocity yanking your sinker)

mono can stretch up to 20-25% so b/c its springy you can/should swing aggressively depending on the fish you are going after and if it takes the bait or just mouths/plays with it before biting (like a halibut)

a modest twitch and a crank is more than enuff 'hooksetting' in most cases

Jetstar - 5/23/2007 8:23 AM

Thanks for the advice. I checked around with some friends and they agreed that there is no need to spool with 300yds of braid when fishing in depths of 20-150 feet.
I found some old Ande mono that I will use for backing. Power Pro says to use a uni-to-uni knot to attach mono to braid. Thanks again.

[Outcast_]

Jaekim, I'm curiuos about your thoughts on diawa saltiga line. I fish for team diawa in North Carolina surf fishing tournaments, and diawa sent us some line to try. At 1st the team loved it, until we actually used it. the breaking strength is terrible. Probably cost us the little hatteras tourny. We sent the line back to diawa, and they didn't like our results, but the truth is the truth. It broke casting and several time on the hookset. I think the problem is it only made from 4 braided strands. It has no abbrasion resistance. I was just curious??

chris

[jaekim]

hey outcast, i have had no problem with it...but question for you, are you refering to the boat line or the surf line. i was referring to the surf line.

i have the 18 lb and i think its great, have had no problems with snapping on a cast. but then again, we might have to look at the differences in how we cast/use the product.

i have a buddy of mine that lives out here from maine and i have never seen anyone cast as far as him...has a wicked pedulum style cast that he uses on 1/2-3/4 oz kastmasters on a von stahl spinning or trinidad mated to a loomis 9' rod...

he switched recently from mono to powerpro and he has the occassional snaps on a cast...u should see the bend he puts on the rod when he loads it up

i use the simple whimpy (by comparison) overhead to slightly sidearm cast

using a drop shot gulp shrimp on a 1 oz sinker on a cabo 20 and 9' loomis i can get about 80-90 yards on a cast...he can probably get 110+ if that gives you an idea of his wind up.

now, what i will ask, tho, is where did the line snap for u?

one thing i noticed immediately is improved clinch knot will fail on this line b/c of the silicon coating...so the question is did it snap in the middle of the line somewhere or did the knot slip (not trying to cast doubts on your knot tying skills...just asking)

thats why i go with a uni or some sort of derivative of a san diego knot when i tie on to a swivel or lure

i fish this stuff mainly in the surf and sometimes in rocky areas and i have never had a problem with snapping on a cast even after line was frayed a bit...in fact, i've fished this setup now for about 5 months and i disassemble my rig after every outing and i have yet to go thru the first blue tinted section of the line...which is, i believe, 5 yards, or so.

hope that helps

[jaekim]

ps what i forgot to mention was that braided lines in general test horribly for knot strength.

think they can break at 75% whereas the same knot on mono can break at 95%

here's a theory i have

if a line is rated on the BOX at 15 lbs
...and if its actual breaking point on a test (just the line, no knot) is 50% higher
then the breaking point is 22 lbs

however, if the knot causes failure at 75% of line strength the the line fails at 17 lbs
75% x 22 lbs = 17 lbs

so thats the reason why braided tends to test higher on actual line strength

i might be completely wrong, tho.

[peterbo3]

Evening all,

Not much to add except for the following: 1. Down this way, a lot of people use brush-on superglue on mono to braid knots. Seems to work for me in that I have not had a knot give way.......this sentence is getting a bit knotty

2. When filling a reel with braid, we normally use mono backing. Once the braid starts going on, a zigzag lay is put onto the spool every so often as this seems to prevent the braid digging in to the layers below it & binding. Once a few decent hookups have occurred, the braid seems to sit tighter & the binding problem disappears.