Snagging/catfish Rigs

[Zach Bearden]

I'm looking at setting up a spoonbill/catfish rig and what I've got so far is a 12ft Meat Hunter rod and an Abu Garcia 7000 reel.

The reel has a capacity of 325yds of 17# mono. Clearly this line isn't spoonbill ready so I've been looking at Braid instead. I'm looking at about 60# braid for the strength (obviously) and I've read that braid is easier to cast since it's not like weed-eater cord. Is braid a bad idea for either of these applications?

Also, I'll be fishing super muddy rivers so seeing the line isn't a problem.

[Seth]

I fish a 12' spinning surf setup with 65# power pro. You get good casting distance and it's plenty strong for landing spoonbill, but not ridiculously difficult to break off if you get hung up. Another thing I recommend doing is using some 50# mono to ring your weights and hooks on and then attach it to your braid. There's been a few times where the fish flopped and the hook points nicked the braid and cut the line right at the boat.