Spinning Reel Braid Recomendations

[roy_eros]

Hey guys, I am wanting to experiment with some braid this year. Looking for some pointers such as line size and brands that work well for some applications on our area lakes. Any do or do nots would be greatly appreciated to reduce my learning curve. Thanks in advance! 

[dtrs5kprs]

I hate it, mostly. It blows around, provides extra knots to fail, ties wind knots around guides.

The seaguar Kanzen on 8# with a 6# Invizx leader is useful. I don't use it on my main finesse rods, but do use it on some ultralights when I get the idea to play with the fish. It is very soft and limp, ties well, fishes fairly well. Still blows around in the wind a lot.

Did pick up some J-braid from Daiwa in 8# and 10# and it looks promising for the same application.

30# to 50# is very good on topwater, especially wake baits. Helps keep them on top, and hooks up well. Straight to the bait, no leader.

Keep it tight, spray it a ton with line treatment, and find a knot you like. Can't stand tying leader knots in the wind.

[mixermarkb]

It does blow around, and it's not braid exactly, but I do like nanofil on the crappie rods where casting distance is important on 1/32 jigs. I also like it on the spinning rigs the wife and 8 year old use, because it has zero twist. Other than that, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go away from braid and try the new Sunline defier armilo on the topwater rods. I love the hooksets of the no stretch braid, but my skill level with it just leads to it catching on itself and blowing up my reel too much on walking baits. Can't seem to keep it wound tight enough, so I think I'm gonna try something else this year. 

[mjk86]

I use spiderwire stealth 10/2 and power pro.  Many of for a fluorocarbon leader and I typically tie one up but if/when it breaks off I tie straight to the braid and haven't noticed a difference.   Table rock when it's super clear might dictate a leader though.  It blows my mind that folks have trouble with braid.  I find it to be the easiest line ive ever put on a spinning reel.  I have a few med and med heavy spinning rods spooled up with it.  I've had the same line for a few years now. It's still perfectly fine although I'll probably change it out this year.  I use 4-5#mono on my crappie rigs cuz it works better on smaller stuff....but with mono you have to respool early and often.   

The best line ever for weightless wacky worms is the high vis yellow stuff.  Tie a long 6 or 8 ft leader from fluorocarbon.  The line lays beautifully on the surface and you can see any twitch. 

I also use metered braid on my longline trolling rod and my jigging spoon rod.  Both techniques are much more effective if you know exactly how much line is out.

Use a Palomar knot to tie to lures and an Alberto knot to join leaders.  For spinning gear I prefer 10/2 or 15/4.  With the exception of my light power rods all the spinning rods get braid.

One more thing about braid is that it doesn't break...sometimes you want to just break off a snag and retie .....not likely with braid, you'll straighten a hook.  Even with the 10#.  

[roy_eros]

Thanks for the tips guys, good info!

[Ham]

I've tried several of the braids. I'm probably happiest with Power Pro. As mentioned, Hi-Vis is a plus. Tie on a leader and enjoy being able to see you line easily.

Suffix 832 is just fine, but I saw no advantages to it. For me, I don't look at lb break strength, I look at line diameter to make knot tying easier. I'm more comfortable when main line and leader diameter are similar. 

Lim down to having copolymer on 3 of the 12 or more spinning reels I have going. I'm wondering why I still have it on those reels.

[MOPanfisher]

I use Nanofil on light crappie rigs, tie directly to jig (6# and 8#).  Abrades easier than mono if lots of rocks.  use Fireline 6# mostly on general spinning outfits, and have some 10# and 8# on medium casting outfits for cranks, and one rod rigged with 14# Stren gorilla or something because it was on clearance.  Absolutely love it on spinning rods, not as much on casting but certainly better than mono.  I have some braid that has been on the reel for 5 yrs, no memory, but I do spray with KVD line conditioner.  I don't do leaders on any of them, tied directly.  Knots I use either the occasional palomar, or my preference is a Fish'n Fool knot, lube it up good with saliva or it will cut itself.

[Longball22]

I like the Power Pro super 8 slick.  15/4 seems to be what works best for me.  You can get this in the high-vis yellow or green.  I have not tried nano-fil, but plan to this spring, so we'll see how that goes.  

[Smalls21]

I like Power Pro braid, the suffix 832 is good as well but i noticed that it lost its color very quickly

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Smalls21 said:

I like Power Pro braid, the suffix 832 is good as well but i noticed that it lost its color very quickly

I second these 2 choices, Suffix 832 being my favorite.