Braided line on spinning reels

[Cooter]

Hopefully not covered just yesterday, but I'm too lazy to do a search plus maybe there's some new info floating around. What got me thinking about this is after buying some Sufix braid the package claimed it works great on spinning reels. I've been down the spinning reel/braided line road before and sometimes it works pretty good most of the time and sometimes its a nightmare. I know a cheap reel and lots of hard casting with say an inline spinner is a recipe for disaster, but bottom line is I switched all spinning reels to either fireline or mono. Its been several years so my question is there a particular brand of braided line to try, certain helpful hints, or should I stick with the fireline and mono? Thanks, later.

[Bassman55]

I fish spiderwire fusion on my few spinnering reels that I need braid for. It casts good because it is smooth on the outside, but there is one problem. I have had a hard time finding it lately because I think that quit making it. So if anybody has any other options I could use some help there too.

[Nick Kuhn]

As always you'll need to do something to make sure you get a knot that doesn't slip. I have had good fortune with Stren superbraid. Powerpro once and a while gets a little loose but in general has been pretty good. The main thing is don't be casting light lures all day, try to throw heavier baits with a little more resistance on retrieve once in a while to help it spool tightly again. I found earlier braids to be very poor casting line on spinning reels, and I also went back to mono. The newer braids seem to cast a lot smoother and overall they have a lot fewer problems.

[Dan Brelje]

 Originally Posted By: VahnTitrio

I have had good fortune with Stren superbraid.

I'll second that. I have not had a problem with this line. Also use fire line for jigging walleyes now and then and it seems to work great.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Coots- I use braid on a few of my spinning rod set ups and have to admit, I have never had a problem. The only time I have had trouble with braid is casting heavy lures. If you backlash with heavy lures it tends to cut its self and send the lure into outer space...

But never had a problem on spinning reels.

FYI-I usually use Power Pro.

[Northlander]

I us a lot of power pro on my spinning reels and have no problems. Make sure your rod & reel, lure weight and line diameter are balanced. IE Dont use 20# test on 1/8 oz jigs.

[Grant]

I've had Spiderwire on my two primary spinning reels for a few years, never had an issue. actually I rarely take out a reel with mono on it any more.

if budget permitted I'd put braid on all of the rods, with maybe a mono shock leader if anything.

[Cbreeze]

I also would put my 2 cents in on the Power Pro!! I have been using it for several years now on the river and REALLY like how it performs. Unlike a lot of the braids, it is round and cast extremely well...even with lighter jigs/lures. Don't use much Mono anymore for my type of fishing, rather use floro in most of those cases.

[Rost]

IMO Power Pro is better than Fireline. It doesn't frey, it is thinner in diameter, and smoother.

[eyepatrol]

Only difficulty I have with braided lines is that I like to change quickly and often. Braided line prohibits that to an extent (I tie direct w/o swivels). I also only have a couple rods to use and when I switch from 'eyes to pannies (or vice versa), it can be a pain.

I have Power Pro on my rigs right now, but am seriously considering going back to mono (or having at least 1 rod/reel of each).

[250XB]

I use braided line on just about all my reels and do not have a problem with it but I know that other people that use my reels/rods have problems with it. The difference is how you close the bail. I close it by hand and pull on the string every time so there is no loose line. I don't think a more expensive reel will solve any problems because my reels are anywhere from $200 -$500 and my friends had problems with them, it is all in how you use them.

[DTro]

PowerPro is all I use, spinning and casting reels. No issues.

I tried to carry that mentality over to the hard water and just got done pulling the braid off all my ice reels, way to much freeze up for me.

[croixeyes]

Ive been fishing braided line steady for around eight years now.I use to use fireline but found alot of twisting and line frey when pulling spinners and casting.I switched to prowerpro about five years ago and thats about all I use for both hard and soft water applications.The best knot ive found to tie with is a palomar,simple and strong.For ice applications I always go with a florocarbon leader except for some of my walleye jigging sticks.2cnts

[delmuts]

eye ! i use PP on several of my spinning rods. to help with changing lures i carry one of the cheap trim knives in each of my lure boxes to cut the line with. no big deal changing jigs/lures. del

[Fish Head]

About 12 years ago or more, I started using fireline on my walleye sinning rods. I found that I was having trouble hooking fish, so I went back to mono and/or floro. I'm sure I was setting the hook to hard and ripping their lips off. I've been using PP on bass rods and Musky rods and love it.

I'm thinking about trying braid on some of my spinning reels again. For the guys who use braid for jigging, do you use a mono or floro leader? Also, what's been your experience with fireline crystal?

[delmuts]

i use 1-8 PP on my spining rod for walleyes. i did learn fast to lighten the drag, as i was straightening out the hook with a tight drag.i love a braid since most of my fishing is below dams with lots of rocks.i just tie to the braid. no leader.

[chrisduc]

I used Fireline Crystal last year jiggin and LOVED it. 6lb and it worked in clear water as well. I used 8lb for casting cranks and I liked it as well but I was just amazed at how much I liked it for jigging. Give it a try.

[jigginjim]

Eyepatrol, I use braids on all my rods for guide trips. I use a mono leader line about 2ft long to change jigs quick.

[Sifty]

I have spiderwire on my jigging poles and love the stuff.

I thing you need to do is run a cotton ball thru the top eyelet and make sure you don't have any bad wear after a couple of season's.

Sifty

[Hardwaterjigin]

I run PP on my spinning gear too. If you have excessive top guide wear order a silicone-carbide guide and heat the old one off. Glue the new one on w/ ferrule tite. That stuff is tough as nails.

[minnducker]

Just saw this thread, and I'm curious if anyone else has experienced what I did with braided lines. I pretty much only fish for walleyes, jigging, trolling and lindy rigging. When I tried braided lines for Lindy rigging a couple years ago, the ratio of hookups to bites dropped way off compared to mono. Thought at first it was just that day's bite, but through one whole summer, this was the case. Switching back and forth between mono and braided showed the difference quite dramtically. When using jigs (with immediate hook set), the opposite is the case; the no-stretch characteristics give a faster, harder hook set. I theorized that becasue the braided line has no stretch or "give", that the fish feel the pull immediately, and drop the bait, where with mono, the inherent stretch allows me time to feel the bite and open the bail so fish keeps on eating the live bait. Please comment and explain if you have similar experience.

[Hardwaterjigin]

That makes sense. I have never fished for walleye with anything but mono of fluoro before...sonds like I'll be sticking to 'em.

[ec30_06]

I used to use power pro on a lot of my reels both spinning and casting. I am in the process of switching all of my reels with power pro to suffix braid. In my opinion there is no comparison between the power pro and suffix. The suffix is smoother, rounder, cast farther, and tangles way less. The suffix is also much stronger than power pro of compareable strenth rating. When using 80lb power pro for catfishing It was no problem for me to wrap the line around a "stick" that I made and break the line. With suffix I had to start using power pro or mono leaders because I could not break the 80lb suffix. I would usually pull the 25lb richter anchor loose. The new ultra cast spider wire looks like it would work very well on spinning reels too. It comes in a variety of colors including a semi-clear, similar to fireline crystal.

[Random guy]

I use braided on ALL my spinning rods. Some clients are new to fishing and it makes the day go better for both me and the clients. Definetly trouble free using Suffix.

[Bushwacker]

I am one of the biggest fans of PowerPro around for baitcasters, but I really don't like it for spinning setups. I use 3lb diameter/8lb test Fireline for all my bass fishing. I think you could break most rods before you break this stuff. But when it comes to baitcasting setups I don't like Fireline.

[BoxMN]

For you PowerPro users... I am one as well... but I find a little problem too often. Do you all find that the PowerPro will wrap around the tip of the rod more so than Fireline or Mono? I really do. My brother thinks I am nuts. I do like PowerPro for casting, strength, sens, all that stuff... but I really find it a hassle as it wrap the tip on me. And it does it in a manner that I can't usually just flip the lure a bit, but I have to use mu hand as it is so supple it kind of hangs on the top two eyelets. This is on spinning our casting, and usually after I point the rod more straight up (for some reason, not sure why).

Thanks for thoughts.

[Bassboy1645]

superbraids have their time and place but in my opinion its not for walleye. I have noticed over 2 seasons that powerpro and fireline dosen't fit my style. In clearer waters up north im convinced fish can see the line. In muddy waters that never mattered but my bite to hookup ratio also dropped and the stetch theory seems to be a good idea. Originally I tried powerpro becasue its super sensitive qualities and thin diameter seemed ideal for walleye fishing. I found that I could still feel the lightest of bites or notice a lil weight or resistance on my line on mono if I was paying attention though braids made that bite alot more noticable. I didnt like the way it spooled up on my reels. the line would dig into itself and wreak havoc on casting and fighting fish. I loved the idea of the stength too, but this proved to be equally frusteration on rocks up here. I jig into several rocks a day and sometimes the fireline/PP would just not want to break. I made a compromise and now fish with low viz good quality mono mainly cajun redline. LOVE IT!.

Muskies is another story. Everything about powerpro and fireline was ideal for skis except pp fades into white and FL frays into junk. Stren suffix Super braid was a line I tried with great success this yr. To solve the line digging problem I took some advice from this site and went to a 50lbs diameter line 80lbs test. Overkill but it solved the line digging problem and fishing was better. Just some observations and opinions I have noticed in about the last 3 yrs of fishing.

[Northlander]

I use Power Pro for almost everything. When lindy rigging I run the PP to a barrel swivel and then a mono leader from there. Never had a problem catching eyes. Of course most of our waters around here have a stain to them. If Im fishing real clear lakes I go mono. I use PP to troll spinners, spooning, jigging, casting cranks and almsot everything else except slip bobbering.

[delmuts]

seems i had that problem at first too.braids get line twist too. using a trick i learned from here i don't have any trouble now. every once in a while, tie the end of the line to a swivel that is tied to a tree or something. let the line out, then give it several good pulls.( this will help get some of the twist out!) then keep firm tension on the line as you reel it back on.this will help it lay better on the reel also. try this and see if it helps. del

[BoxMN]

Good idea with te swivel, for if you are not near a boat. I use the "cut lure off, then let all the line out while trolling, and reel it back up" method. I am not actually talking about line twist, I don' think, but will see if indeed it might be that by checking after a de-twisting. That would be great if that is all it is.

My brother and I also tie a 6-8' section of Cajun Red (love that mono) to the end, or have also used flourocarbon, for jigging so we usually don't tie direct to PP or FL unless bass fishing or noisy lures. I need to start putting a small swivel in between PP and mono though...

Thanks for the good info and ideas. Will try them.