I have been fishing Fire Line on my light tackle outfits for a few years and have recently decided to try Power Pro on my Penn 4600 Liveliner for Herring & Eels (9' all Star) and on a new Stradic 8000 (10' All Star) for longer distance pluggin.

Any advice on set up would be appreciated. How do you guys determine how much backing vs how much braid. What size braid is best for these type of combos. I have heard that I should go up on the test of the braids. Stuff like that.

I usaualy just put 10yds of trilene 20
or on small stuff cover the metal on the spool

I'd use 50# Power Pro on each set up. As IFG said, just enough mono backing to cover the metal on the spool and give the braid something to dig into, so the whole load doesn't slip on the arbor when you have a fish or a pile of weeds on the line.

One of the things you will learn is that braids are rarely as thin as advertized. They claim Power Pro has 12# mono diameter, but in my experience it's about as thick as 17# mono. You might not get as much 50 on the 4600 as you think you can, but I wouldn't use 30# PP on a stiff rod for herring and eels. You won't be hooking the fish that far out, so I don't think you need to worry about getting spooled.

Does that stuff fray as bad as some say? And if so does it effect the casting and or strength of the line when it does?.

Does it really cast further? I know it is thinner but after use I would think there is more friction between line and guide.

I like the braid because it is much thinner then mono and cuts the water when the current is running, Less line drag for better bottom holding.
I determin how much line I want on my reel. For fluke I don't need mush more then 150 feet as they are in aboue 30 to 50 feet of water. ( I try to put avrage feet of water fished X 3 so I have pleanty in the event of break off) Using a line counter I reel on the 150 feet. Then I tie on the backing and fill the reel. Then I transfer the line off to another reel then back to the oringal reel. Now I have the backing on bottom and line on top with rt amount of backing. It seems like alot, but the backing will be just what you want and all you have to do in the furture is replace top line.
Works for me.
Macojoe

I found my penn 460 to be not to Power Pro friendly tried it for a couple of weeks of hard fishing went back to fireline but on my fin-nor and sustain it worked just fine I would guess it will work on the Stradic ok it is prety close to the Sustain.Two people I fish with also had bad luck with Power Pro and Penns. Just my experience.

Power Pro frays when you dont cut it right
Fireline frays the second you get it out of the box
I dont know about spider wire

I have been using both Power Pro 50# and 30# for a year now on a Mag Elite and a Nautil 6500. I tried Whiplash first and I absolutely hated it. I had so many mysterious breakoffs. This has not been the case with Power Pro. It has been excellent for jig and plug fishing. I use just enough mono to cover the arbor of the spool.