I am going to take the plunge into the world of braided lines. I fish 25-30 pound mono on my big spinning rod and 15 on a light spinner. What test and brand do you guys recommend for each of those rods. Thanks for your help and may the great plug hoe bring you lots of new toys! thanks charlie

I would go 50 on the heavy outfits and 30 on the lighter ones. Imho braid under 30lbs is to much of a pain to deal with, the stuff is just too thin. As far as brand its mostly person choice and mine is suffix.
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Check out the diameter of the braids and mono of same lb. test.
Since braid will be thinner, you can get away with a heavier lb. test.
I generally use 20-30 lb. braid on my surf reel, 15 lb. on my kayak rig and 10 lb. on my freshwater reels. You may want to check and see what you feel most comfortable with.

I only fish 50 lb test cabelas ripcord si braid.

I use it on my spring outfits too just because I have a ton of it and just to be safe.

Like thumper said the lighter stuff is probe to wind knots. It does have it's place but I've personally gotten away from it.
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I would say 5 to 10 lbs. higher in braid test than what you used in mono. My suggestion in brands would be Fireline or Tuff-line. These lines are a little different than Power Pro. These do not get wind knots and are just as tough. A draw back may be the little coating that is on them, but you can at least see when it starts to break down and trim off the last few feet. Briad is awesome, I will never go back to mono.

I would go 50 on the heavy outfits and 30 on the lighter ones. Imho braid under 30lbs is to much of a pain to deal with, the stuff is just too thin. As far as brand its mostly person choice and mine is suffix.
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I agree with this except I use Power Pro. if you can find some 30# fireline, that would also match up well with the heavy outfit, although it doesn't cast as far as the 50# Power Pro...

One way of deciding is to determine what the heaviest braid you can use is that your reel will hold at least 300 yards of.

Another way is to decide what's the thinest you dare grab with a bare hand.

Personally , I use 50 LB spectron and 35 LB spectron. spectron is thicker and tougher than most.

With braid , its not so much the pound test you need as the abrasion and shock resistance. Thats why I think using the heaviest that will fit on your reel with enough length is a good way to decide .

Brand are tricky as they seem to come and go or change all the time. Ten years ago I would have recommended Cortland Spectron and Whiplash. Whiplash is now gone and Spectron changed so Neither are good choices anymore.

Do a search and see what Mike P is using. He did a lot of studying the braids maybe 2 or 3 years ago.

It depends on what reel also. Most reels will deal with Fireline and not have a lot of issues. I would start off with 20# unless you have a lot of abrasion problems with rocks currently, then I would do 30#. Just do one spool to start and see how you like it before you buy the cow.

One way of deciding is to determine what the heaviest braid you can use is that your reel will hold at least 300 yards of.

Another way is to decide what's the thinest you dare grab with a bare hand.

Personally , I use 50 LB spectron and 35 LB spectron. spectron is thicker and tougher than most.

With braid , its not so much the pound test you need as the abrasion and shock resistance. Thats why I think using the heaviest that will fit on your reel with enough length is a good way to decide .

Brand are tricky as they seem to come and go or change all the time. Ten years ago I would have recommended Cortland Spectron and Whiplash. Whiplash is now gone and Spectron changed so Neither are good choices anymore.

Do a search and see what Mike P is using. He did a lot of studying the braids maybe 2 or 3 years ago.

Spectron Master Braid is the BEST!!!:uhuh:

Try Berkley Big Game braid. Same price range as Power Pro, but rounder, smoother, stronger, and much more abrasion-resistant.

I've been using it since 2006, and have yet to suffer a single "mystery break" which is the scourge of Power Pro.

Stren Superbraid used to be a good choice, too, for a little more money, but they discontinued it and now make something called Sonic Braid, which I've yet to try.

Master Braid is also an excellent choice for maximum strength and abrasion-resistance, but the price has gone way up over the last couple of years. And it's thicker than other braids in the same pound tests. But, it consistently ranks highest of all of them in dead-pull break strength. You can probably use 30# test where you'd run 50# in other brands.

Been using power pro for a few years always 40lb green .
I will use the same spool for a while ..I flip it .[respooltop beomes bottom]
I find once its broken in /soft and no breakoffs its great .
no wind Knots . Need not worry about that on dark night with a nice Nor'easter blow'n

30# pp on my small outfit 8ft rod and cabo pt40. if you're using surface plugs that require walk the dog techniques, i dont care what kind of line ur usin its guna get twisted. 40#pp on my bigger outfit 10ft rod and vs200.

and 60# mono on this sick rig in the picture.................................. those perch hit like 40 pounders