Power Pro????

[Catch0]

Well i gave in to power pro on my okuma spinning reel. It gets tangled alot though I hope its just that its not broken in yet! will it get better as time goes cause i now it does on baitcasting reels?



Now for the big Question can stripers see the braid? Since i think they might i put a six foot leader on just in case. The guy at the shop said they souldn't see it but i insisted on a leader just in case

[Mike P]

A leader is a good idea in any event, cuz you don't ever, EVER wanna grab Power Pro with your bare hand to land a fish

[BasicPatrick]

Ditto Mike P.

Plus you need a bit of stretch from a leader so you do not rip the hooks out on a hook set.

Plus you can break a leader off when snagged on structure or bottom.

I also got a lot of wind knots and screwed up line when I started to use braid. With time you will learn the intricasies of using these lines and the learning curve is definately worth it.

One hint when using braid is to close the bail or stop the line coming off the reel a second before the lure, bait,,etc, hits the water. You will learn this through experience and will develop this touch after a while.

Good Luck

[beachwalker]

nd then to pull some of the loose line back under tension on the spool. Kinda like you would be checking your drag setting.

Personally I bagged the PP last year and switched to Fireline (per Bassmasters advice), The Fireline is great. Haven't had one wind knot or snarl yet (knock wood!) and it casts a mile

Good luck/ You will love it when you hook up. Nearly pulls you out of your boots

[Mr. Sandman]

IMO Not all spin reels are braid friendly. IMO the slower the motion of the spool (up and down) on retrieve the better for braid.

I have it on most of my spinners now (up from last year when it was on just my higher end gear) and I suffered my first PP blow up last night but have a 2nd spool of mono too.. So far this is how I rate them:

Shimano Stella's: *very* braid friendly, **never** have an a problem with it. (and I use the 6000 almost every day)

Shimono Baitruners 4500 and 3500: fair to OK, They work but you will have the sluffing off and the digging in now and agian..I do not advise braid on these but you can get buy with it.

Penn live liners. Actaully these seem to work better with braid then the Shimano baitrunners (for me anyway) I have it on 2 reels the small one (3500? ) and the large one (4700?) (cant reall the numbers). ANyway, this is not a perfect set up but these work ok. I only wish the reel was better. I have caught 30#+ bass on the little 3500 with 30# braid on a 8' st croix (17# class). This little set up casts a jig like a bullet!

I just pick up two Shimano Thunnus baitrunners and put PP on them....we well see the story is still out as I have only used for a
short time them one trip so far. (so far so good) Nice reel though!

I also tried braid once on a penn 550 or 650 (can't recall). It did not turn out so great and went back mono.

Conventionals all seem fine with braid. Penn 975's the AvetSX and several larger penns all seem to work fine.


I plan to try the new stren braid on the Shimano baitrunners I am having a little trouble with.

I have a couple of okumas but they just have mono and are mainly rods my kids use for small fish. (scup/blues/school bass ect)


I hate to say this but so far I think the most expensive reels seem to work better with braid. Like I said I really think the stella which has an ultra slow spool motion designed for braid stacks the line neatly (like rope on a spool), so when you cast it comes off nice and evenly. Faster spool motions tend to wrap the line on the spool and not stack it, as the line traverses up and down the spool quickly, so when you cast the slippery line is having trouble comming off the spool in an orderly manner. This is the best way I can explain it.

I hear it works well with the VS as well.

These are just my oberservations. Your milage may (will) vary with reel and line. You need to experiement and talk to others you trust.

I was asked...why not just use mono? I do use mono on certain reels but The connection and solid feel, thin dia is so wonderful that the good out weighs the bad 10:1. For example,I was 3-waying with a buddy the other night. (fishing...not sex) anyay, he had mono, I had braid, he needed 8 oz and was having troulbe holding bottom. I had 4 and was fishing almost straight down...more then enough. I could have fished 3 oz.
The feeling when a big bass hits on braid has to be felt and not described, it nearly pulls the rod right from your hand.

good luck

[The Dad Fisherman]

I tried using Braid this season for the 1st time. I'm using Spiderwire Stealth 50# on a Mitchell Nautil 7500gv reel. Haven't had a wind knot or birds nest yet (knock on Wood). getting the hang of swinging the bail manually doesn't take much learning and Its worked well for me.

[Gloucester2]

Sandman

Your last post should be required reading for everyone that logs on and asks "What reel is best for braid?"

Well reasoned, insightful and included your observations on a wide range of reels that many are (or should be) familiar with.

It is posts like yours that make SB.com special

[PurpelNoon]

Starting out with heavier pound test usually helps. Once you get experience you can go down to lower tests. Eg -65lb or 50lb then to 30.

Definitely use the mono leader. Mono has better abrasion resistance on rocks, mussel beds than the PP. The braid can "pop" if it has even minimal pressure on a taught line.

[Rock Hopper]

The truth is there are a lot of reels out there with braid on them nowadays but they are not all "braid freindly". Mr. Sandman is correct in that a lot of the more expensive reels are better with braid. They have actually been designed with braid in mind, so they work better than the older or less expensive reels that most people used or will use (assumed) mono on.

You will find that reel manufacturers are even stating in their literature or web sites that the reel was designed for braid or is braid freindly.

I find there are differences between braid to braid and which reel you pair them up with also makes a big difference. My experience is the easiest braid to use is Fireline (this isn't technically a braid) due it's characteristics that make it act more like mono....just don't go above the 50lb.test if you are putting it on spinning reels. It tends to bird nest off the reel....when you put heavier than 50lb.

My favorite it power pro and I have tried a lot of different braids. The problem with power pro is it has to go on the spool with a good amount of tension (as they all do....even mono) and if you don't have a line winding machine that can be tricky. My cure: I over fill the spool just beyond the lip (they suggest leaving 1/8 below the lip). I then tie on the leader and a cross lock clip and drive down to a public park and connect the clip to a tree I put a nail into. I clip it to the nail and walk until the braid is near the backing (you only have to walk about 200 yards (at the most) realistically). I then start my retrieve with the rod bent over as though I am pulling a garbage bag or bucket full of water. This takes all of 5-10 minutes and when I am done the line is almost always 1/8 under the lip of the spool....if there is a little more, I just cut back. I use 30 & 50lb. test and have never had problem with power pro balling up on me.

I will also say though that I have perfected the amount of line for my reels and my equation may change fom reel to reel but not by much. You just have to try it a couple of times before you get the approximate amount over the lip.

Hope that helps,

Kadir

[Catch0]

I will try that right now rock hopper

Thanks!!!

[Rock Hopper]

Go for it Catch0

Let us know how you fair

Kadir

[partsjay]

I use a Shimano Stratic reel with 50 lb spiderwire braid. I have never had a problem with it.Put on a few yards of mono as a backing, then fill it up with the braid, works great for me. I do like Rock Hopper's idea though.....and I may try that myself.

[Catch0]

Well it worked for a while then i tryed a popper and i think with the loose line then tight line of working the lure it loosened up the line and it nested up again I might just go to Tri XL

[Catch0]

sorry guys but screw pp. Its just hosrrible on my reel If you have the Okuma Corinado dont get pp, Its obviously not good for this reel. I paid $23 for it and it will be put on anouther reel or sold to a freind!

Thanks anyways guys for the help guys

[fishaholic18]

How are you guys tying the shock leader to the braid? I was using an albright but the braid keeps tangling on the knot and causes a huge knot. I'm using a swivel for now until I can find another way.

[bud8fan]

Heard from MikeCC the other day that rod and reel manufacturer's will begin to not warranty any rod or reel being used with braid!!!!!!

[PurpelNoon]

The rod companies must be getting lots of returns for broken rods. Uh oh.

I use the albright knot and find sometimes it looks like it wants to slip. SPeaking with others, alot of guys use the uni to uni knot or the Alberto Knot, from aka Crazy Alberto/Aquaskinz.

Do a search under alberto knot and it should come up. Its pretty much a modified albright.

[Mike P]

Originally posted by bud8fan
Heard from MikeCC the other day that rod and reel manufacturer's will begin to not warranty any rod or reel being used with braid!!!!!!

Braid doesn't break rods, fishermen do.

And how would they know unless you're compulsively honest enough to tell them? Unspool the reel before you send it back, DU-UH "Some monster fish just smoked it. Stopped her, turned her, the reel started making funky noises and she made another run and emptied the spool----nuttin' I could do"

I doubt they could tell from examining the fracture that a rod was used with braid.