# Best Beginner Braid?



## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

I have been using my baitcaster a lot more often then my spinning gear lately. It has mono on it, which I put on just to get used to using a baitcaster. I was just wanting to know what is a good, cheap braid that is good for someone who is just getting started. I don't want to go out and buy an expensive braided line just to get a huge birds nest that is impossible to untangle and loose all of my money . I use Stren, so I was wondering if this is a good start with braid? http://landbigfish.com/showcase.cfm?PID=5257 Or should I try using another brand? Thanks in advance.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

Just pick up some Power Pro at Walley World or your local tackle place, it's a very good braid to start with. Then when you figure out how to fish with it you can upgrade to a higher $$ braid....I really like the Berkley Nanofil (plenty of threads on it, only goes to 12lb right now) and the Daiwa Samurai Braid...both are around 20 bucks but the nanofil is easier to get. The Nanofil is long bonded fibers and the Samurai is a true 8 strand braid, the Nanofil casts alot farther, but the Samurai is stronger!


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

Yea that to Power Pro. (I must be stuck at the beginners level)


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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok thanks. How much does it cost and how many yards do you get?


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

20 pound test, which is the equivalent diameter of 6 pound mono retails for $16.99, but I'm pretty sure it's less at Wally World. (150 yard spool)

Also made in the USA!


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## HookSet Harvey (Aug 12, 2010)

Yea I'm a power pro user also. Tried a few others but ended up back.
I use 10lb test 2lb diameter. Casts like a dream n is real sensitive. The color does fad but I just use a sharpy to touch it up. I'm still not convinced with nanoline yet, but I do wanna try the suffix 832.


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## Burks (Jun 22, 2011)

I'm using Spiderwire brand of braid. $18 a spool.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

hey guys
yea, i started using power pro and just havent got good enough to upgrade,LOL. its a pretty good braid in its own right.

something you might want to check on, cabelas had there 15 lb ripcord on sale here alittle bit back. for just a few bucks. and its a great line, so i kinda stocked up on it. good luck and good fishing.
sherman


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## legendaryyaj (Nov 1, 2005)

Power Pro is fine to use. The 8 strand stuff is just the premium stuff and it doesn't make you and a better angler but if you like to enjoy the finer things then it's the way to go. 

I was using Power Pro for the longest time and recently switched to Daiwa Samurai braid and the feel is night and day(not sensitivity). That's to me though and its like sleeping on 300 thread count sheets to the nicer 1500k thread count sheets. It's smooooooth!

I would say Power Pro is the best to start with. I've gone other braids and always went back to Power Pro til I stepped up to the premium stuff.


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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Ok, thanks guys. Just to ask another question, what does the color have to do with anything? MUST...GET...NET said that he touches it up with a sharpie? Is that to help see it better or what?


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## legendaryyaj (Nov 1, 2005)

Braid is like your clothes. Keep getting it wet and the color fades. More like a washed out color that's all. I've never recolored my braid and I've used green, red, yellow, and the undyed white which is the base color before they color it. The braid does bleed too though just like clothes. The red had the most bleed when I used it. After a day of use, my thumb was red because of the color coming off of it. It happens to all of them but the green seems to be less of an issue.


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

do yourself a favor and dont try to fill a whole spool on a baitcaster with 10lb power pro or even 20lb power pro. thats a horrific backlash waiting to happen for someone just starting out.


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

Get the same diameter that you are using now. That will help the transition.

Skip the Stren Sonic braid. The Power Pro stuff OK to start with.

This is the same price as you are considering and I've heard excellent things about the Sunline braid. Sunline is an excellent, excellent manufacturer.

http://www.landbigfish.com/showcase.cfm?PID=7110

Oh yeah - fill half of the spool with cheap mono and half with the braid. You should be able to get two spools out of one box of braid.


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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Alright I will do the Half mono, half braid. What's a good knot to tie the two together? Also, anything else about the color choice?


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

Just make sure that if and when you get snagged that you don't try to pull it free with your bare hands or else you'll end up with a cut up hand. It feels like a paper cut but 1000 times more intense IMO. Trust me I made that mistake the first time I got snagged and I learned my lesson really quick.


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

JSykes3 said:


> Alright I will do the Half mono, half braid. What's a good knot to tie the two together? Also, anything else about the color choice?


I've been using the Albright Special. There are also others to chose from on this page.

http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

JSykes3 said:


> Alright I will do the Half mono, half braid. What's a good knot to tie the two together? Also, anything else about the color choice?


I like a double uni. The Albright is good too.

Green is what I use.


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## Coonhound (May 12, 2008)

lordofthepunks said:


> do yourself a favor and dont try to fill a whole spool on a baitcaster with 10lb power pro or even 20lb power pro. thats a horrific backlash waiting to happen for someone just starting out.


I'll second the mono as backing. Mainly i do that because i really don't go through braid as quickly as other line. As a matter of fact, i don't have a problem making half a spool of braid last two years on a couple of my reels. I hardly ever have to re-tie it because of how it resists abrasion. I might have to cut off a foot or two after a hard day of using it in thick cover, but hardly that often. I hardly ever break it off, either. So, it just lasts forever for me. 

I'll buy a single spool and use it to half-fill two reels that have mono on them as a backer. I use a uni-to-uni knot to attach the mono backer to the braid.

A trick i used to teach my wife to use a baitcaster works really well on learning to use braid: Cast as far as you comfortably can, then strip off a few more yards. Then wrap the spool in electric tape. That way, if you do throw a birdsnest, you've only got to pull it out to the tape. 

I never paid attention to my braid losing it's color. I use it mainly for topwaters, spinnerbaits, and occasionally for flipping heavy cover. If i'm using it in timber or other heavy cover where i need that strength, i'm not worried about fish seeing it.

Another rig i use it on is my dedicated "Chatterbait" rod. I don't throw an actual Chatterbait, but a similar bait that i make. Braid is the only way to go on that rig. When you throw that bait around grass and you 'snap' it, you've got to have braid to cut through the grass. Also, it seems to help my bait vibrate more. It works well for lipless crankbaits, too.

I like Power Pro. I've used several other brands...Suffix, Spiderwire, and Stren...and i keep coming back to Power Pro. I like to keep it simple and use stuff i know i can get anywhere. Power Pro can be had at just about any Walmart, so i don't have to worry about running out of an expensive premium brand when i'm on the road somewhere. 

I generally throw green, but i've used yellow a few times that i've used it for flipping and the bite was bad. Using that yellow braid made it very easy to see those light bites. It looks goofy as hell, though. lol When i used the yellow, i tied on a heavy florou leader...17 or 20 lb.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

im 100% on the mono backing. not only will it save you some money, but it may save you some real head aches. i put braid on my trolling reels for lake erie last year. and was really having problems with some of my reels. sent them in for repairs. he put pins in the arbors to tie the line to. my problem was the braided line was just slipping on the reel. so now if i put braid on a bait caster that dont have a pin in the arbor i always put a mono backing on it.

and dont worry so much about the color. i,ve been using the same ripcord on my spinning reel for about 10 or 12 years. it was green to start with, but its a faded out green now. but it still works as good as it ever did.
sherman


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

I'm with Coonhound on the fluoro leader. I fish a lot of clear water and the difference is huge.

Sent from my DROIDX


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## JSykes3 (Oct 14, 2010)

DOH! Then I shouldn't have taken the rest of the mono off that was on there. Oh well. So with the leader, it's kind of like how you would do on a fly rod? With the braid as your main line then the leader for about 4-5 feet or so? Thanks for all of the help.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

JSykes3 said:


> DOH! Then I shouldn't have taken the rest of the mono off that was on there. Oh well. So with the leader, it's kind of like how you would do on a fly rod? With the braid as your main line then the leader for about 4-5 feet or so? Thanks for all of the help.


Some reels are made for braid...they have grooves etc on the spool to give the braid grip and stop slipping...some guys use a piece of electrical tape and others Mono. Put it on as tight as possible!

You do not need a leader, unless you are fishing Gin clear water and then it's debatable if it is needed because the braid is so thin. I'm sure if a fish has it's eyes on your Swimbait, Crank, or something moving, it's not going to see a 1.5 dia braid.

If you braid loses it's color and annoys you...because the loss of color does not effect the performance...then take it off and re-spool the opposite way, and you'll have new colorful braid!


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## jstiene (Aug 14, 2008)

I was just about to post a new thread regarding a braid I just bought this weekend at BassPro. I bought the new Suffix 832 Braid. Has anyone tried this yet?

Joe


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

fish on! said:


> I'm with Coonhound on the fluo leader. I fish a lot of clear water and the difference is huge.
> 
> Sent from my DROIDX


why not just run straight flouro line all the way?

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## Coonhound (May 12, 2008)

I do use flouro as my main line probably 90% of the time. The only time i go to braid with a flouro leader is when i'm fishing heavy cover in clear-ish water. By heavy cover, i mean flipping lilly pads or laydown timber. Even then, i only really do it when i'm expecting big fish. If the water is even the least bit off color, i don't even bother with the leader. If i do use one, i use one that is just shorter than my reel to the rod tip. That way i can pitch without the knot hanging in the rod tip eyelet.

As far as spooling an entire reel with braid, i don't have a problem with that. I do it occasionally when i don't have anything handy to run on as a backer. But i either tape the braid to the spool when i first put it on, or i run the braid through the holes in the spool itself and tie it in a double or triple overhand knot. I've never had a slippage issue doing that. Of course...you'd have to have a spool with holes in it, though. lol

I used the Suffix 832 (at least i think that's what it was) for quite awhile. There was really only one thing i didn't care for with it, and that was how much noise it made coming through the eyelets on the rod. For some reason it was really noisy. It also seemed to make "wind knots" at the rod tip if i threw something heavy and hard...it would just bust off mid-cast, sending my bait about 300 meters downrange. LOL


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## nitsud (May 22, 2010)

I had a similar problem and found my tip guide had some nasties on it. What makes braid super sensitive (no stretch) also makes it have no shock resistance, and it's also very thin diameter, which makes it catch on even small defects in guides.

Not saying your guides are messed up, but it's something to check if you are getting alot of wind knots or unintended super-long distance casts...


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

FISHIN216 said:


> why not just run straight flouro line all the way?
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


I want to be able to see my line when I'm dead sticking senkos, flukes, creature baits ect. but I don't want the fish seeing it. Also braid has no memory, and lasts forever. I can use a lighter weight leader, and if I have to break off, I only lose a few feet of line.


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

a few other things to remember. the shorter your leader is, the easier it is to break. floro and mono becomes MUCH easier to break when its attached to braid as the leader is the weak link regardless of what lb test you are running, and that is magnified when you shorten the leader to a few feet.

a well tied connection knot will go through your guides with ease. your leader should be long enough that if you need to retie multiple times (you will) then you wont have to retie a connector knot (blood, albright, whatever you like). i recomend your leader should be about a foot to 2 feet longer then your rod.

no stretch line is a blessing and a curse. if you got cheap rods, then you might love the feel of braid and think its sensitive. it is sensitive but i would rather, any day of the week, be using a G Loomis rod with floro then a ugly stick with braid. 


bottom line, it has major weaknesses and major strengths, if you learn to maximize the strengths and use the braid when its necessary then you will catch alot more fish, lose alot less fish, get bit far more often and become more versatile at catching fish. 

there are tools for every type of fishing, using braid for cranking is like trying to loosen a 9/16ths nut with a pair of vice grips. just like using mono for frog fishing is like using a screwdriver as a chisel. those tools might get the job done from time to time, but using the right tools is alot more efficient, more reliable and you will have better success.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

lordofthepunks said:


> a few other things to remember. the shorter your leader is, the easier it is to break. floro and mono becomes MUCH easier to break when its attached to braid as the leader is the weak link regardless of what lb test you are running, and that is magnified when you shorten the leader to a few feet.
> 
> a well tied connection knot will go through your guides with ease. your leader should be long enough that if you need to retie multiple times (you will) then you wont have to retie a connector knot (blood, albright, whatever you like). i recomend your leader should be about a foot to 2 feet longer then your rod.
> 
> ...


My friend Punk makes alot of excellent points and they way he fishes this is the right way to do things...he is a Professional Bass fisherman and fishes technically sound..this is how he makes his living...and he fishes from a boat in a perfect world...I'm on the other end of the spectrum, a fun loving, efficient angler (lazy), who just enjoys being out and catching fish!

I bank fish alot from rivers and all around my home lake, I know where fish are at any given time and usually catch fish all year round. I also go out with friends on their boats as I save money for my new one! 
When walking the bank I need a good all around pole, line, and reel for everything I'm going to run into, sometimes I have to walk through woods, hills, rocks, etc so I travel light. My line of choice is Samurai Braid in 20lb (2lb dia) on my M pole and reel, it allows me to catch Crappie, Walleye, Cats, and Bass. Once I learned how to use it and hybridize braid, I can now swim jigs, bounce lures off the bottom, or use cranks, because of it's small diameter which offers little water resistance or I can fish in heavy cover, along the rocks, topwater, and not lose alot of lures. When I stay close to my truck or fish in a boat, sometimes I'll take my UL with 18 lb braid (1.5lb dia) or my MH pole with 55lb (8lb dia). But I still use braid because I have learned it's strengths and how to eliminate the very few weaknesses it has. One of the major keys of using braid is to set your drag loose for heavy hitters, the pole, reel, and the need to set the hook...not a Olympic winning "highlight reel" Professional hookset!


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## markfish (Nov 22, 2007)

i have used the spider wire for years the old red and black box they dont make any more so i picked up sone 40lb,sulflex moss green and its great cast good no back lashing like the littler braid does and it dont cut into its self on the spool,it was 15.00 at gander,mountain for 150 yards thats enough for to bait casters and i use that cheep stren from walley word big spools 1500 yards 15lb.test for backer ,and if i use a leader i use stren floro 12lb,and the the the sergin slip knot its easy and tought to break and small .for easy casting,got lots of fish out of some mighty thick weed with so far no complaints, and it help me take 4th place in my last two tournaments cause i was fishing in places nobody was will to get into,so 15.00 doller line has put 1300.00 buckes in my pocket in less than month,so you do the math,i love this new braid the power pro is good to but just out of my price range for now,markfish


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## fish on! (Oct 15, 2009)

I most definitely fish in a very cost effective manner. My boat is an "at least it gets me on the water" sort, and some of my tackle has come from garage sales. To me a brand new shiny Ugly Stick is something to look forward to. 
I use braid as my main line, and I find the more I use it the more comfortable I become. I have learned its strength and limitations, and this knowledge translates into me being a better fisherman. 
Less expensive doesn't necessarily mean less enjoyment, I get out there and whip the water into a froth, grinning all the while. 
I fish on the same water, under the same sky, and go after the same fish as everyone else. I guess the fun is just in the fishing.


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## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

lordofthepunks said:


> a few other things to remember. the shorter your leader is, the easier it is to break. floro and mono becomes MUCH easier to break when its attached to braid as the leader is the weak link regardless of what lb test you are running, and that is magnified when you shorten the leader to a few feet.
> 
> a well tied connection knot will go through your guides with ease. your leader should be long enough that if you need to retie multiple times (you will) then you wont have to retie a connector knot (blood, albright, whatever you like). i recomend your leader should be about a foot to 2 feet longer then your rod.
> 
> ...


Agreed completely!! There is no silver bullet! That is why I only have one rod with braid on it.


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## Intimidator (Nov 25, 2008)

fish on! said:


> I most definitely fish in a very cost effective manner. My boat is an "at least it gets me on the water" sort, and some of my tackle has come from garage sales. To me a brand new shiny Ugly Stick is something to look forward to.
> I use braid as my main line, and I find the more I use it the more comfortable I become. I have learned its strength and limitations, and this knowledge translates into me being a better fisherman.
> Less expensive doesn't necessarily mean less enjoyment, I get out there and whip the water into a froth, grinning all the while.
> I fish on the same water, under the same sky, and go after the same fish as everyone else. I guess the fun is just in the fishing.


You, my friend, have figured it out!


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