# How much braided line do you put on your Surf Reels?



## Baran013 (Sep 19, 2002)

That is if you use braided line. Over the weekend I was talking to someone who was going to purchase a 500 yard spool of 50 lbs powerpro to fill their surf reel. When I said that I usually only put on 150 yards they looked at me like I was out of my mind. At least I talking them into backwrapping a few yards of mono before adding the braided. 

Ironically, without knowing what they were putting the line on, it might not fill the entire spool since it's roughly the diameter of 12 lb mono. 

I've seen people who do a fair amount of bottom fishing from boats use large5 amounts of braided, but that's usually for deep drops where you wish you had an electric reel. 

Out of curiosity how much do you put on your surf reels?


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

250 yds. of 30lb. on an ABU 5500CT.


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## ReelinRod (May 29, 2003)

I use braid exclusively on all my spinning setups. I try to keep at least 300 yards on them with whatever amount of mono backing that brings the line to a nearly flush fill. 

I use 20lb PowerPro for a running line with a 50 or 65 lb PowerPro casting leader on my distance setups.

Some mono backing is good to keep the braid from slipping on the spool.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Same as Sgt,on all my spinners. Also use it as backing on conventionals. On some of the smaller reels with lower capasity,it's nice to have the smaller diameter braid as backing. It also will last many yrs at the bottom of the spool like that. By having it down there,your refils of mono are kept to a minimum. Simply tie on a knot mono to braid,refile in half the time with half the line and have more line capasity on the reel..


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## Ganina (Nov 18, 2005)

We used to add mono backing on our Muskie reals before the braided line. We would fill them about half way with mono then fill the real the rest of the way with braided. We did that until a few years ago ,when my brother lost a +50" muskie by the boat because his dragged slipped . When we got back to resort a fisherman told us it was because of the mono that caused the reals drag to slip .His drag was set tight. We now fill our reals full with 50# Spectron braided line. Now I know with saltwater reals this might be expensive with the larger capacities.

Also is it alright to use braided line while fishing on piers?


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## bluerunner (Jun 30, 2003)

i've never heard of mono making the drag slip. Depends on what you are using it for and where you are at on whether it is frowned on or not at the pier. I am not a fan of it when king fishing just cause i've had my anchor line cut by it before.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

> Also is it alright to use braided line while fishing on piers?


 There is almost no give to braid even with a soft tipped rod. I wouldn't be useing braid off a pier because the hooks may pull out of a king..


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## Advisor (Jan 12, 2003)

Ganina said:


> a fisherman told us it was because of the mono that caused the reals drag to slip .His drag was set tight. We now fill our reals full with 50# Spectron braided line. Now I know with saltwater reals this might be expensive with the larger capacities.
> 
> Also is it alright to use braided line while fishing on piers?


There is no earthly reason for the mono to cause the drag to slip any more than the braid. You should use at least 10 wraps of mono on the reel to firmly fasten the line to the spool. There are several knots that can be used to tie the mono and braid together. If you're fishing and something takes you down to the mono through your drag, either you had your drag set wrong or you had a whopper!!
So far as braid on piers, I have never heard of a pier not allowing braid. Some fishermen claim that the braid cuts lines. I don't know, for sure, if that's right. I cast straight out and if someone casts over me and gets his line cut ... sorry about that If someone tells you that you can't use it, check with the pier personnel.

Good luck


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## Ganina (Nov 18, 2005)

Thank you.The lack of line stretch with braided line is why I am going to use mono.Both of my rods are fairly soft tipped. When my brother lost that Muskie there wasn't much line out from his rod. His real was a Calcutta.Perhaps his drag was'nt as tight as he thought it was. I still remember when that Muskie came out of the weeds and hit his bucktail. That fish was the biggest Muskie I have seen in 10 years of fishing Lake Of The Woods.


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## bluerunner (Jun 30, 2003)

Advisor said:


> So far as braid on piers, I have never heard of a pier not allowing braid. Some fishermen claim that the braid cuts lines. I don't know, for sure, if that's right. I cast straight out and if someone casts over me and gets his line cut ... sorry about that If someone tells you that you can't use it, check with the pier personnel.
> 
> Good luck


I know for a fact that it does cut it, someone with braid on their fighting rod hooked a king and as it was running it sliced through my anchor line like a hot knife through butter. I also don't know of any piers that forbid it, but there might be some where the regulars don't like it and will give you a hard time if you use it. I personally do not like it when people use it king fishing. It was a pain having to respool my anchor rod with kings and spanish biting pretty regular


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

bluerunner said:


> I know for a fact that it does cut it, someone with braid on their fighting rod hooked a king and as it was running it sliced through my anchor line like a hot knife through butter. I also don't know of any piers that forbid it, but there might be some where the regulars don't like it and will give you a hard time if you use it. I personally do not like it when people use it king fishing. It was a pain having to respool my anchor rod with kings and spanish biting pretty regular


 I don't know if it cuts through mono like butter,any worse than mono cuts mono like butter,BR.. Not saying it will or won't but I can give you quite a few examples of mono cutting mono. Was catching an albert on 6 tourney andie yrs ago,it was running and it cut through 150mono that was hanging off a pinrig like a knife..  IMHO,the line that is moving will usually cut the standing line. I am with you on this though,cause when the stuff is in a tangle it's close to impossible to figure it out.. It also has no stretch,which in fishing for kings,ain't good..  All in all kind of impractical for that use. 

Rodanthe Pier in NC has signs on the end saying no braid allowed..


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

I will say this when I'm fishing bait I say no to braid. When I'm fishing lures I will use it when I think it is right. And right now I have three spools that need soorting out for various reasons(including somebdy winding my braid up into his spool). Tomorrow will be a busy morning. By the way they belong to the same reel.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

braid will cut line, fingers ,etc...if its on a lure only rod i think its fine as long as you have the room and will not tangle anyone up...it a bear to to un tangle on a pier and if i have mono and get tangled by someone with braid...cut the braid...mono is easier to deal with and cheaper...


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## hsstie (Sep 8, 2005)

Sgt_Slough said:


> Some mono backing is good to keep the braid from slipping on the spool.


Or you can do what i did and just wrap some electrical tape around the spool first before you put the braid on. since i did that my braid never spins on the spool anymore.


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## MRLsurfisher (Jul 10, 2005)

*braided line?????*

ok huge question here as i was reading through this thread i was begining to wonder why use braided doesn't it have a weaker knot strength than mono lines?(speaking from same type of knot pov.) 

i'm just not seeing the reason as to why using braided line would help is it more sensitive to bites or that i know whenever i'm surf fishing i have trouble feeling the difference between a bite and the tide. allthough i guees that might be because i mainly use a bottom rig set up.


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

MRLsurfisher said:


> ok huge question here as i was reading through this thread i was begining to wonder why use braided doesn't it have a weaker knot strength than mono lines?(speaking from same type of knot pov.)
> 
> i'm just not seeing the reason as to why using braided line would help is it more sensitive to bites or that i know whenever i'm surf fishing i have trouble feeling the difference between a bite and the tide. allthough i guees that might be because i mainly use a bottom rig set up.



Mono will give(stretch) with the waves, thus not dragging ur sinker in (as bad) when the waves break on your line. Also see where some people dont like it because braid doesnt give to a fishes bite and when he takes off with bait it instantly puts pressure to him, possible before eating the bait far enough for a hookset. When 'panfishing' or 'bottom' fishing it makes it a little harder to keep the line tight as mentioned earlier because the waves can break it loose easier.....My theory ive always used and not nessicarily true is....if its big enough to keep my interest and waste my time reeling in, itll make its presence known by jiggling the rod tip or knocking alot of slack in it all at once.....doesnt always hold true for the subtle biters tho.  hope this helps


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

MRLsurfisher said:


> ok huge question here as i was reading through this thread i was begining to wonder why use braided doesn't it have a weaker knot strength than mono lines?(speaking from same type of knot pov.)
> 
> i'm just not seeing the reason as to why using braided line would help is it more sensitive to bites or that i know whenever i'm surf fishing i have trouble feeling the difference between a bite and the tide. allthough i guees that might be because i mainly use a bottom rig set up.


 No doubt more sensitive. In the case of a striper taking a jig,many times it is very suttle. Works great in many instances as far as feeling a bite,including your bottom rig set up.. Another thing it is good for is the hooksets. I sightcast for drum a fair amount in the spring and summer. Braid beats mono in keeping them buttoned up.. It really seems to do the job with hooksets on jigs and such. Use the knots that work in it,bimini,uni,no-name,palamar,albright,along with a few others,and you'll have no problems with knot strength.. 
Both mono and braid have their pluses and minuses,use what works for you..


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## FeedMeSilence (Nov 21, 2005)

I thought about using braid, but have heard so many good and bad things. Sticking to mono


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