Good braided line?

After seeing the mooch shore-fishing on 20# test braided (equivalent of 6# mono thickness), I'm planning on respooling my freshwater rigs with a light braided line to provide break-resistance as well as better feedback (less stretch).

Does anyone have any suggestions on a good brand/model of line that you have found works?  Also, suggestions on knots to attach it to conventional leaders?  Do I have to tie it with special knots at all?

Thanks!

Joel - I've been using the Power Pro brand (even for salmon,rockfish and halibut) I use a uni knot or even a palomar. I believe the box container of the spool has knot recomendations.

I'm becoming a big fan of braided lines - half of my reels are now loaded with (20#) Power Pro as main line and I just tie 5 ft. of mono or fourocarbon at the end as leader (lines are connected by a uni to uni knot). And I can switch the leader strenght depending on what I'm fishing for (from bluegills to halibut) 

By the way, I tie a 4 ft. leader with 6 # flourocarbon line at the end of my 20# power pro for the Perch fishing set-up. I 've noticed that the flourocarbon line does not curl up as much (and tangle with the main line) compared to mono.

power pro is the one I've been using and I like it 
there is a lot of other braided line out there but the guy at the tackle shop pointed out that Power Pro is very round which helps it spool better and something else.(I forgot what) if you get yellow as your main line you can mark it with a sharpie ever 10 ft.with red and every 50 ft. with black and then you have some built in depth ref. on your line. I thought that was pretty cool. As you mentioned very little line stretch and almost no line memory. Mooch mentioned mono leader and there is defiantly times you are going to want to use mono (glad to hear it doesn't tangle as much) but I have to say that this braided line works real well as leader too. It's very limp and thin so for catfishing or sturgeon it works great. I don't know for a fact but this braided line seems like it would be more abrasion  resistant              wow I starting to feel like I'm a factory rep.  it's good stuff

I like braid too. I don't know about for spinning reels sometimes a little spring is good there
like you get with mono.  also it can be hard on guides, again, cheap spinning rods might suffer a little.
I'm sticking with mono for BSP's for now.

I've used FINS braid 30# green. super limp. no coating. works well.

Also 20lb fireline, this is the same thickness @ 30lb FINS equal to 8lb mono, it has a coating
which makes it a little thicker, rounder and stiffer. maybe better for a spinning rod.

I've used 20lb tuflock XP (?), I wound it on a reel just to transfer it to another reel,
but the reel didnt have any anti slip. somehow the line got loose, and it got tangled.
I had to cut it off, $20 worth of line and a PITA to boot.  .

I have a spool of power pro 30lb in reserve. it looks a lot like the FINS, maybe a tiny
bit stiffer and rounder.

If you put it on an old baitcaster, make sure you have some mono backing, or put some
tape on the spool so that the line doesn't slip. As mono can stretch it basically grips the
spool better (and can actually crush it if the mono is heavy test and loaded on there
super tightly).

On all the reels I have spectra on, I use Power Pro 20#.  I also have mono backing as loading up a full spool with Spectra can be expensive as it takes a lot of line, most of which would never come off the reel.  I'd be happy with 100 yards of spectra topshot, which will last quite a while for how I use it, even if I'm cutting off the ends every now and then.   To join to mono to spectra I use a uni to uni knot and I double over the spectra before tying.  When I didn't double it, I found the knot was weaker because I think the fine diameter of the spectra cut the mono.

-Allen
 

I use a uni to uni knot and I double over the spectra before tying.  When I didn't double it, I found the knot was weaker because I think the fine diameter of the spectra cut the mono.

bradah - you're gonna have to show me how you do this - although none of my uni to uni knots have failed me (yet) - I'd rather be sure that it will never happen. You just never know when you have a "once-in-a-life-time-fish" at the end of your line  IMO: A fish lost to a weak knot is a poor excuse - it should only happen once (as a lesson learned) - hopefully 

Just fold the spectra over on itself and tie like you would normally,  only the spectra has 2 strands instead of one.  It's a bit more painful as you still need to keep the windings aligned.  But this should not be a knot you need to tie on the water very often.

In fact, I recall an article in one of the rags some years ago that tested all sorts of mono knots and when doubling over the mono, every last one of them was stronger than only using the single line.  This was for 30# line and lower.  The article explained that this prevents the knots from cutting into themselves.  Something to think about ...

Oh and of course, wet all your knots!

-Allen

20# PowerPro spool sitting on the counter right next to me right now...  thanks for all the advice!

but I have to say that this braided line works real well as leader too. It's very limp and thin so for catfishing or sturgeon it works great. I don't know for a fact but this braided line seems like it would be more abrasion  resistant              wow I starting to feel like I'm a factory rep.  it's good stuff

Actualy specta has tarable abrasion restance.  If it is tight and rubs aganst a rock it will break very very easily.  while it would work as catfish leader you dont want to use it  as leader for toothy, scaly or spikey fish.

I tie a short mono topshot to my spectra with a modified albright knot because I cant find a knot that retains much line stranght when tighed strait to spectra.  the uni is about the best at about 50-75% knot strength in my experince.

Check this knot out, and try not to get sidetracked by what a fishing kite is:

http://www.fishingkites.co.nz/fishingknots/spectra_fishing_line.html

Sure enough, I got sidetracked.

I haven't found much difference between the superlines, they've all got a spectra core, so their physical attributes are about the same.  There are some coated lines that are thicker and maybe more abbrasion resistant, but I'm not fond of them because they're thicker.

Something to keep in mind is that spectra won't strech, so a fish that fights vigorously should at least have a few feet of mono as a shock absorber to prevent the line from snapping.  I try to us a more limber rod with superlines too.

My favorite braided line is whatever is on sale at the time. I personally change my line quite frequently so 'sale' is my favorite line. I have been using Remington lately and have had no complaints.
I was told while fishing a bass tournament that the best knot to tie with braided line is a double Palomar. Instead of folding the line on top of itself and passing it through the eye of your swivel or hook or whatever you are connecting, you fold it over itself, then fold it over itself again before passing it through the eye. It is a little more difficult to get the hang of it as you have 2 strands of line for your loop instead of one, but it holds braided line a lot better than one loop. Mono doesnt seem to make a difference.

.

Actually specta has tarable abrasion resistance.  If it is tight and rubs against a rock it will break very very easily

I'm guessing Specta or is it Spectra is the same basic product as Power Pro?  How come these line company's don't get honest about the down side of stuff? yeh yeh I know SALES!
Just curios: How do you know this, first hand knowledge?       thanks in advance Goldenarrow 

I know from working with the stuff every day. I work in a takle store and I wind about 1000 yds of it a week.  Actualy you can use a very short spectra leader tied to a long heavy mono leader for sturgeon you just dont want the spectra long enough to touch the sharp points on the side. 

There are aplacations were it is great but there are also aplications were it doesent work well.  I like to use it for rockfishing or any time I am fishing in the kelp.

It is hard to cut limp but if you put tension on it and touch it with a sharp object it cuts easily.

power pro, fins, and tuf line are about the same stren uses a finer weve and is rounder but more expensive.  fireline is flat and uses alot of wax and when the wax weres off it starts to frey so I dont like it much.  p-line braid is similar to power pro and the others but it uses a hevy wax coating.