What pound braid on downrigger?

In the 12 years I salmon fished from my boats, we always ran 150-200# braid on the DR.  However on the kayak I'm thinking something much lighter (maybe 50 or 65?) would be better. I'm dragging only a 4-6# ball (not 15) and the thicker the braid the more I'm fighting resistance. I'd also like that ball to break free if it gets snagged on something...or when a thresher picks up the ball and runs as used to happen to us on the boat once a year or so.  What are you guys running and why?

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i run 150lb because i still catch myself grabbing the braid at times to adjust things or lift the ball and don't want to cut myself. The smaller braid tends to dig into itself on the scotty lake troller too, so i put a backing on it to help make the diameter bigger.

150lb is what I use too, and it's lasted a very long time.  I cut of like 10ft and re-tie the clip couple times a year.  And for some reason it was pretty cheap too.

interesting idea of putting on lighter braid for less resistance.  You could probably run 65-80 as the main line, then put a few feet of 150 just in case you want to pull by hand on the line...

I noticed a lot less blowback when i switched to braid on my boat (pulling 12# balls)...i'm sure it would be really noticeable trolling in a kayak.  Always ran SS cable on my AI for some reason (probably bc i am inherently lazy and didn't feel like switching it out)

100lb braid on mine and yes you should cut a few feet off every once in a while - lost a weight and nice chamberlain release last year due to deferred maintenance.

Cheers,
Brad

I think I use 100lb or 150lb braid.  Resistance is very, very low.  When salmon fishing I see my downrigger on my fish finder 99% of the time so not much blowback.

I also add a downrigger snubber to absorb shock and large beads where I tie the knot to prevent abrasion. 

I use 65 lb braid because I’d prefer to lose my ball rather than tip over (or on my AI, rip a hole in the side of the boat).

Whatever you do, don’t use a stainless cable. I had to cut my ball free once when a whale crossed the line. If it had been stainless instead of braid, it woulda been a disaster.

Thanks guys. Just spooled up on 100#.  Not big money, will change it if I don't like it.

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I’ve been using the same 80# with no issue the last 3 years

I’m pretty sure mine is 50lb. I may be wrong and it may be 65. But at any rate I really like using light braid on the downrigger.

Everything said above is true. Safety first.
I use 150lb braid and a 50lb on the barrel swivel at the end. The swivel connects to my 6oz ball.

On my boat I run #150.  And a Scotty Sure Stop on the bottom.   The SureStop is thick cord and allows me to leave the ball in the water when the stop on the electric is triggered and thick enough to clip on too.  If I ran a DR on my yak, which I don’t, I would put a mono around #40 length at the bottom, to avoid rolling the yak if hung up.  Same reason I run a top shot on the braid reels,

That sounds like cheap insurance adding a length of mono at the bottom!  Going to try that out when I try my DR sail trolling.  Thanks!