What is on your spool?

25 lb and 35 lb braid for everything from rockfish to hali and in between, with mono/fluero leader (30 to 50 lb).

Peace, y'all

Braid is awesome for the deep stuff but most of my rockfishing is in the shallows so i prefer 15# straight mono and freswater bass rods.

In the deep stuff I use 20# and 30# braid with a ten foot mono leader. after a few years of use you can flip the braid around so you get to use the unused end of the spool.

The big advantage to me is the small diameter allows you to use a two oz swimbait in 100 feet of water. If u bump up to eighty pound you lose that advantage.



-Eliot

after a few years of use you can flip the braid around so you get to use the unused end of the spool.

Yes! After a year of abuse, I'll simply reel the braid onto another reel, so the fresh/unmolested line is on top of the spool now...normally I get 2-3 seasons out of my braid. PowerPro for baitcasters and Spiderwire Stealth for spinners. I prefer 30 or 50lb braid and 30lb Berk Big Game mono for rockies & lings. The differences between 30 and 50lb braid is minimal. But you will notice a difference between 50 and 80lb braid (in terms of castability, usability, and fishing/trolling deep).
Jimbo, you s/b using a mono leader because it provides much better abrasion resistance. Go rub some braid on an exposed mussel bed and see how fast it breaks. Now do the same with 25 or 30lb mono. I just tie up a handful of dropper-loop rigs in 4ft sections, and connect it directly to the braid w/a barrel swivel. This way, it's easy to swap leaders on the water w/out retying & puking.
See ya in 2 weeks!

I'm going to threadjack a bit if good ole Doctor Jimbo doesn't mind and ask what kind of braid people are using.  I know there are some older threads regarding this, but are most people still using Power Pro or Suffix?  I'm looking to re-spool and am not all the knowledgeable when it comes to braid.

Michael,
Any of the name brands would do a great job for rock fish,
However if you are planning on casting a lure the suffix is more round and easier to control during the cast.

See Ya Soon,
Eric / Yakhopper

Very good to know, thanks Eric!

30 lb braid and 25 lb mono that will switched to braid this week. 

I fish 50# braid for most everything. Light salt spinning is 15 mono.
50 is the highest I feel comfortable breaking off plus it is not as knife like as 30#.
Even my deep water pacific halibut rig is 50# ... just 600 yards of it.

30 lb braid 25 lb flouro leader.

I use the same 

30lb Braid 20lbs Mono Leader...

Straight Gamma 20 and 30# mono. I don't use braid anymore mostly because I suck at splicing and cannot justify the use of a swivel when it affects jig action. The braid also had more of a tendency to wrap up on the tip compared to the mono. I also have an easier time flipping the mono off the tip when it does wind around it. I love the sensitivity of the braid but I lost more than a few jig fish to wrapped tips and no stretch line. The braid also seems to cut my fingers like butter at the end of the day. I can re-rig all day as well without worrying about my topshot/leader running out. Tying leader rigs on the yak at sea is no fun.

The Gamma is awesome line and if it's nick free it will almost not break. It does stretch a lot though and isn't cheap. I change it once a season. Ande is a close second and all others except izorline are crap in my book. Haven't tried the izor yet in 20 or 30# but I LOVE the 6# I bought.

-Tim         

I also use 30 lbs braid like many others here. 80 lbs is definitely too sketchy for me, but LingKing uses 80 lbs braid when he yak fishes without much problem whatsoever.

Since people said that there isn't much difference between 30 and 50, I'm looking to try the 50 braid on a rod or two for this rockfish season. Last year, I had 2 mysterious train runs into the kelp that I had no chance at all with the 30. I'm hoping the 50 will hold up better and maybe give me an upper hand to land that sucker net time 

50lb braid with about 50yds of 80lb mono backing

Next question. If my reel holds 450yds of 30# braid. How much backing and how much braid should I actually use? It acually says 300 or so  of 17# mono I believe, so the 450 is just a guess.

For Rockfish? You'd be hard pressed to ever use more than 200yds. So when you get the reels spooled a good shop should know how much mono to use to leave you with 200 -250 yrds of braid