Been Too EMMBARESSED TO ASK...

[maxpowers]

Just a tip, don't know how yer fishin but usually with braid, sharp hooks, and right timing you can hook a fish just by reeling and applying pressure. Jerking the hook tears the mouth of the fish if you rip 'em to hard . . . .

Typically i fished circle hook and let the fish hooked themselves.   However with heavy drag, as I engaged the gear the hook sometime get pulled..With mono I am able to get that bit of stretch to let the hook buried itself in the corner of the mouth..

[day0ne]

All my reels except a small spinner, have braid. I know the left coast guys look at things a bit different, but I don't run long topshots  or long leaders. On my casting reels, the  leader usually stays out of the guides (3-4 feet). On all others, a  25 ft wind on is used because that is how they come and it gives me a little to cut off. As I understand it, the reason the left coast guys like long topshots is it is usually the mono that tangles up and is easier to untangle. As far as cuts, etc, the only problem I have is with my left thumb that I guide the line on the reel with, and that is only after it has been wet awhile. A little tape or a glove fixes that. Most of the horror stories you hear about braid are just that, stories. The old original Spectra did have cutting problems etc, but most of that has been corrected with new braiding techniques. The new stuff is a lot softer. I have both old and new and can tell the difference. BTW, the Spectra doesn't actually abrade on a swivel. The bending around the ring breaks the individual fibers. The bigger the ring, the less it breaks. That is why  I weld a bigger solid ring to the swivel. It helps. Knots can be a problem. Some mono knots don't work well at all in Spectra because the Spectra is so slippery. You may have to learn a few new knots but the best way is to use hollow spectra and use splices when ever you can. Probably the biggest problem with Spectra is getting it packed on a reel correctly. I've never found a BassPro or Cabela's that knew how. It has to be packed tight. I do my own for that reason.

[maxpowers]

Day,

I typically spooled what I need onto a donor like a 6/0 or something.  Set about 4-6 lbs of drag and reel the line onto my intended reel.  It is packed tight and solid as a rock..

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Day,

I typically spooled what I need onto a donor like a 6/0 or something.  Set about 4-6 lbs of drag and reel the line onto my intended reel.  It is packed tight and solid as a rock..

Try wet packing it with the same technique

[floating doc]

There was a video on the Florida Sportman site that showed a pro bass fisherman spooling braid by setting the spool in a bucket of water.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I soak mine in water from anywhere to an hour to over night, then pack it on as tight as possible. it dries and shrinks rock solid

[Keta]

Keta,

I just felt that you are more likely to pull hooks with such a short topshot.  Obviously s you moved up on the breaking strength the fish get bigger and have more meat to hold the hook in.  When I was fishing bluefin on the 1-3 days SD fleet this summer I saw a lot of hooks got pulled on those who fished short topshot while the ones fishing longer top shot (10 yards or so) or mono had solid hook set.  I myself experience the same thing thus I switched over to a 20-50 yards mono topshot and did much better.

Use a slightly softer and longer rod (6-1/2' to 7'),  I rarely pull hooks.  I got in a hurry during a hot bite and used a 3' topshot to land a YFT in the 160lb range.

[Dynamo]

I don't really know anything about tuna fishing, but the circle should set deep in the jaw and not pull. Do tunas have soft mouths?

[philaroman]

Osiris, you made a very common Forum mistake for an angler contemplating switching to braid -- you asked a question that is MUCH too general!  IMHO, there's absolutely no way that each braid property can be addressed with due emphasis & detail in a single Forum thread...  at least, not for every application, at once.  Some aspects that are more open to debate, will do just that -- start a debate that runs away and is hard to process (e.g., top shots); while others that are more second-nature, yet critical, will be overlooked completely (e.g., arbor slippage -- http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=970.0).

PE is a completely different base material for fishing line; it has characteristics that are drastically different from nylon; EVERYTHING YOU DO, may need to be modified accordingly & is best addressed in separate Forum Topics.  Bryan gave you a good, brief, concise summary, but each pro/con he mentioned is, in itself, an old-post research subject... just too much to process.  Best way to avoid both, the headache of all-encompassing research AND the hassles/expense of learning by trial & error, is to DELINEATE: describe the rod, reel, rig & knots you plan to use for a given application & you'll get advice specific to your immediate needs.  That way, you'll have a much better chance of using braid correctly, successfully, AND ECONOMICALLY first time out...  then, you can branch out to other techniques & on-line research is more effective when it relates to some real-life experience

[Keta]

Do tunas have soft mouths?

No they don't.  I use Spectra for soft mouthed kokanee too.

[Dynamo]

Thought so. I use straight spectra for all kinds of things, many species also w. thinner softer mouths, and I've never had an issue. . . .

[0119]

To the original poster, if you've used nothing but mono and been basically content with it why change?  I find braid to be nothing but negative. Every aspect of it.  I've bought so much of it trying to like it and get used to it, I could've made a house payment!  For fifty years mono served me well and its stretch never cost me a fish. Braids lack of stretch has cost me lots of fish during the fight.  Braids cost me a lot of fish due to its pitiful lack of abrasive strength. Braid has cost me a lot of terminal tackle due to its totally unforgiving nature to a less than a perfect knot. An important issue if you do not have the luxury of fishing out of a boat, fish at night, have to tie a knot as you stand in a hoard of mangrove bred mosquitos or suffer from middle aged eye syndrome.

To those of you who think you are getting years of service from your braid, there are now indications that braid loses a lot of strength even after less than a year of use and exposure.  Remember there's more to strength than just its pulling ability.

Falling into the braid is everything camp is just the same as falling for having the latest is greatest in reels.  Its simply falling prey to manufacturers marketing men who in todays business model, dictate what you want and manipulate the angler into thinking he wants what the manufacturer can make and get the most profit at selling.  Not something that's going to last for ever, but something built by engineers to include planned obsolescence.

[broschro]

love braid line, i have caught alot of fish in dense cover and pulled um out because i use it.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I don't see braid or mono going obsolete, I will always need both until they make a braid that ca stand up to sand bars with shells

[Keta]

Falling into the braid is everything camp is just the same as falling for having the latest is greatest in reels.  Its simply falling prey to manufacturers marketing men who in todays business model, dictate what you want and manipulate the angler into thinking he wants what the manufacturer can make and get the most profit at selling.  Not something that's going to last for ever, but something built by engineers to include planned obsolescence.

Before Spectra I used a lot of Dacron, Spectra is far superior to Dacron and mono for most of my used.  If you put a section of mono or Fluor on the end of your braid it lasts for many years.  Spectra is not the answer to all of our fishing requirements but it fills most of mine quite well, from trolling for kokanee to flylining live bait for large YFT.   I would NEVER go back to mono for deep water bottom fishing or drifting for steelhead.

With Spectra where do you come up with "planned obsolescence"?  I've spooled reels used on charter boats that are used constantly and they have had the same line on them for over 5 years.