HOW MUCH BRAID?

[LTM]

Guys,

How much braid do you put on your reels for:

Spinning reels?

Small round bait casters like Calcutta 300TE for fishing plastics with 10-12#?

Abu 5500 for 12-15#?

Bait fishing with a Daiwa SL20SH for 12-15#?

Bait fishing with a 3/0 size reel for 20-40#?

Jigging reel with a 3/0 size reel for 25/30#?

Avet LX6/3 for jigging & bait with 40#?

Jigging reel with a 113h YTS for 40/50#?

Penn 113h standard for trolling/bottom fishiing for 60#?

Daiwa 600h for trolling & bottom fishing for 80/100#?

Avet EX4/0-2 standard (not wide) for trolling & bait for 80/100#?

Please state what length top shots and reason(s) why.  For 60# braid and above I plan to use hollow core braid and solid for less than 60#.

Thanx in advance for your comments on this COSTLY matter that Im considering,

Leo

[Keta]

It depends on what the reel is primarily used for.  My trolling reels are full with 100' 80lb mono topshots, the rest of my reels can only take a 20'-50' mono topshot of the appropriate weight.

[maxpowers]

LTM,

If you are in Southern California, Turner's is having a great deal on their 80 lbs hollowcore.  I got a 600 yards spool for $75 plus tax.  From the reviewers on BD, they really like the Seaguar as much as Jerry Brown..  I am hoping they will have some of the 50 and 60 lbs spools available this week.

[LTM]

Maxpowers, that sounds like a good deal, and yes I live in socal. Hope the Seaguar is a quality braid that does well for you, just cant afford ANY at the moment (still upgrading reels for the time being).

Lee, I listed the applications on each line item. When I state "bait" Im referring to live bait fishing (here in socal). Please take a moment to review my post for I appreciate your comments.

Thanx guys,

Leo

PS If youd like, just state for instance: 3/0 bait reels x amount of braid with x amount of top shot. Thanx

[maxpowers]

LTM

You can get a spool of 1500 yrs solid and splice on a short hollow loop or maybe 50-100 yds of the hollow braid.  I like Sufix 80 lbs test and you can get a 1500 yds spool for about $140 or so.  That was what I did with my Baja Special.  Added the hollow and splice on a topshot of 50 yds of 60 lbs mono.

[Keta]

I'm not familiar with the line capacity of those reels and I don't use a line counter when I spool a reel. 

Small round bait casters like Calcutta 300TE for fishing plastics with 10-12#?
Abu 5500 for 12-15#?
Bait fishing with a Daiwa SL20SH for 12-15#?
Bait fishing with a 3/0 size reel for 20-40#?
Jigging reel with a 3/0 size reel for 25/30#?
Avet LX6/3 for jigging & bait with 40#?
Jigging reel with a 113h YTS for 40/50#?

For the above 10' topshots

Penn 113h standard for trolling/bottom fishiing for 60#?
Daiwa 600h for trolling & bottom fishing for 80/100#?
Avet EX4/0-2 standard (not wide) for trolling & bait for 80/100#?

10'-20' for bottom fishing, 100' for trolling

[LTM]

Thanx Lee

[LTM]

OK, lets look at it another way!

Back in the days of fishing ALL/mostly mono, the rule of thumb for reels in the 3/0 size (ie Torium 30/40/50, SL30SH, etc) was 300/350 yards of desired test line. Do you STILL use this rule of thumb for braid TODAY and if not WHY/WHEN? Do you want more capacity on this size reel and if so why/what purpose(s)?

For the larger class reels (4/0 to 6/0, 40-80#) sizes, when is it NECESSARY/PRACTICAL to spool up with more than 500 yrds/meters of braid and WHY? In regards to these times of needing more than 500 yds of line, how much line would you like to have on the reel? What's your MINIMUM amount of line for these larger reels?

Do you NOW attempt to spool your spinning reels with the same capacity of line as your similar sized conventional reels?

[Keta]

Do you STILL use this rule of thumb for braid TODAY and if not WHY/WHEN?

No, I don't.

Do you want more capacity on this size reel and if so why/what purpose(s)?

I fish small reels for large fish, like Shimano Calcutta 51's for steelhead and need the extra line.  I also fish deep for halibut (600'-800") and do not want to deal with the weight of a reel heavier than a narrowed 114H or standard 349H.  On my smaller reels I sometimes only use 10'-30' of Dacron, on my 51's none.

For the larger class reels (4/0 to 6/0, 40-80#) sizes, when is it NECESSARY/PRACTICAL to spool up with more than 500 yrds/meters of braid....

It depends on what the reel is being used for, most of my reels have a lot of Dacron under the Spectra, my large tuna reels are filled with 100% spectra.  The reels I use for deep halibut fishing have 500 yards of spectra on top of whatever amount of Dacron it takes to top off the spool, it's important to have the spool filled.

What's your MINIMUM amount of line for these larger reels?

The reel needs to be full but Spectra only around 30% more than I expect to have out of the reel, Dacron is cheaper and makes good backing.

Do you NOW attempt to spool your spinning reels with the same capacity of line as your similar sized conventional reels?

What's a spinning reel?  

[LTM]

Thanx Lee.

[Ron Jones]

I go about it with a totally different mentality. Today, with better line / drags et all, you put together a rig the way you need it. I have a Penn 112H with a Newell wide kit with a hex drag insert and as much stainless as I can get. I put a 300 yard spool of 65 pound braid on it and then filled the rest with 60 pound mono. That is roughly five hundred yards of line which is enough capacity for what I need this reel to do. If I was going to fish deep or bigger fish with this reel then I'd spend the money to fill the whole thing with braid and get the extra capacity. You need to figure out what capacity of drag / line you need for what you are doing and then build a reel to fit.
Ron

[floating doc]

Another reason to have more capacity than you might need for the longest running fish you might encounter: when something runs off a lot of line, if most of the spool is still relatively full, your drag setting isn't as affected like it would be if the spool were much lower.

I don't know if this matters, but it's something that came to me as I read  this discussion. 

[Ron Jones]

That is a very valid point Doc. However, I know some guys that don't mind losing line quickly in order to incrementally increase drag as the fish runs. Again, you just have to figure out what you want in a reel, today the designers intention really isn't necessarily a consideration.
Ron

[MuskyFishing]

LTM,

If you are in Southern California, Turner's is having a great deal on their 80 lbs hollowcore.  I got a 600 yards spool for $75 plus tax.  From the reviewers on BD, they really like the Seaguar as much as Jerry Brown..  I am hoping they will have some of the 50 and 60 lbs spools available this week.

OK BUT ..Hollow takes more space. I think he wants to have more line than less.

[maxpowers]

for most reel, if you can get 350-400 yards of braid backing on that should be more than enough.