Question about line weight and reel specs...

[HeliosPrime]

Hey guys. I have a beginner's question about a freshwater spinning reel I just picked up. I'm pretty new to fishing, I apologize for the trivia in advance...


I'm just starting out doing some fishing during my hikes so my gear is all pretty much ultra light.


I have an "Ultra Light" spinning reel that says the line capacity is 6/150, which I'm assuming means 150 feet of 6lb test.


From what I gather, braided line has a higher breaking strength than standard line at the same thickness, right? Is there some kind of conversion factor that would tell me what the equivalent line weight would be for braided line?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Kevinb5688]

For a spinning reel u will be fine with whatever you choose. I would just use 6-8 lb maxima mono. Cheap and very good for trout. With braid you need a leader and why mess with it when your using spinning gear.
If you get a bait caster braid is a lot easier to cast. Good luck.

 

[HeliosPrime]

For a spinning reel u will be fine with whatever you choose. I would just use 6-8 lb maxima mono. Cheap and very good for trout. With braid you need a leader and why mess with it when your using spinning gear.
If you get a bait caster braid is a lot easier to cast. Good luck.

Oh, I see. So people don't usually use braided line on spinning reels? I thought braided line was just way to get more durable line that's not as prone to wearing through. I guess I need to read up on that more.

 

[Kevinb5688]

It depends on what u are doing.
If u cast for bass in thick structure then braid is good. If you trout fish open water there is no need for it. If your using ultra lite gear i figure your not going for big fish in tight cover. I would use 8-10 lb flouro. Or 6-8 lb mono with your light setup. You can try braid if you want but honestly i see no reason to with a light spinning setup. I love seguar flourocarbin, it is clear as heck and cast great.

 

[Finneus Polebender]

Have heard of a few using braid on spinning gear but agree it is more for heavy applications and bait casting reels . Almost every braid mfg. will list the mono equivalent on the package . Strength is the reason for using braid like formentioned nice when you are fishing thick snaggy cover for less observant/ aggresive fish like bass , agree that good mono or flouro will be a better bet for your application.

 

[Berg03]

I have 1 spin reel setup with braid, but thats because im catching steelhead and jetty ishing with it. My ultralights i use 4-6lb mono for farther casting distance.

 

[the_intimidator03]

I will also mention, since no one else has, that the 6/150 means 6 lb diameter( average diameter of 6 lb mono) and 150 YARDS for capacity

 

[waco]

I just don't see a point of using braid line in a ultra light!! I use 4 lbs mono in mine!! The lighter you use the funner it is!!

 

[HeliosPrime]

Good deal, I'll start out with some non-braided and see where it takes me. Thanks for the info.

 

[the_intimidator03]

any good quality 4-6 lb mono will suit you quite well just remember you can't horse them ALLLLLLL in. Best luck and welcome to the forum

 

[Tinker]

Most of the superlines - the braids and the fused lines - go down to 4-lb, test - and some go down as far as 3-pound test - so it seems they are for ultralight tackle, too. The reason for using them would seem to be that most of the "advanced" lines are a smaller diameter than an equivalent monofilament and that should mean that they're less visible in the water and have lower air- and water-resistance. It also means that you have more line on the reel in case you stumble onto something larger than what you planned.

Mono is probably the best all-round choice, and I like it best. With light tackle, and 4-6# line, I always find a way to break the line more often than I ever intended, and monofilament is a lot more economical for me.

 

[Tinker]

Oh, I see. So people don't usually use braided line on spinning reels? I thought braided line was just way to get more durable line that's not as prone to wearing through. I guess I need to read up on that more.

Braid is intended for spinning reels and trolling with a levelwind reel, not for casting with a levelwind reel. On a level-wind baitcaster, it supposedly digs in easily and causes all sorts of gremlins on subsequent casts. Don't know that as a fact, it's just what a Shimano rep told me about Power-Pro at an sporting goods show...

Braid is not stronger than any other line material. A 10-pound rated braid is supposed to break at around 10 pounds, just like any other line. If 10-pound braid broke at 20-pounds, or 15- or even 12-pounds, it wouldn't be a 10-pound rated line, would it?

 

[Socaaron]

Braid is intended for spinning reels and trolling with a levelwind reel, not for casting with a levelwind reel. On a level-wind baitcaster, it supposedly digs in easily and causes all sorts of gremlins on subsequent casts. Don't know that as a fact, it's just what a Shimano rep told me about Power-Pro at an sporting goods show...

Braid is not stronger than any other line material. A 10-pound rated braid is supposed to break at around 10 pounds, just like any other line. If 10-pound braid broke at 20-pounds, or 15- or even 12-pounds, it wouldn't be a 10-pound rated line, would it?

Another thing about using braid on your ultralight setup that has yet to be mentioned is that you're probably going to be casting small tackle, until braid gets waterlogged it likes to FLOAT which makes it harder to get your light tackle down to much depth. I've used it on my UL setup before mainly to experiment but also due to the very brushy,snaggy nature of some of the lakes I was fishing. As far as casting braid from a levelwind, what the rep told you is true IF you don't have it spooled up with tension it WILL bite into the line on your spool if you hook into something massive or get really snagged and can make future casts not so fun. As long as you spool it with a good amount of tension and have a decent amount of tension on your retrieval it can be casted fine. I use it on my Sturgeon setup so I'm reeling in 6-12oz of weight plus my bait so plenty of tension, once I figured out it's mood I haven't had a problem with it

 

[Tinker]

Good point. I only use braid on my surf setup where I have two or three ounces of weight on the line. First time I cast with a 1/4 ounce jig, I tore the PowerPro off the reel as fast as I could...

 

[Socaaron]

And one more thing I forgot to mention. Braid(well small diameter at least) has a lovely tendency to wrap around the top eye of you pole at the end of your retrieval prior to your next cast. Then when you cast say bye bye lure as it doesn't have much elastic strength and snaps. It's a annoying/easy way to lose gear. Though it's priceless the first time a buddy borrows your setup and they snap off on their cast with a look of disbelief on their face as they look to the water then the pole then you and back to the water where the lure landed..lol. Note a mono leader probably helps prevent that problem but I wasn't using one at the time

 

[DonF]

I have been a confirmed mono guy most my life but all my round casting reels have braid on them now. Fairly recently I found that the braid will dig into the spool and cause casting problems. Braid has a thing going against it as I understand. catfish guy's only use it with a long mono leader as I guess it skuff's much easier than mono on rocks and under water structure. A good thing about it is pound for pound with mono, braid is quite a bit thinner and has less drag in river current. That might be a good thing. Down side is braid is a lot more expensive than mono!

I think the OP was asking about line for UL fishing? I have several UL rod/reels and one has SOS 2# line on it and the rest 4# line. As heavy as I would put on a UL spinning is 4# LIne, my preference is Ande. I set up two low profile casting rods for bullheads and small mouth bass and both have 6# test mono, Ande, right as I can cast better with 6# over 4# with those casting reels. With that said I have no reason to go to 6# line on an UL rig. If I was to go to heavier 6# line I would also go to bigger than UL rod and reel.

 

[DonF]

Ya know, you could put 50# line on an UL reel without breaking the reel. Simply set the drag to protect the reel. You might end up with 50# line and 2# drag! Not gonna even catch a 5# fish with that set up! Then again you could put 4# line on a larger reel designed for heavier line and tighten down the drag and again your not going to do well. Thing to do buying fishing rods and reels Is get a rod and reel designed to handle line that will conform to the fish you are targeting. If your looking at 2# fish, a reel and rod that handles 4# line well should work. With that rod you will probably get smaller than you target and bigger. Bigger, depending on how much, could be a problem but smaller certainly isn't and the fish you are targeting should be not problem either. But don't go after large fish with a rod, reel and line that's simply not gonna handle the fish your after. My UL spinning rods are designed to handle crappie and would also handle small mouth bass and trout. have a couple what I call UL casting rods set up with a moderate action rod and 6# line that will handle anything from blue gills to probably largemouth bass. I have better options to largemouth bass but I like level wind casting reels! I also have rods set up for channel cats that will work well on up to 25 or 30# fish, know it because I've done it! learn to balance yout outfit, rod, reel and line to the fish you might be looking for!

 

[DonF]

Oh, I see. So people don't usually use braided line on spinning reels? I thought braided line was just way to get more durable line that's not as prone to wearing through. I guess I need to read up on that more.

I went to braid on my round casting reels. But I also use a fairly short leader tied onto a swivel. Does cast better usually than mono but found a problrm. The line get wet and digs down into the spool creating a casting problem. Might just be the wt line, 20#. Seems the problem is the line is to fine and when wet slippery. On a spinning reel I only use mono line and seldom over 4#. Mostly my spin fishing is for crappie any more but fished for trout a lot with 4# years ago. My son on the other hand, uses pretty much only spinniung and he has on braid. he likes it and with the line simply falling off the reel probably won't ever be a casting problem. Sometime's on a spinning reel the mono line can get a bit to hard and then it can cause serious problems casting as simply to much falls off the reel when you cast. never recall having tha problem with Ande or Berkley Tri Line and couple other's but don't recall whichnright now.

 

[kemfish]

for my lighter rods, (4,6,8lb) I mostly use mono because its pretty thin already and I don't find I gain much with the reduced line diameter and low stretch of braid. I do have an UL spinning rod with 5lb power pro on it. That stuff is super thin, almost becomes hard to work with.

I do use the 8-10lb braid on my light trolling rods with line counter casting reels. Here I think I can take advantage of the braids thin diameter.

on my heavier salmon, steelhead and salt rods I'm using 15-30lb braid. Mono at that strength gets thick enough to impact depth, drift, and casting distance. Can also use a smaller reel and still load up enough line for fish that ay go on big runs.

Remember you still need a mono or flouro leader with braid for visibility reasons.

For a rod you'll be using on hikes, 4lb or 6lb mono will be fine for 99.9% of what you'll be doing or catching. You'll be able to cast smaller lures and baits more effectively and have more fun fighting the majority of fish you will hook. Surprisingly big fish can be caught on 6lb (or 4) test with a little time and care. If a fish still outclasses your gear then you have what we call a fish story

 

[DonF]

Oh, I see. So people don't usually use braided line on spinning reels? I thought braided line was just way to get more durable line that's not as prone to wearing through. I guess I need to read up on that more.

I'm using braid now on my casting reels but not spinning. My son uses braid on his spinning reels. About durable, from what I read braid is not as durable. On the catfish site guys use braid with a good bit of heavier mono to better withstand abrassion on rocks ect. in the water. I u=se mono leader on my casting reels but lighter than the main line. Rather break the leader than the main line!