Braided Line Selection Help

I want to respool a few reels with braided line as backing to flouro leaders. It’s been at least 5 years since I bought any braided line and when I checked one on line suppliers last night I counted 88 different kinds of braided line and that doesn’t count the various lines weights for each. The older I get, the easier it seems for me to get overwhelmed with info.

Is there any rhyme or reason to all these different braids? Are there really that many differences or is it mainly marketing?

I don’t need a sinking line, I prefer a neutral buoyant line.
Spinning reel.
Bass fishing, top water, cranks and worms, sometimes catfish.
Typically go for a low vis green and 12-20# test.
Historically, my all time favorite line has been Trilene XL for the low memory.

I’ve heard rumors about looking at low impact vs hi impact braid ratings. Supposedly Spiderwire is rated as a low impact line which can cause break offs with hard fast hooksets.

Any tips or thumb-rules out there to cut through to chatter in my mind when standing there looking at a wall of choices?

Suffix 832 is my choice. I have never had an issue with it. Very supple compared to other brands, and it casts a mile.

I use Power Pro except for rods that I use braid to fluoro on. Then I use Suffix 832 because it sinks. I’ll use it for cranks, and jigging rods.

I probably wont be as much help as i run braid only on my bait casters. But I tried the power pro super slick v2 and really like it. I have slowly switched my bass reels and now my musky reels to it

Power pro on everything from my panfish rods up to the trollers. Suffix 832 if I had extra $

Suffix 832 ghost white is my go to. Have one rod with heavier braid and that has spider wire invisibraid. 30# I believe and I’ve been really impressed.

Both are spendy but I get at least 2 years per reel. Some guys double up and get 4-5 by spoiling onto another reel.

Matt Moen wrote:

Suffix 832 ghost white is my go to. Have one rod with heavier braid and that has spider wire invisibraid. 30# I believe and I’ve been really impressed.

Both are spendy but I get at least 2 years per reel. Some guys double up and get 4-5 by spoiling onto another reel.

I’ve had the same spool of both PP and 832 on a few of my reels for 4 years without fraying or breaks. That’s through fishing 2-3/week and tournaments for 3 of those years. Been very pleased with both brands.

I’ve always had good luck with 832 from 6-50 lb. Never had a reasons to try any other brand

Only complaint is color fades fast, not sure if that’s an issue with other braids

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
Suffix 832 ghost white is my go to. Have one rod with heavier braid and that has spider wire invisibraid. 30# I believe and I’ve been really impressed.

Both are spendy but I get at least 2 years per reel. Some guys double up and get 4-5 by spoiling onto another reel.

I’ve had the same spool of both PP and 832 on a few of my reels for 4 years without fraying or breaks. That’s through fishing 2-3/week and tournaments for 3 of those years. Been very pleased with both brands.

Trolling downstream on the river has a tendency to shorten a spool every once in awhile! Nothing like getting spooled because of a snag.

The original fireline smoke is still my favorite. Nothing bad to say about powerpro and suffix 832 either though.

Remember you need backing before you spool braid as your main line… if you don’t it can just spin on the spool. For that, I just use any cheap mono or co-polymer line… just enough to cover the metal spool, then I tie an Albright knot and start spoiling on the braid.

I use Sufix 832 since it is neutrally buoyant. Either Ghost or Neon for finesse – and low viz for moving lures.

Charlie W wrote:

The original fireline smoke is still my favorite. Nothing bad to say about powerpro and suffix 832 either though.

Yep
And it’s smooth so line to line knots are stronger because fireline doesn’t damage the mono. I use this line on most of my spinning reels. Stronger per diameter than braid.

On my braid rods I prefer either fireline or power pro. I wasn’t too impressed with 832, but I know a lot of guys on here like it so I’m sure you will be happy with either of them.

Finesse applications my new favorite is fireline crystal. It frays up lil bit more but still lasts at least couple years. Cuts thru water extremely well and is the best braid out there for open water cold weather fishing. I was able to use it most everyday when I went fishing up Monticello.

10 pound power pro. Works for everything!

Deuces wrote:

Finesse applications my new favorite is fireline crystal. It frays up lil bit more but still lasts at least couple years. Cuts thru water extremely well and is the best braid out there for open water cold weather fishing. I was able to use it most everyday when I went fishing up Monticello.

This is my go to line for pitching jigs and Blade Baits as I am a line watcher cuts water very well for drifting jigs off of wing dams.It feels a little stiff when first put on the reel but a litle use it`s like handling sewing thread very limp. I have a couple of reels that Crystal Fireline has been in use for 6-7 years and no signs of breaking down.

I do use 832 on my trolling setups and so far work well but seeing the line is an issue when on the water, running multiple lines out. .

FryDog62 wrote:

Remember you need backing before you spool braid as your main line… if you don’t it can just spin on the spool. For that, I just use any cheap mono or co-polymer line… just enough to cover the metal spool, then I tie an Albright knot and start spoiling on the braid.

I use Sufix 832 since it is neutrally buoyant. Either Ghost or Neon for finesse – and low viz for moving lures.

Or, you can just put a little piece of electrical tape after the first few wraps on the spool…..

I would avoid 832. Nothing but fraying and knots for me. It is the only braid i have taken off my spool and thrown away. You can’t go wrong with most other braids.

I’ve never experienced fraying or knots with 832. Did you check your guides?

Craig Sery wrote:

I’ve never experienced fraying or knots with 832. Did you check your guides?

Guides were fine. The line I had on before 832 worked great and the line I put on after had no issues. I don’t know what lines those were because this was a few years ago, but it was probably either spiderwire stealth or power pro. I bought the 832 because of all the praise it receives on this site, but it was the worst braid I have ever used. Maybe I got a bad spool or maybe I don’t know what I am doing, but I have never had issues with power pro or spiderwire stealth or the various other braids I have tried.

walleye216 wrote:

I would avoid 832. Nothing but fraying and knots for me. It is the only braid i have taken off my spool and thrown away. You can’t go wrong with most other braids.

I do think sometimes how you cast or the style in which you fish matters. I love 832 but it feels softer than other braided lines. If you don’t rip your casts it tends to float in the air a bit and gets tangled up. Some of the other braids are coated and feel stiffer to me. Sometimes that is better depending on your casting or fishing style. Spider line invisibraid is this way.

I wonder if the vastly different views of 832 is what I stated in the first post.

I’ve heard rumors about looking at low impact vs hi impact braid ratings. Supposedly Spiderwire is rated as a low impact line which can cause break offs with hard fast hooksets.

Is 832 a low impact braid that may not handle fast hard shocks as well as other lines?

jwellsy wrote:

I wonder if the vastly different views of 832 is what I stated in the first post.

I’ve heard rumors about looking at low impact vs hi impact braid ratings. Supposedly Spiderwire is rated as a low impact line which can cause break offs with hard fast hooksets.

Is 832 a low impact braid that may not handle fast hard shocks as well as other lines?

I don’t think so. You get some pretty hard impacts trolling on the river or catching some occasional big pike. I’ve never had any braid break off unless it was something I did.

The idea a hard hookset could cause any braid to break off seems absurd to me. I need a wood dowel or pliers to bust 832 off if it’s snagged. A hookset wouldn’t do it.

The idea about low impact braid supposedly came from a Spiderwire rep responding to a guy complaining about Spiderwire breaking.

A sales guy would say something stupid like that.

I would know…..

Generally speaking braids and I are not good company. I do have a spinning reel loaded with PP, I think 30 pound with an 8 pound diameter or close to that, which I use for tossing frogs in the trash. Bait casters are, I think, near mortal enemies too but I do have a C3 4600 loaded with 8 pound Nanofil and use it for nothing but vertical jigging walleyes and I do like it in that instance. My dock rods both have 4 pound ICE line on them and I like that line a lot but not certain its a real braid, like the Nano.

I think if a person can overcome some of the nuances that come with the braid its a great line. I’m up there in years and have found my long time used XL is about as good as it gets but I do, as mentioned, have a few reels loaded with it or close to it and seem to get along with it in their case.

I’ll follow this as my spinning reel used for frog and top water use needs new line this spring. I’ll stay open to any recommendations for the spinning reel….its a 1000 series Sahara.