TOPIC:

What pound braid works best?

A lot of fish have been caught and continue to be caught on good 'ol monofilament!

I've got a similar problem with some newer convectors that I bought. Been meaning to put something up about it. Doesn't matter what I do, the drags seem real tight, or don't work at all. I've taken them apart several times, new drag washers, oiled everything up, and it doesn't seem to help. Even just free spooling, they're real tight.

MCYaker wrote:

What pound braid works best?

Your problem is likely both a combination of the drag and a thin braid that will dig in on itself in the right conditions. Many moons ago I ran various brands of braid in 30lb test. I got smart and moved to 65lb power pro. Have never seen a dig problem again. I would say move to 50lb to 80lb. It requires less on your spools vs 30lb also since its thicker.

First, the problem is the line is caused by the line digging in but even if you spool it on tightly originally, when you are winding in say just a spoon or other lure, it's not being wound on tightly so there you go.
Second, I treat braid as a "specialty" line to be used when you need it like trying to get divers extra deep or to reduce blowback on deep downriggers where you need thin line. (Other reasons to use it for bass and walleye.)
Are you trolling in a motor boat or a kayak (confused by your handle) I can't imagine needing a braid diver or trolling downriggers from a yak.
I use 20 pound braid exclusively for deep trolling on downriggers (100 feet or more). Never had one dig in.
The only time I ever had that problem was last winter deep dropping for red snapper using my diver rod and reel with 30 pound braid, but man did I have to put the screws to those dudes to get them off the bottom. (Basically, I was bringing a knife to a gunfight.)
Could be the drag is just set too tight. The fish are supposed to be able to pull the drag and most set the drag at about 25% of the line strength.
You should be able to pull the line out of the spool without cutting all the line out. You can't pull it out the front, but you should be able to pull it out the back of the reel, clamping down on the spool with your thumb to keep it from turning, if necessary.

Backing? Hopefully, you never need it so use 30 or 40 or 100 pound test. It's just there to take up space on most reels. The exception is reels made specifically for braid like Shimano's new Tekota A. They have small line capacity but big ass drag systems. It's a concept developed when saltwater anglers were making the switch to braid 15 or 20 years ago.

forgot to make one other comment. Gotta love those big gaspergoos! Fight ON!

FowlHook wrote:

I've got a similar problem with some newer convectors that I bought. Been meaning to put something up about it. Doesn't matter what I do, the drags seem real tight, or don't work at all. I've taken them apart several times, new drag washers, oiled everything up, and it doesn't seem to help. Even just free spooling, they're real tight.

I hate to ask a dumb question, but you did adjust the spool brake right?

I have adjusted the spool brake.

I run 20 lb power pro on my kayak for kings. I've seen some of the cheap reel issues growing up on my grandpa's boat (he bought the cheapest of cheap). When I got my kayak, I went with the Convectors but didn't like some of the sticking on the drag while fighting kings. Never had the braid dig, but my reels never really locked up either. Just kind of sticky and lost a few fish with light leaders. I upgraded the drags on those with dragmaster drags and they're super smooth. I've since designated those reels as my crankbait trolling reels and now use shimano tekotas as my torpedo weight reels for deep water fishing. Great reels.

Long story short, you can get away with cheap reels on kings, but I'd probably stick to the forgiveness of mono and maybe get some forgiveness in longer/lighter rods. Don't forget, your kayak can act as a drag in itself (nothing like being pulled at 2mph on a sleigh ride in your kayak).

i run cheap ole 25lb test big green mono then 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader. very rarely lets me down.
i like my Okuma 30's