Reddit mentions: The best braided fishing line

Hello, welcome back to fishing! I'm going to answer your questions directly, paragraph by paragraph, and then if you have additional questions/concerns answer them as we go.

Rod: For you dad, I would get a medium heavy(MH) fast action 6'6" in whatever you want to afford. I'll tell you right now, any rod will go as far as you need it to. I fish 3-4 days a week, so I don't depend on cheaper equipment. But if you can only afford a $10 shakespear, don't sweat it. For the boy, let him pick something out that he thinks is awesome. Build his interest now, keep his interest later. My daughter's barbie pole has netted a ton of fish this season, and she's had a blast every step of the way because she made the choice.

Where to start: New York DNR - Check this place out for places to fish in your area. Just about every local pond/lake is going to have fish that you can catch. Don't be afraid to post to social media for spot suggestions.

Hooks: Sorry to say, but you and everyone else is going to get poked and stuck with hooks. It's part of the sport. What you can do is be prepared. Buy a light weight first-aid kit and practice patience. Being in a hurry is how I get stuck, EVERY TIME. Don't worry about filing the barbs. Human skin is extremely resilient and the chance of the hooks going all the way through are very rare. It's only happened once in my entire life and I had my brother pull the hook out with pliers. Along the same lines, this is why I do/did the majority of my 4 kids' casting until they were comfortable with the consequences.

Gear:

• Line - Reaction Tackle If you need braid, I would get Reaction. But I would start with like a 4lb mono, middle of the road price, to get started. Until you're comfortable with casting and reeling.
  
  
• Tackle Box - It's a nice box, but I would wait until you know what your needs are going to be. At this point you need a rod, line, hook, bobber, and maybe some weight. A $15 Plano from Bass Pro would give you some extra cash for other pieces of your journey.
  
  
• Hooks - The circle hooks that you linked would be great for catfishing, but a small light weightt bait-holder hook may be a better option. I understand where you're coming from, wanting a variety, but it may not be worth it until you know what you're targeting.
  
  
• Tools - I'd like to add that you will want to pick up some nail clippers or scissors to leave in your bag. Everything else you listed is a good start. Again, your needs may differ so don't get too crazy with buying everything until you know exactly what you're going to want to do.
  
  After reading all of that, the ideal setup for you would look something like this: 6'6" MH Rod with any spinning reel. 75-100YDS of 4LB Monofiliment Line. 24"-36" from the end of the line, you'll have a medium size bobber. 12"-18" from the end of the line, you'll have a 1/8oz split shot sinker. On the end of the line, you'll want a 1/0 bait-holder hook tied on using a palomar knot. On the hook, you'll want about 1/4-1/3 of a night crawler worm, or wax worm. Everything else is just a bonus.
  
  Fishing at the very core, is about being in the outdoors and interacting with nature. Having all this stuff is fun to research, fun to shop, and fun to think about... but at the end of the day if you're not enjoying your time outside, then it's not worth it.
  
  

Here's a copy/paste of one of my comments. Take from it what you benefit from (it's a suggestion for pier fishing)



I'll try to be brief as possible. Also, I'm not sure your experience level, so I apologize if I go over things that are obvious to you.

Basically you need to be aiming for Spanish Mackerel. They are a fucking blast to fish for.

Your set-up will work fine. These fish only get up to around 8-12 pounds, 15 if you're (extremely) lucky. But, bank on your catches being 8-12 pounds (closer to 8).

What you need:

Leader. You'll need to tie 40 or 50 pound monofilament line to your main line. Spanish have razor sharp teeth and will bite off smaller line. I'll go over later how to tie leader to main line. You can just buy the cheap mono line. I keep both 40# and 50# with me. I'll use 40# first, and if I get bit off 2 times, I switch to 50#. But, no need to spend too much money, just grab a spool of 40 or 50 pound. Worth noting, Spanish have eyes of a hawk and can easily be spooked away from lure, that's why I try with 40# first. So, it's a gamble of getting hooked up/ getting bit off between 40 and 50#. I suggest 40#

Lure: Gotcha plugs. Seriously, That's the only lure you need. Spanish love them. You'll also catch other things such as blue runners and possibly king mackerels. Get them at the local walmart down there in Destin (as well as your other fishing needs) prices online are a little high, and walmart has the best prices (believe it or not). Like I said ealier, get about 5 per person, as you will get bit off. But different colors; sometimes spanish will wanna strike white body/ yellow head, where as the next they want gold body/orange head. They also come in metal body and plastic body. I suggest getting both. In the picture of the gotcha plug above i linked is a gold body/ orange head/ metal body, I highllly suggest that, that is my go-to gotcha plug.

You said you already had line, but I suggest getting 12-20lb braided line. Braided line casts far and has better response.

Pliers. Last thing you want is a Spanish biting your finger. Have some pliers so you can pull the hook out of its mouth.

a big cooler. You may want to rent a cooler cart at the pier. It's a hassle to carry a cooler to the end of the pier, and then back full of ice and fish. bring a long cooler with you

food drinks. don't waste 20 minutes of good fishing by having to walk to the front desk to buy a $4 coke and $3 snickers bar, have that shit with you.


Get to the pier before sun break. You want to be on the pier, in your fishing spot ~15 minutes before the sun comes up. As of today, 6:19 AM is sunrise for Destin, FL. So, you want to be walking on the pier to the spot at like 6:05am. Spanish run early in the morning to about 12pm and then head back to deeper water (they return a few hours before sundown, when the water cools off). Can't stress this enough, be there before sunrise.

Here is a video on how to tie your mono leader to your main line.

When you get to the pier, you'll see other guys out there fishing for Spanish, you'll know where to be. generally it's somewhere in the middle of the pier. Just keep an eye on the other guys and watch where they fish and how they do it. When you cast the gotcha, you'll retrieve it fast with somewhat of a jerk here and there.

So, to recap, hopefully put 12-20lb braid on your rig. Tie with uni-knot 40-50lb mono leader to you main line. Tie gotcha plug to leader (no swivels or anything, just line tied to line tied to lure). be in middle of pier before sunrise. Cast as far as you can, retrieve lure fast with some jerking.

Oh, and when you leave the pier, wash your poles off with the water hose at the entrance to the pier. Especially with your gear that is not designed for saltwater. Saltwater is very corrosive and will lock your reel up if not washed off your reel when done. But, don't wash the reel too much and clean the lubricant inside of it. Just a simple wash will do.


extra: while you're at walmart, get a lure called a sabiki rig. looks like this or this (get sabiki brand, not cheap stuff) Tie to your line, and add a weight to the end. Go near a pilling and drop it to the very bottom, then real up a few cranks and manually bring your pole up and down (tip of pole going up and down about 4 foot). It's always good fun to catch 4-5 fish at the same time. Most of the time it's fish you throw back, but fun none the less. If you were fishing for King mackerel you would do this to catch live bait. You'll see the Korean people on the pier doing this


Most importantly, have fun. If you take my advice, you're bound to have fun! I'll be in Panama city here in about a week and will be fishing non-stop. update me with some pictures of fish!

edit: Here is the gear I suggest for Saltwater fishing from pier (with capabilities of surf fishing)

Pole: Shakespeare Ugly Stik GX2

Reel: Penn Battle II 4000

Line: Power Pro Braided Fishing Line 20lb/300yards I use moss green. Color choice is up to you. High vidiabilty colors (yellow for example) do help when fishing on a crowded pier. People can see where you are casted at. Helps reduce hook ups with other fisherman.

I'm not sure what exactly you call that old line, I've seen it before but I'm not familiar with the name for it.
So I don't know if its quite like what you're after, but you could try some braided nylon "squidding line." This is what I found on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-Fishing-Line-12-NS-50-108-G-13-Squidding/dp/B0084OM7F0 (I hope links to amazon are allowed, I didn't see a rule prohibiting it).

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Then there is, of course, good old braided dacron, which is thicker and softer than modern braids. I've used the Tuf-line in green fleck as main line for big Penns that I use for bottom fishing. I think I've seen it available in black or plain white as well.

Or you could also consider using some modern super braid fishing line (in heavier tests so that its thicker like what is on the reel you pictured). You can get it in black, dark green, white, grey, etc.


I don't know if any of those suggestions would be quite like the original line, although I suspect the squidding line is closest/exactly the same. I've bought old reels like yours pictured and they had squidding line on them.


Maybe some of that helps you. Great looking reels too!

Sure! 40-ish bucks worth of hooks swivels and weights and braided mainline and mono leader. 5 bucks worth of powerbait(worms are free if you wanna dig) 30 dollars a year for fishing license(depending on what state you live in). Carpool with a couple friends to a lake or river, if one has a boat that's cool but you don't need one. A 30 dollar rod and reel set works. Don't need a 400 dollar rod to catch 2 pound trout. If you go once a week and catch a few fish then you more than break even. Start out cost is low as well as accruing expenses. You only need to keep buying bait and a yearly fishing license

Lines: [braided main line] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OPKT9I0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - [Mono leader line] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000T7WAN4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Hooks: [#8 baithooks] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186XEATY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Sinkers: [assorted sinker set] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009V2R2E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Swivels: [These even have swivels, which aren't pictured] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YMJ6ONC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) - [heres a picture of the snaps] (http://i.imgur.com/BJeHUso.jpg)

Powerbait: [Take your pick of different colors and scents to see what works where you fish at] (https://www.amazon.com/Berkley-Powerbait-Glitter-Rainblow-1-75-Ounce/dp/B0000AV1L0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478070992&sr=8-1&keywords=powerbait)

Rod and reel:[If you go to an outdoors store you can find even cheaper] (https://www.amazon.com/Okuma-Spinning-Combo-Medium-7-Feet/dp/B00LV00CZG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1478070582&sr=8-4&keywords=fishing%2Brod%2Band%2Breel&th=1&psc=1)

All of those one time expenses comes up to 63.30, that includes a rod and reel, lines, hooks, weights, sinkers, snap swivels and a jar of bait. The only thing you need to buy after that is bait every now and again for 4~ dollars

As for the license, it depends where you are, some places it's as cheap at 9 dollars a year, some places its 40.

As for getting my monies worth, I think I do, fresh fish is expensive. That's not even including the experience of it. I love going out into nature and relaxing with friends, catching a few fish and eating them for dinner is pretty fun

Would this work for salt and fresh? (Sorry I like to keep things simple.)

Spiderwire Stealth Braid Fishing Line, Blue Camouflage, 300 yd/30 lb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011LVH0MM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_CpfYxb835EYB7

After work if I am not to tired I will watch videos on how to put the line. I like seeing how it's done to make sure I will be doing it right. My girlfriend will order the 5000 or the Spinfisher 4500 tomorrow. (So I am beyond excited, I was dying for a new exciting hobby. I am just ready to catch some big red fish or even a shark at the St. Johns river.) I told her to get either, both seem to be great reels. I want a boat so bad now, I'll just rent one for now. I like the idea of buying a kyak, but fishing on a kyak at a beach doesn't seem smart for me. The florida waves are relentless, and I don't know how to swim. For lakes and rivers a kyak is perfect, I wouldn't use it where there's sharks. After I buy my rod that's the next thing I'll save up for, or I'll just wait for my income tax. Who knows I might just find a cheap nice boat? Only time can tell.

Paracord is "dynamic" meaning it has lots of stretch, up to 30%, it's designed to catch a person falling out of the sky after all. If you need shock resistance it's perfect. for other stuff not so much, your bag will loosen and fall off your pack if you tie it with PC and your tarp may be on the ground by morning. Also Nylon absorbs and loses strength in water, and it sinks. Learn to tie a tautline hitch in case you have to use it on something you need to keep tight.

I have some cord made from Spectra, climbers call it a static line because it doesn't stretch. It's just trade name for high molecular weight polyethylene and is super strong so tiny diameter for the strength and ultra lightweight. Here's the first hit , 1.8mm (about 1/16") for 350#. It would be good for tent guy lines, rigging, hauling a load or maybe hanging a bear bag you don't want on the ground in the morning, lol
Anything small you tie onto a person is going to cut so make up some kind of a rig, maybe using multiple lengths to disperse the weight? or using a belt ot something

Kevlar is super strong, low stretch, plus cut resistance, which might be either good or bad depending.

Just plain old nylon mason's line is really handy for little stuff and it's cheap

Significantly more expensive per foot, but Spectra-cord is pretty awesome (Amazon): 1.9mm diameter, 550lb breaking strength. Also, won't degrade in the sun.

Ok 15 miles. That is 79,200 feet.

This 65 pound test 500 yard fishing line weighs 5.6 ounces shipped. We'll be super generous and say half the wight is the spool and the carton. So 2.8 ounces per 500 yards, or 1,500 feet.

That would mean 79,200 feet of it would weigh 147.84 ounces, or 9.24 pounds.

So assuming he tied his knots well and the line didn't have any defects, he could possibly measure that distance with the fishing line. He would need a significant weight at the end, something probably > 5 pounds, to keep the line taunt and feel the bottom.

Unless there is some law that governs tensile strength that makes this invalid (probably is), he could at least measure it.

My spinning setup for trout is an Okuma Celilo 6' 6" Ultra light and whilst it is only $30 I would class it amongst most of the rods in the $75-150 price range. It's an extremely good rod for the money. I actually got mine from walmart when I was on a trip to the US. Originally I was planning on just using the rod while I was there then giving it away before I came back to Australia but since I like it so much I brought it home. I've had two more shipped over from the US as well because they don't sell them here and an equivalent rod here would be about three times the price with shipping. I've just paired one of mine up with a Shimano Sedona FE 1000 which is a new reel to the market but so far I'm very impressed. I have it some 4lb Fins Windtamer Braid on mine which when I just look for on amazon is on $5 at the moment which is very cheap. Normally it's around $17 a spool. I just bought 4 spools but there's still two left so you could get the rod, reel and braid for $100.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004HGU9K4

Braided line is like rope - by braiding smaller strands together you increase the overall strength. This 6lb test braided line is the same diameter as 2lb test monofilament line. Since it doesn't stretch like mono, it will also be more sensitive and help you react to lighter bites. Most people would recommend tying a leader line from something like 4-6lb fluorocarbon so that the fish don't get spooked by seeing the high-vis braid.

I used this string first, but wanted something that had a better contrast than blue on my black center serving:

http://www.amazon.com/Brownell-String-Serving-Multi-Blue/dp/B003WHLCP0/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1420138122&sr=8-11&keywords=serving+thread

So I tried some braided fishing line. I had to get the 90lb test one to get a good thickness. Drawback is that this line is kinda stiff so I had to make end loops and pull it pretty tight.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluorescent-orange-Braided-Fishing-to100LB/dp/B00MGA5VAQ/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1420138203&sr=8-13&keywords=braided+fishing+line

I bought a big ol spool of KastKing braid on amazon for relatively cheap. I like it better than the last power pro I bought to be honest. Only issue I've had is it's fading in color a bit after a year's use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FO907X2 - I bought 1000m, 30lb, low vis grey, it's definitely got a blueish tint to it.

Handing Braided Fishing Line 8 Strands Super Strong PE Fishing Line for Saltwater and Fresh Water Surf Fishing 500m/547yd 18-96lb Fishing Tackle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077XT3WNB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_FqJ93BgOy9fSs

I love my daiwa Fuego 3000. Here is the 4000 for $60. Or you can get the daiwa BG. I've seen them for about $75 at times. I don't have one but people seem to like them.

Also pick up a falcon Jason christie rod for $100.

I like Fins Windtamer Fishing Line.

Should be less than $200 total

Looks good. I’d suggest EZ Line for the antenna, instead of the thread which appears too big for the model scale. It’s stretchy and easy to put on. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P2QVJWU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_I.mXCb6Z5P8RF

Thanks for the suggestions. As for line, I am using this currently and I've either heard it's awful in everywhere or that it's pretty good. So far I'm leaning towards bad since it has actually started to fray a good amount. So I really appreciate the line suggestion.

Thanks I appreciate it. I'm thinking of going with this setup. I need something anyway and thought maybe this would be versatile for more than just striper (catfish, tog, etc). I really like the idea of having a baitfeeder reel. Right now I just have some tiny baitcasters I use for large mouths and pike. Thoughts?

Rod

Reel

Main line

alright, sounds good. also would you happen to know if 150 yards of 30lb braid is enough for the reel I bought? I wasn't quite sure how to do the calculations for the line and reel.

Reel

Power Pro

We use this for our linear lifts, but have not tested it for lifting a robot up entirely. If we had to lift a robot, like Res-Q year, we used Steel Cable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011DPMZKI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The string should be strong and lightweight. I think we are using braided fishing wire. We used the 300lb 8 strand one from here: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Spectra-Dyneema-Fishing-328Yards/dp/B011DPMZKI?th=1&psc=1