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[Suther]

When I tie my mainline braid to the swivel I always go with the palomar knot. I've tried others but the palomar is IMO the best and easiest to tie. If I'm running a long mono leader off the braid and don't want to reel in a swivel through my eyelets I'll tie the braid to the mono with a modified albright knot. IMO modified albright is the best mono to braid knot, better that double uni etc.

According to Know Wars, the albright (not even the modified, which I assume is either stronger, doesn't slip as much, or both) is stronger than the double uni.

That being said, I couldn't get an albright to cinch up right. Im using 15lb trilene big game mono for backing (to fill the spool up some, this thing holds 590 yards of 20lb, 330 yards 30lb... I have around 300 yards of it on here. Would have used a shorter length of thicker stuff, maybe 100 yards of 40lb mono, but this is what I have kicking around so I used it) and then its filled with the 50lb braid I bought. The math I did (mostly in my head) was going to put the whole 300m roll of braid I bought onto the reel. In actuality, it didn't all fit, but a lot of it did. Certainly over 200m, I would said probably close to 250m.

So Im tying 15lb mono to 50lb braid, and the diameter is similar. Mono says its .38mm, while braid says its .36 (braid is definitely the thicker one though. From what I read on the Paulus site, everyone lies about line diameter...Even the good names.)

Can anyone shed light onto why I couldn't get a modified albright to cinch right? Do my knot skills just need work, or am I missing something?

I ended up using a Uni to Uni knot. I like the regular uni, generally speaking, so tying this was easy enough. I put my gloves on and pulled as hard as I could without it giving, which is a lot more than I can say about my attempts at an albright. Im not particularly concerned about the strength of THIS knot, because there is like 250+yards of line to be ran out before it even matters, but at the same time knots are obviously a very important part of fishing, and if I want to tie some mono to the other end as leader THAT knot WILL matter.

Tomorrow, I go fishing and see how I like the feel of this line...

edit - I forgot to mention, when trying to cut the braid is broke my nail clippers, which cut through 15lb mono like butter...

[hungry6]

That braid is going to last you at least 10 years.
I got similar spooled onto sustain and stella 4000s, seven years now doing plenty of heavy duty beach works and every now and then I have to remove around 20cm from the end from abrasion from continous chucking metal slugs.
So I would expect them to last even long in a fresh water environment.

[Fishawn]

 I forgot to mention, when trying to cut the braid is broke my nail clippers, which cut through 15lb mono like butter...

Try using a pair of small sewing or craft scissors.  I buy mine from the Dollar
Store and they work great for cutting braid.

[Suther]

That braid is going to last you at least 10 years.
I got similar spooled onto sustain and stella 4000s, seven years now doing plenty of heavy duty beach works and every now and then I have to remove around 20cm from the end from abrasion from continous chucking metal slugs.
So I would expect them to last even long in a fresh water environment.

This setup will be dual purpose - bar fishing for salmon as well as fishing the salt for Flounder/sole and dogfish.

Try using a pair of small sewing or craft scissors.  I buy mine from the Dollar
Store and they work great for cutting braid.

Yeah, I ended up just using a pair of scissors. I have a small pair of scissors thats supposed to be in my tackle box, but I misplaced them. I was quite surprised when my nail clippers snapped rather than cutting the braid though - I guess that says something about the overall strength of this line...

[Every Day]

I use a perfection loop to attach the braid to flouro/mono.

I too had problems with albright knots, as the braid would just keep sliding and not catch. I found it particularly bad when it was wet out. A way you can get around this is to tie a small overhand knot at the end of your braid before pulling the knot tight, that way the small knot will catch and won't slide through.

I just find the perfection loop easier and quicker to tie, and it hasn't failed me yet.

[fishman254]

I know questions about braid have been asked a million times, and I have read a bunch of old threads and stuff already but I am still left with some questions, including brand, color, and how much to spool on my reel.

I am planning on setting up my new spinning rod with 40 or 50lb braid for bar fishing the Fraser and bottom fish(flounder, ect) and dogfish from piers in the salt.

First question is the always-present whats your favorite brand? More than favorite brand, I am interested in brands you've had bad experiences with. From old posts I gather Spiderline is not very good - it frays quickly and is generally not as good as others. Does anyone have an opinion on Berkley Big Game braid, or Sufix 832? Tuf-line XP seems to be highly recommended, and Power Pro is also recommended. Im leaning towards whichever I can find cheaper, which seems to be to Power Pro. I see some bad reviews for the slick 8, does anyone have bad experiences with it?

Power Pro leaves me asking what color I should use. I dont think I particularly need a hi-vis line, so white/yellow are out. That leaves blue, two greens, red, and brown (between regular and slick 8 lines of line) Im leaning towards the regular (not slick 8 ) green. It seems to be readily available in whatever size spool and test I want, and seems to fit the bill of fishing Fraser/ocean. I would be using a leader regardless of color.

Finally I come to how much should I spool on. I see lots of recommendations of using some mono to fill up the spool a bit first, and the reel Im getting calls for 390 yards of 15lb mono, which is a lot of 40lb braid. I also dont think I need 400+ yards of braid on there. How much braid do I want on a bar fishing/pier fishing setup? 150 yards? 300 yards? I was thinking, if I use only 150 yards of braid, I'll need mono thats strong enough to keep up, so 40lb or whatever, but if I had 300 yards of braid then my mono would only really be needed to fill the spool, so I could use something smaller like 15lb mono?

I use Power Pro because it works well and also is the most recommended brand (in my opinion). I used it today, on both bait-casting reels and spinning reels (they have different specific lines for specific applications, so don't just buy "Power Pro line", ya gotta get more into the details than that.)
Good luck out there!

P.S. Seaguar is now the most recommended flourocarbon line (for your leader), from what I can tell. Does that mean it's the best? Maybe, maybe not, but I know it's good stuff. Does seem to break at lower strengths than the (under-pounds-tested?) Maxima Ultragreen (non-fluorocarbon) leader material, however. My very favorite lure get Ultragreen.

[Suther]

I use Power Pro because it works well and also is the most recommended brand (in my opinion). I used it today, on both bait-casting reels and spinning reels (they have different specific lines for specific applications, so don't just buy "Power Pro line", ya gotta get more into the details than that.)
Good luck out there!

P.S. Seaguar is now the most recommended flourocarbon line (for your leader), from what I can tell. Does that mean it's the best? Maybe, maybe not, but I know it's good stuff. Does seem to break at lower strengths than the (under-pounds-tested?) Maxima Ultragreen (non-fluorocarbon) leader material, however. My very favorite lure get Ultragreen.

Little late for main line recommendations lol already have my Chinese braid all spooled up.

Thanks for the input on leader though.
Now its all about knots that work well and are easy to tie...

[Ian Forbes]

Good discussion. Nothing is worse than limp, twisty braid. I seldom use any braid less than 20 lb test, and most often it's 50 lb test. Fine diameter braid is slippery and digs into itself on the spool. A Giant snakehead will twist and turn when fighting and totally screw up the first 30 feet of line in a battle. 

[Spawn Sack]

Isn't this what swivels were designed to prevent? I fish Suffix 832 on my spinning reel and toss spoons and spinners all day long with no line digging issues or line twist. However I do always run a swivel. This braid rocks I absolutely love it! Have tried several other braids and hated them especially Fire Line Fused. SeaGuar Kanzen is pretty decent I have that in 50lb on a levelwind for the Fraser.