I never use braid because of the cost. Also, IIRC, braided takes longer to break down in the enviroment than monofilament and it is a fact of life that you will snag bottom and lose a few yards of line every now and then. Also, doesn't the braided line also wear out your rod guides?
Today, I used a seven foot Trophy XL spinning rod to catch three pinks. This old fiberglass rod is about 35 years old. My father-in-law bought it for my wife when she was a kid and gave it us so the grand kids can use it. It is real fun rod to use. When you get a 4 or 5 pound pink on it, it bends almost in half, a really fun fight. Because it is fiberglass, it is almost indestructible. I lent it to a friend on his first trip to the Vedder and he caught a 15 pound spring with it. It bent the rod right down to the cork handle during the fight.
I do have a question about my spinning reel. One of my co-worker's husband works as a draftsman for an over-seas fishing reel manufacturer and he gets free samples from time to time. She gave me one of the samples. It is a Shakespeare Medalist 4430. It is a smaller spinning reel with six bearings and is very very smooth. What I am not sure about is whether or not the anti-reverse is defective or not. The reel has the words "One Way Clutch" stamped on it. When I switch off the anti-reverse switch in the back, the crank will turn freely backwards (ie lets out line); this is of course normal. The problem is when I switch on the anti-reverse switch. On all spinning reels that I have used, this will firmly lock the crank so that it will not turn backwards (ie not let line out assuming that the drag is set on full). On this little reel, the crank can still be turned backwards only there is now friction to slow the reverse cranking. So if I have a fish on, when the fish pulls hard enough, the crank will start to turn backakwards and let out line unless I hold the crank.Has anybody seen this before? I like this little reel because it balances perfectly with the 7 foot rod. I have taken it apart but cannot figure out if this is normal for a "one way clutch" or a defect. I don't want to raise it with the co-worker's husband (gift horse's mouth).