I'm completely inexperienced using braided line, and i was planning on using it for the first time this year. My goal is to have a pole with two spools - one regular mono and one Power Pro, with the plan to use the braided spool as my primary and fall back on the mono spool in case i screw something up.

In possibly purchasing a new, reasonably priced rod and/or reel to be able to handle this task, what should i be concerned with? I know the rod guides have to be able to handle the braided line and that some get chewed up because of it.

Your rod should be a lighter action than what you would normally use for mono because of the no stretch. Say medium to medium light 6 to 6 1/2 foot oughta do it? I use the 6-8lb test Fireline on a 6 1/2 foot light action Fenwick and have have handled everything so far, stream trout to smallies with no break offs. Use a quality reel with a good drag. If you are slip bobber or jig fishing you should have a mono leader or snelled hooks. Does anyone have comparisons of Fireline to Powerpro?

Take a look at the palomer knot and other designed for braids. The standard trilene knot will not hold with braids.

Yup, i know about the knots, just worried about equipment.

I have used the palomar knot on fireline for years and never had a problem. Great , easy to tie knot.

I had some 40(I think)#test spider wire from I honestly think a trip 8 or 10 years ago. I just yanked it out recently and the inner line was like new. I couldnt believe it. oh well I guess It needed changing anyway. Im sure the lighter stuff is hardy too. P.S. that line never broke once! Watch out for snags!

Never had a problem with equipment. Been using the 6-20, 6-30 and 8-30 on my medium action pole since Spiderwire came out.

Some of my KNOTS, on the other hand ...

I had spiderwire on a pole I used for steelhead fishing, after the first year it got fuzzy, and then fuzzier! when I switched back to mono, I couldn't believe how nice mono can be!! But then again I had a steelhead breakoff my line this year...12Lbs test!!!! anf that wouldn't have happened with spiderwire!

Try Tuffline with a bare small black-colored snap (no swivel) and no leader. I throw this from a Shimano Curado low profile reel and you can cast it against the wind (low line drive casts) and still not get backlashed. The key is to continually adjust the reel so the lure you have drops to the ground/water in 2 seconds from a 45 degree angle. This is not difficult to do, and you can thumb break as well to avoid trouble. Fishing from a canoe, you can go and get any snags other than deep set rocks/timber, but you can generally pull straight up with your hands and get those out as well though you may straighten hooks.

The beauty is that you can pull anything you hook in rapidly without over-tiring the fish for quick release even in warm water. I've casted this into 6 inches of water: you can snap yourself out of trouble relatively easily and it's strong enough to reel in a large branch without breaking your line. Yet because you can keep the line taut you can do a hook set It's also a fabulous way to vertically jig a heavy lure in deep water.

My teenage kids use these with rubber frogs and throw right into deep cattails, timber and lily pads.

fireline can realy screw up your guides, power pro doesnt do this much

I was in a situation last year where we were jigging in 8-10 feet of water for walleys and smallmouths and mono outfished braided BIG TIME but Istill love braided line for other stuff also you will need a scisors or knife you wont get very far with your teeth a,but one thing I learned fast is not to get near the line with a fish on it will cut you wide open if your not carefull

One thing you need to watch for when using braid, especially the smaller diameter stuff: Even the 6/30 will slip through the hook eye gap (where the eye loop is formed and the wire doesn't quite touch)on most hooks when you are using single hooks on plastic. Don't ask me how a fish gets the line/hook eye in position to do this but they definitely do. You will set the hook and come back with nothing but a nice palomar knot on the end of your line. Super glue won't help this situation much. Here is what works for me: I tie a good tight palomar knot just like I normally do, but I cut it off as close as I can and then slide the knot down into the tiny gap between the eye loop and the hook shank. A very small drop of super glue helps it stay but is not necessary. Make sure you don't close off the hook eye with the glue. Then tie on and fish as usual. I usually do this to 2 or 3 hooks ahead of time. Works for me. Mobass

Thanks for the info guys, but are there any suggestions on rods/reels or what features of either i should look for to accomodate braided line?

i only use braided line (8/20lb) with a spinning reel & medium 6'6 rod...personal preference. have used both fireline and spiderbraid with no complaints. mainly use it for jigging w/minnow or plastics, or casting cranks. i fish the majority of the time with a copolymer line...not a huge braid fan but it has its place.

I would say use whatever you liked before for a rod as long as the rod guides will handle it and for a reel I would just stay away from a baitcaster I have not ben able to get it to work with braid

will superline work on a spincast reel? Is backing or tape a good idea, or spoll braided all the way down. I've heard guys say to spool 1/2 way up with mono, then a single layer of tape to keep thin line from digging in/hanging up? I'm trying power pro phantom for 1st time. also, the palomer knot: is this used at the hook/swivel? What about a knot to join thin braided to thick mono. sheet bend was a flop, and past the plain old clinch-- I'm ignorant

line to line knots, use a blood knot.... put the two pieces of line facing each other, wrap the one line around the other 10 times, pull a loop out in the middle of the 10 wrappings and thread each end through that loop in opposite directions and pull tight...

Unless you have a really large capacity spool I would fill it with braid. However, you need to put 10 or 15 feet of mono on the spool first. This is because braid tied directly to the spool will slip around the spool, even when filled all the way up. It does this because it doesn't have enough stretch to hold. If you have a larger capacity spool, put more mono backing on it, only cause the braid is kinda pricey. You can leave more room between the edge of the spool and the line with braid cause it casts so well. This will result in fewer tangles. The blood knot is a good one but a little hard to tie for me. I use two Trilene knots tied together. Be careful about tightening your drag too much, the braid can be hard on rods and reels due to the strength and lack of stretch. Good luck.

On a spinning reel just put a piece of tape down on the first loop of braid around the spool to keep it from slipping. No need for mono backing.

As for equipment, I've used braids on all my reels (all Shimanos) with no issues. I've heard of complaints that some braids mess up the guides on a rod. If you're not too fussy I'd go with an Ugly Stick, my favorite is the 2-piece 5-foot-10 model, medium action. That bad boy will take everything you can throw at it. I've had one for years and years and thrown it into every situation, with every type of line. Even folded the top section nearly in half and stuffed it in a suitcase for a trip to Florida, luggage got lost on the way home, it was in there for several days and sprang back to normal upon removal from the case.

Matt

I use braided 17# spiderwire on a baitcaster. I tie on a 4 ft leader of 14# Vanish flourocarbon using a back-to-back Uniknot. Easy to do, diagrams on web. Sounds like a hassle, but the Spiderwire is great stuff with big advantages. Very abrasion resistant, thin so it cuts through weed and allows lures to run deeper. No stretch so hookset is hard. Lure feel is improved dramatically. Line is very visible- helpful for line watching techniques like wacky worm. You realize after using no stretch braided lines that monofilament is a long Bungee cord, it stretches, reducing hookset and feel. The flourocarbon leader is necessary for invisibility. On my spinning rods I still use mono (Berkeley XT). The new super lines do not have much "memory," they don't shape to the spool. This makes them fall off the spinning reel in loops, a big hassel. Work best on baitcsters.