I recently switched from monofilament to braided line on my baitcasters. (Abu Garcia blackmax) It seems to me that the braid is easier to cast and feather without getting an overrun, but I can't cast it as far as I can with plastic lines. Seeing as to how I fish from the bank, I can't reach out to the schooling fish that are 10' - 15' further than I can cast with the braid like I can with a plastic line, but I also can't rip through grass or reeds as well as I can with braid as opposed to plastic.

Is there a way that I can get the best of both worlds or a happy medium with my baitcasters and be able to do it all?

What size mono were you using and what size braid are you using?

8# mono. 10# braid on one 20# on the other.

You need heavier braid.

 

30# is as low as I would go for a BC

 

Also:

 

I recently switched from monofilament to braided line on my baitcasters. (Abu Garcia blackmax) It seems to me that the braid is easier to cast and feather without getting an overrun, but I can't cast it as far as I can with plastic lines. Seeing as to how I fish from the bank, I can't reach out to the schooling fish that are 10' - 15' further than I can cast with the braid like I can with a plastic line, but I also can't rip through grass or reeds as well as I can with braid as opposed to plastic.

Is there a way that I can get the best of both worlds or a happy medium with my baitcasters and be able to do it all?

 

With the better manageability of braid you could back off the brakes and or spool tension til you start to lose control this may aid in getting more distance.

With the better manageability of braid you could back off the brakes and or spool tension til you start to lose control this may aid in getting more distance.

 

Yep....this.

 

I run "two shoes" as JFrancho calls it.....two brakes on my Curado since the line's more limp and doesn't overrun as easily. When I do this I get comparable distances to mono/flouro casting distance.

I'd suggest going to a higher pound test braid as well. It's weird that you're having this issue because I've always found I can cast much farther using braid than either mono/copoly/flouro. Also different brands of braid cast better than others, P-Line Spectrex braid is very similar to Power Pro only it casts and handles better in my opinion. On the other hand I find PP to be a little more durable, meaning I think it has slightly better abrasion resistance. PP Super 8 Slick is also a very good, long, easy casting braid. I've just started to experiment with Spiderwire braids but so far I've been very impressed with their "Ultracast" braids.

Try powerpro superslick in 30 or 40#... its a smoother braid so it possibly fly a little farther

I wouldn't go lower then 30lbs braid on a bait caster.

The type of braid will make a big difference. What are you using? I use spiderwire stealth braid and love it. 20# for jigs n t-rigs and 30# for frogs or heavy cover.

Y'all use kvd line conditioner on braid, never used braid prob gonna spool some up for the BR trip

Y'all use kvd line conditioner on braid, never used braid prob gonna spool some up for the BR trip

 

 

I don't use "line conditioner" on any of my line so I'm probably not the best person to answer this but I just can't see any reason someone would.

I use H2O Express 20# and spider wire 10#. Never thought about backing the brake off. Might try that and then maybe I'll go with the heavier braid. Thanks for the info guys I really appreciate it.

Y'all use kvd line conditioner on braid, never used braid prob gonna spool some up for the BR trip

I wouldn't think that it would be necessary, but it couldn't hurt. Most guys who use KVD L&L use it to reduce memory and make the line more limp. Braid doesn't have any memory though, and besides for that waxy coating on the line at first, it's fairly limp as well. I've never seen the need to use line conditioner on braid, but I'd like to hear what everyone else has to say about it.

Y'all use kvd line conditioner on braid, never used braid prob gonna spool some up for the BR trip

 

 

I don't use it on my braid. I use it on my mono set ups though.

Y'all use kvd line conditioner on braid, never used braid prob gonna spool some up for the BR trip

Guys do use it on braid as well.

I've been using 15# power pro for cranking and having no more problems than I would using fluro and I don't have many probs using fluro.  Casting distance has been great.  I play around with brakes according to wind.  I also use a shimano chronarch 51 mg.