I fish in a place with tons of underwater trees, stumps, and branches. The last three big bass I've had have snapped my line by diving through the trees and snapping my line. I'm tired of it:)

 

I'm going to switch to braid on a casting rod. My rod is rated for 10-17lb test. Do I still need to stay in that range for braid, or can I go higher?

What are you using now?

50 lb Tuf-Line, Kanzen or Suffix 832 are all great braids. Add a 20 lb fluorocarbon

leader for abrassion protection and so you can break off when you need to (hang-ups).

It is my understanding that stronger braid is of similar diameter as mono (I think 30lb braid is equivalent in diameter to 8lb test mono in spider wire stealth and power pro) so you can use up to 65lb Sufix or power pro braid on a stick that has a max of 17lb test mono. But it does vary by brand and there is a chart that spells this out. If I am incorrect on this I am sure I will be corrected.

What are you using now?

12lb flouro.

Rod ratings are pretty useless IMO, from my experience flouro has a better abrasion resistance than braid, maybe your just using bad line?

12lb flouro.

 

I would bump this up to 17-20lb FC.  I use Seaguar AbrazX.

 

As RW stated you can go with a braid with a leader.  I personally prefer straight FC.

I agree with Felix, you should bump your lb test a little higher. If you want to switch to braid 40 lb would suffice.