Recently for the first time (55+years of fishing) ever I spooled with braided line, I've used Dacron in salt water but braided is completely new to me.

 

I picked it (4 strand black Hercules 20 lb.) to start with because I've lost some whopper LMB, Peacocks and snakeheads using 8 and 12 pound hybrid Yozuri dragging fish through dense weeds. Not good. This is not a thread about the fish species but more about line durability and application. Hercules has worked real well so far on 4lb. (+/-) snakehead without a (which I'm not fond of using) leader.

 

My Q's regarding braid are strand count, four or eight,  weight 20 or 30 lb. using (or not) leaders, and knots.

 

Watching online sales it seems as if 4 strand is generally sold out well before 8 strand in equal line weights and I'm wondering why? Price? (4 strand is less expensive), diameter (8 strand is thinner?),  durability... are four larger individual strands tougher than 8 thinner strands. Online opinions seem to weigh a bit in favor of 4 strand in abrasion resistance, but 8 strand in "smoothness" ???

 

The twenty pound is pretty strong, I can't break it and even some of my nail clippers have a hard time cutting it, but its disadvantages are it takes a lot of line to spool some of my reels, and toothy fish are known to cut strong line so I'm wondering if just going to 30 pound without a leader would solve both problems. I don't like leaders because I like to snug my lures rather close to the tip, and leaders don't let me do that unless I pull the leaders through the rod eyes, also not good.

 

I find knots (surgeon's and Improved clinch) are a pain to snug up, any secrets on tying knots with braid you all can share?

 

 

 

 

4 vs 8 strand: 8 is supposedly smoother and I have heard that 4 strand is supposed to be more abrasion resistant but honestly never understood why.  If the line is made of the same material, how can one be more durable?  I must be missing something.  Anyway, 4 strand has never left me wanting.

 

I really enjoy 50 lb braid to leader for a few reasons but mainly because it is easy to see my line.  For me, it is very difficult to watch my line with anything smaller than 40 lb test.  Has nothing to do with strength for me.  If I ever needed a line that strong to pull in a fish, I'd take a spear instead of a fishing rod.

 

The best leader knot I know of is the FG knot.  It is very smooth and thin, and will last for a very long time if tied properly.  All my leaders are now 8-10 feet, and it passes through my line guides easily.

 

There is a YouTube video by 'Salt Strong' that does a fairly good job of showing how to tie the knot.  Check it out.  The FG, will take some practice to get right.  Even though there is a load of videos about how to tie it, I've thought about making one, as I feel like none of them get it completely right.  Give it a try though.

You can lose your mind with all of the braid brands/variations.  I messed around with a few then ended the madness and now stick with either original PowerPro, or Sufix 832, whichever I can find on sale when I need to re-stock.  Both are widely available at almost every small or big box tackle shop, and therefore you can usually find them on sale.

 

Use mono backing to fill up the bottom of your spool to both avoid line-slippage and so you don't have to waste money on braid that'll never touch the water.

 

As for knots I used to use a double-uni but ran into breakage issues (there are better knots out there that I've been too lazy to learn) so now I just use the smallest Spro Power Swivel to connect my braid to fluoro.

For straight braid terminal connections I use a variation of the uni called the "Fishin' Fool" knot.  Easy to learn and reliable. Easy to search online.

Go 30# Power Pro (reg. or Maxcuatro) straight braid using a Palomar knot (or Fish-N-Fool) and be done with it 

Another "fishing fool" knot here for my 50lb Sufix 832 on my frog rod.  Never fails.  Easy and fast to try.