6 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

It's more where I'm casting rather than fish size - state record LMB is only 8#15oz. The heavy rig with 50# is for casting into heavy weeds/lilypad patches where I need the strength of the line to haul fish out of that slop...cutting through the weeds as needed.

That is even more confusing to me.  50lb braid doesn't make you pull the fish any harder.  I hear guys say this all the time so there has got to be something I'm missing here.

4 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Why wouldn't you feel it after you reel the slack out?

Becuz you cannot eliminate all of the slack line from 30-40braid with lighter lure like senko. 30yds out 10-20 Fow, there will be too big of bowl in water and you could easily loose contact with your lure. A little bit of wind, a little of rod movement would cause this. And braid doesn’t transfer vibration as good as mono/FC, with slack line. This is with my little experienced, might not be 100% true but I stand by it.

6 minutes ago, LionHeart said:

That is even more confusing to me.  50lb braid doesn't make you pull the fish any harder.  I hear guys say this all the time so there has got to be something I'm missing here.

It's not the fish per-se - it's the fact the the fish might get the line wrapped around the weeds/lily stalks. You need the heavy braid to cut through the weeds...otherwise bye-bye fish and lure when the line snaps.

35 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Becuz you cannot eliminate all of the slack line from 30-40braid with lighter lure like senko. 30yds out 10-20 Fow, there will be too big of bowl in water and you could easily loose contact with your lure. A little bit of wind, a little of rod movement would cause this. And braid doesn’t transfer vibration as good as mono/FC, with slack line. This is with my little experienced, might not be 100% true but I stand by it.

Ive never had that issue. A 5 inch senko weighs like 3/8 oz. It's not light weight. Never had an issue getting the slack out. I do agree that flouro has more slack line sensitivity than braid but I've never had the issue you are speaking of. I've been fishing braid since the early 90s.

16 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

Ive never had that issue. A 5 inch senko weighs like 3/8 oz. It's not light weight. Never had an issue getting the slack out. I do agree that flouro has more slack line sensitivity than braid but I've never had the issue you are speaking of. I've been fishing braid since the early 90s.

Like I said it is my little experience, but to point out 3/8 senko doesn’t equal 1/4oz bullet weight when in water. A little of movement and those 3/8 senko ready to float, especially with the help of braid buoyancy. 

Unless you are really committed to learning and tying FG knots, just get some YZ Hybrid or Trilene Big Game (10-12 lbs) and get to it. It is cheap, and really forgiving on knots, nicks, and kinks from backlashes. And if for some reason you decide you don't like it, you are a few $ in, and little wasted time. Also get some line conditioner, it'll improve your experience.