HI, im a newb when it comes to freshwater fishing, i have lots of experience fishin saltwater with hand reels and heavy nylon mono line for basically muscling the fish in the boat, but i have recently discoverd fishing for bass with lures and worms.

I just recently got an Amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas and having a large pond right behing my house an a fairly large man made lake in front, and a buddy woth a boat on lake magdalen Fl, i decided to buy a freshwater rod to start out with.

i got the best rod i could get for the money i had, which just hapenned to be a Shakespeare agility spinning combo, to me it seemed the best specd rod in my price range : 6foot6inch medium action IM-6 2 pc rod, with an agility 7bb reel with one anti reverse roller bearing. the rod has ss line guides.

so while im waiting for it to get delivered, i've been doing some research on tackle, and im interested in maybe spooling with braid for the first time, my buddy with the boat spools his spinning reels with some kind of braid and i like the things ive been reading about the strength to diameter ratio as i seem to get more strickes when i use thin line with the lures.

but im undecided cause i read that braid doesnt work very well with spinning setups, and that braid can cut into the line guides in the rod, now i know that the rod & reels combo i got are not the best, but id like for it to last a good amount of time until i learn to use it properly and can justify my skill having increased to get an awesome set up.

from what i've read fused line seems to be a good compromise for spinning set ups, and im specialy interested in the spiderwire stealth line cause it says is teflon coated and wont cut into the guides and that its rounder so it shouldnt tangle as much.

i will be using my rod quite a bit considering i pretty much allways have acces to water and lots of free time to fish.

what kind of line would you recomcend?

welcome aboard 

I use nothing but braid on all my spinning gear without any incident of damage to the guides, for pond use I use 10# PP.  I happen to own that agility reel, first used for snook fishing in saltwater, now it's a guest reel for freshwater, still works perfect.

what brand braid do you use? adn you say #10 do you mean #10 braid or braid that is equal to #10 mono?

when you see "PP", that is the brand PowerPro. And he probably means 10lb braid.

#10 PP would be just fine for your spinning rig. You will have to learn to tie on a leader of some kind. Like a 3' section of a quality fluorocarbon line. Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon in 8# test would be a fine accompaniment to the PP main line.

Look up how to tie a Uni-to-Uni knot and/or an Alberto knot for joining of the two lines. Good Luck!

Welcome to the finest fishing forum in the country! 

I agree with Crestliner, although I also recomend the Diawa Samuri braid..it's not as waxey, and much limper, makes for longer cast's..Depending on the structure/cover in the lakes/ponds you fish, you could get by with a quaily fluro, or co polymer..YoZuri Hybrid Ultrasofy is a good line, I use 6# on my spinning rig. If your water has rocks, stick ups ect. then I'd go with the braid.

Welcome aboard...

well the water i tend to fish are not rocky, but it is weedy, with a lot of cat tail, and lilypads, the ponds dont really have much structure and i have to rely pn point to find fish or overhanging trees

The braid on spinning gear is fine.You may need to put some mono backing on the real first as braid tends to slip.If you buy a braided line make sure it is round because flat braid will dig into itself when you are reeling.Also since you saltwater fish I'm sur you know the importance of drag to getting a fish in.If you buy a braid that exceeds the reel rating ALWAYS know that your drag is set correctly.Even if you use a round braid a "too tight drag" will cause the braid to dig into itself or even worse if you set the hook on a log or something (that aint movin)You may damage your reel or even your rod.Also wind is no friend of braid,so when checking for frayed line also check for

the line forming a loose loop on your spool or wrapping around the rod tip.

I hated to ramble about this but I do use braid and I like it,these are just some of its negatives.You know it's positives.

Good luck,good fishing,Merry Christmas

Welcome to the boards!

I would say along with you braid(which should work fine) I would use a Fluoro or Hybrid leader.

Welcome to BR. 

While braid can be good for certain apps, it can be a pain in the a** also. You can't break it with your teeth for one and nippers don't do a great job on it either. So if you want a clean cut, you need scissors or braid cutters. The line can actually cut itself. It will eventually wear out your guides and if it tangles & knots, you're SOL.

I heard that braid will only wear out cheaper guides..not the fuji sic's...??

While braid can be good for certain apps, it can be a pain in the a** also. You can't break it with your teeth for one and nippers don't do a great job on it either. So if you want a clean cut, you need scissors or braid cutters. The line can actually cut itself. It will eventually wear out your guides and if it tangles & knots, you're SOL.

Is this what has happened to you ? I've used braid for years and it has never damaged my guides.

well i ave a cheap rod with stainless steel guides so im guessing that braid would cut straight thru that

Yeah, on cheaper rods it will leave tiny little grooves in the the bottom guide and sometimes the tiptop. Maybe with the higher end guides it won't do this, I don't know.

im guessing im gonna eitehr try fusion braid or spiderwire stealth that has teflon  and sais it wont cut guides or power pro that also says it wont cut guides

Look at the Diawa Samuri braid too..