Braid to Spool

I have avoided braid in the past because of the varied advice, and mono works. I do use straight fluoro on some reels.

I used the method where I made a wrap of duct tape around the spool. Standard Arbor knot, and then reeled on the braid under pressure ( used a leather glove and slowly reeled on the braid). No problem with slippage and I really felt it was overkill.
I saw an article from Jerry Brown on this and followed his advice. No need for tape, just choose your knot and leave the tag end long. Just reel on under some pressure at first while catching the tag end  in the wraps and then reel it on.

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Anyways what are you guys doing for your braid to spool connections?

Great info thanks I have not used braid because of the need to spool it correctly. I will be checking this out thanks again.

Put at least a layer of mono to cover up the spool (same diameter as braid of choice or heavier). Connect with a fg knot or reverse Albright. Important to wet the braid to mono connection and spool on braid with drag clamped down and leather glove with as much pressure as possible.

Jerdon wrote:I have avoided braid in the past because of the varied advice, and mono works. I do use straight fluoro on some reels.

I used the method where I made a wrap of duct tape around the spool. Standard Arbor knot, and then reeled on the braid under pressure ( used a leather glove and slowly reeled on the braid). No problem with slippage and I really felt it was overkill.
I saw an article from Jerry Brown on this and followed his advice. No need for tape, just choose your knot and leave the tag end long. Just reel on under some pressure at first while catching the tag end  in the wraps and then reel it on.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Anyways what are you guys doing for your braid to spool connections?

Electrical tape works too. I dont think its an overkill. Youre sacrificing only a few yards of braid with the tape, but it more than makes up for it with the gained yardage due to the smaller diameter of the braid. Also, it gives peace of mind that the spool of line wont slip.

With that said, I just go to my local tackle shop and have them spool on my braid..

I always put tape down first to make sure the braid has something to bite on. If not, the braid will slip making you think that your drag is not working properly.

Before i never used it but little by little it seems all my gear is starting to get braid........I usually take my reels to Long Fin tackle......but good info right there

Thanks jerdon....

I don't use briad but have been thinking i should look to slow move over in time. This is great info for sure.

I used to put a few yards of mono on and the used an albright to connect the braid to mono. I only have a couple of fixed spool setups these days though and they only get used for some lrf on holidays

Sometimes i dont even tie what for if a fish spools a reel with braid it can win the battle

frankd619 wrote:Sometimes i dont even tie what for if a fish spools a reel with braid it can win the battle

C'mon MAN! You can't be saying this!!! Soooo...before you even get to the END of your line...( because it will start slipping and unwinding...) you don't tie it off?

Are you afraid it will bust your gear? Or take it away, Or are you just silly?

Not saying there AREN'T REASONS, just curious what yours are.

Btw: I almost never totally respool a reel...just replace the first 75- 100 yards. ( Or less).

It can mess up the reel but the knot will cause the line to favor one side of the spool i use max quatro which is one size smaller diamater then other braids for the same strength the one of the best things about braid is you can double your capacity so i use 30 lb on 200 size and 50 lb on 300 size no fish will ever see the bottom of the spool so it dont matter

Most of the time i tie a couple overhands and call it good

It is very important that its tight and even though or it will dig

Thanks to everyone who added to this.
I have had no slippage issues with the braid using tape or straight to the spool in 9 months. I did wind it on very tight though, through leather gloves and keeping things even past the first 1/2 of the spool. And I really do not know how much braid is on these spools because of the smaller diameter of braid. I am pretty certain I would straighten out the hook  before the reel got spooled as I tend to thumb it if I think things are taking to loong.

frankd619 wrote:Sometimes i dont even tie what for if a fish spools a reel with braid it can win the battle

It can win the battle... indeed.

This is one of the central themes in The Old Man and the Sea. The old man comes to admire and respect the fish because the old man sees himself as a fighter and recognizes the same fighting spirit in the fish, so I completely understand where you're coming from; a fish that manages to spool you deserves to win the fight. I share that point of view and my feeling is that the only reason you can call fishing a sport is because sometimes you lose. Sometimes the fish win, and that's a good thing. Respect.

But that's philosophy, the practicality of it in my experience is that the knot is meaningless in terms of "fighting" the fish. Anyone who has actually been spooled knows it. You're not fighting a fish that spools you, you're getting your ass kicked and watching your line disappear.

We're talking the salt here... monster bat rays are not uncommon. I've had something extremely large grab my bait and take off at full speed for deep water and cranking the drag to full didn't even slow him down a little. He just kept pulling off line like it was nothing and finally I had to point the rod at the line and grab the spool. He just kept pulling and broke himself off. He got 3/4 of my spool in just a few seconds. Hell, even when I grabbed the spool, he broke that 20 lb braid with nothing but pure pulling power. It was freaking impressive. No knot is going to stop that.

Face it, if the fish manages to spool you, you're already beat and the knot isn't going to save you. It's meaningless. That's not philosophy, that's the voice of experience.

A old sportboat captain taught me that