I hate PP on my 9500!! Any thoughts on a Top Shot

[Ray]

Saturday I employed my 9500 - 65# PP to give the Tunas a seminar on throwing braid knots. We cover every possible way to get one :mad:

I know there are some threads about this issue which I'll review some time later. By the end of the day there was about 50+ yards less line on the fairly but not completely full spool. And most of it was dropped off the stern under way and reeled back on tighter.

One thing I thought of was adding a top shot of say 100 - 150' of 40# flouro. I figure if I can get that out without a mess I'm good. Any thoughts on that? I know I'll add some stretch but it may be better than throwing a mess.

I may also try Spider Wire Stealth which I have on a 7500. I have little to no issues with.

[Go Fish]

I run 50# on mine and was really good at making rats nests initially. Not any more though....

I think the key was not having line filling up the spool. There is a good 1/4 to 3/8" between the lip of the spool and level of the line.

Maybe your reel is too full?

[bayside]

I slapped on about 100-125 yards of 40lb mono and I haven't had any problems. Then throw the fluoro leader on, good to go...It's easy to get fired up when the tuna are going crazy around the boat and you're trying to untangle a mess....Casting mono I find is much easier.

[mendy]

In my experience, the PP stretches out over time and becomes much more user-friendly. We're using P-Line 50lb braid this year and have had NO problems with tangling. Really great line that looks alot like the dark green power pro but is much more limp and tangle resistant. We tie it direct to a 40lb flouro leader using a triple surgeons and use the Moody Loop knot to tie to the lure.

[anut]

When you need to cast the really small tin that 40 # mono line is going to hold you back. The pp casts much better on light lures with stiff rods, worth dealing with IMHO.

[Ray]

When you need to cast the really small tin that 40 # mono line is going to hold you back. The pp casts much better on light lures with stiff rods, worth dealing with IMHO.

I tried that....I caught JJ standing on the bow!!!!!


I ripped another 100 feet off my reel tonight. I'll go to the local ball field and try some casting variations to see what works and more importantly what doesn't.

[anut]

The hardest 2 things for me to get used to onethis set up. 1- the momentum of your cast rotating the spool, tripping the bail in mid flight with bad things happening next. Solution, make sure bail is at least 1/2 rotation for the tripping "nubbin" and keep finger on it to keep from rotating. 2- build up of loose PP on the reel after multiple spirited casts with light lures. Solution for me is use rod hand to creat tension on line every few casts. Anybody have a better solution to #2 (or 1) and I would love to hear it.

[Ray]

I have never had the bail trip on me when casting. I do think the line is probably too loose after multiple casts.

maybe I should just hookup on each cast to ensure the line is always tight.

[Eddy Merckx]

You probably don't want this to turn into a thread debating the merits of all the various braids out there, but I swithched from PP to Stren Super Braid on my 7500 and have had almost zero problems. Much fewer knots, and when I do throw a knot I can usually untangle it. I think that might be because the Stren braid isn't as flat as the PP and it doesn't bind up as easily when you're trying to tease the knot out.

[FireFly]

I will echo what Eddy had to say. 1 season of PP was enough for me and my tackle box as I tossed many crippled herring into the sea.

3 years ago I switched to Stren Super Braid and it's on all of my reels except for 2 TLD25's. I have not had one rats nest to date on the 9500 or the 4500B's and they've been used a lot.

My 9500 even has 60 yards missing (will never use the tuna gear to try for cod when I'm bored ever again) so the spool is clearly not full and it still casts like a dream.

[MatthewP]

I agree that pp throws better than mono for distance. had 2 9500's spooled with a topshot of 40lb (don't remember how much, enough to cast). had a hard time throwing it. switched to a flouro leader to pp connection - distance doubled -esp with light metal.

when I first started using pp, i had tangled balls of pp stuffed in every pocket/pouch/zipper of my fishing gear. I'm still finding that %#$&. what helped me was to manually close the bail and pull the pp tight to the spool before beginning the retreive - all of my knots came from that spot - the last bit of line to leave the spool after a cast. it looked to me that a loop would jump off the spool and create a galactic nightmare.

my 2 cents.

[Ray]

Last night I got my 9500 and 7500 spools filled with 65# Stren Super Braid. I'll give it a try in a ball field this weekend before throwing at tuners.

[soundownsam]

Do you make sure to manually close your bail? When you reel to close the bail it makes the problem worse. Also if you are working popper or metal you can put the line on your reel loose, tight, loose, tight as you work the rod tip and it loads and unloads. Every few casts reel your lure back in without working it. This should tighten the line back up.

As for my personnel favorite "trouble free" spectra line its Jerry brown Hollowcore.

Sam