# braid w/top shot ?'s



## 4wahoo (Oct 23, 2007)

I'm going to spool my TLD 30's 50's and Penn 50's with hollow core and a top shot. I was thinking about using 80lb braid on all of them but before I spend all the money I wanted some opinions. Never doing it before, does the weight of the braid and top shot need to match up a certain way to get the strongest connection? Will 80lb braid and a 60lb top shot link together ok? If I go with 80lb braid and a 100yrd top shot of 60 lb mono how many yards of braid should I need for each of the 30's and the 50's? I'm trying to buy a big spool of Jerry Brown to save money. I don't want to be half a reel short or buy twice what I need.

Thanks for the help!


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Typically, figure a 2/3 braid capacity and the rest mono. What I usually spool my customers tld 50s with are 600 yds of 80lb with a 200 yd top shot of 60lb. Tld 30s are 400 yds of 60lb and around 150yds of 50lb. 

You can put whatever ratio of braid to mono you like but this is a good idea of what you can do. Your 50w reels are going to hold considerably more than the tld 50s. For them, I suggest 700 yds if 100lb braid and 200yds of 80lb on top.


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## 4wahoo (Oct 23, 2007)

Can you give me a quote on what it would cost to do 2 TLD30's, 5 TLD 50's and 2 Penn 50's?


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## wide spread (May 22, 2011)

Consider it a long term investment. When you get ready to replace the mono just take it and have them strip it back down to the braid and just re spool the top shot with fresh mono each time. Plus line capacity is your best friend out there and you can acquire a lot more of it by going with the small diameter braid and mono top shot. I would take it to someone who has the equipment and knowledge on how to spool and splice though. I had all of mine done at Sams and am pleased. It's going to be a little costly at first but if you fish where big fish live and plan on staying in the game for a while it is definitely money well spent.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Braid is a wonderful tool and I have numerous reels set up just as Chris describes (heck he did them for me!), but having said that, most fish out there can be caught on the reels you describe with the line they were built for (i.e. 30 on 30, 50 on 50 etc..) also, I am not sure I would push the drag much past recommended settings on the TLDs (the braid would allow this), for instance, say you put 80 braid with a 60 mono topshot on the TLD30 and then you hook a 400# blue, if you push the drag much past 15#s or so you risk burning up the reels due to excessive heat from the drags disk.

The Tiagra series are much better suited for a braid/mono setup (as far as drag goes) having said that, you still gain lots of line capacity with braid on the TLDs and as others have said, it is an investment, you can use it for years to come, even on other reels.

Robert


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