Braid and Fluorocarbon recommendations

[HawkesburyParadise]

Thinking of replacing the Pryml braid I added last year and adding flurocarbon leader.

Probably a 6lb capacity will suit me for both. 

[Pafisho08]

HI

I have used many braid brands in the past and  I have now found the Daiwa J 4 or J 8 braid to be excellent and for leader Berkley Vanish OK also .

Regds Bob

[slothparade]

I use some Japanese brand braid, platypus, crane, just to name a few. The issue with cheap braid is that the colour rubs off on your guides very quickly and actual strength can differ quite a bit, also wind knots can occur. Just for reference though, I've landed big bream on cheap $10 braid. My thoughts on J braid ect, they're good, high quality, I just can't justify spooling every reel with expensive braid, hence only a few of mine are spooled with expensive braid. 

As a side note, don't be to afraid of cheaper braids like ashcon fish, or wft strong braid, I know people and I personally use them and have landed large fish and sharks on them so for what it is, it gets the job done for me. 

As for fluro leader, I like what Evers cheapest, I usually go with Berkely vanish or whenever I'm re-spooling a reel or a mates, I'll keep the line to use as leader. I can honestly say it is completely fine, I landed a gummy shark on very old line without any issues. 

Personally I'd go 8-10 lbs braid and just change out the leader, allows me to target a broader range of species. 

[HawkesburyParadise]

I just bought new braid and realised that after the first maybe 50 metres, the line wasn't discoloured(though had the wet stickiness). Is it a better idea to avoid adding the full length of braid on the spool and then restring the used part?

[Little_Flatty]

2 hours ago, HawkesburyParadise said:

I just bought new braid and realised that after the first maybe 50 metres, the line wasn't discoloured(though had the wet stickiness). Is it a better idea to avoid adding the full length of braid on the spool and then restring the used part?

You can do that, but in time after a few wind knots etc, you might find that the join is exposed through casting or by a fish pulling drag. Probably ok if your knots are fine, but personally that would do my head in. Another option rather than replacing the braid is to reverse the braid the other way around, so that the unused end gets used.

My experience is that all braids lose some colour eventually. For most part this doesn’t degrade performance.

[campr]

3 hours ago, HawkesburyParadise said:

I just bought new braid and realised that after the first maybe 50 metres, the line wasn't discoloured(though had the wet stickiness). Is it a better idea to avoid adding the full length of braid on the spool and then restring the used part?

If only using top half of braid, I don't replace it I just reverse the line and put bottom on top.  Ron 

[campr]

For my light flurocarbon used up to 17lb I use Berkley Vanish.   It is so much cheeper especially considering how much is on spools.  Ron 

[Rebel]

Only use Mono.

Top braid is to expensive.

I use Sea lion fluro & Berkley Vanish.

Cheers.

[Green Hornet]

For those that use the larger spools of Berkeley Vanish for leaders, from my understanding this is designed as a casting line and is actually a FC/mono blend. 
If it works for you, all good, though I prefer a pure FC like Sunline FC Rock, especially up on the flats and in ultra clear water. A 100m spool lasts for ages and certainly isn’t a wallet buster.

Regarding braid, I usually buy top quality stuff direct from Japan and it works out roughly the same price as the cheaper stuff out here. I buy from a store over there that offers free delivery that usually takes about a week.
Recently I’ve been using Avani Casting PE X8 and can’t fault it.

And as others have said above, reversing your braid as it ages rather than halving a spool is a far better way to go.

[essjay]

I am getting good results with Broad PE, Varivas, Daiwa J Brand (Grand) for braid. For fluro I am really liking FC Rock by Sunline and Varivas.