TackleTour

One of my Black Friday purchases was a Certate 5000D. Really wanted a 4000D but at 20% off, I couldn't pass it up. Going to pair it with a 7'6 Heavy Legend Trek (15-30lb rating) I bought when they were on closeout.

Heretofore, all my fishing has been with mono. Finally tried some fluoro (12lb Tatsu) last month doing some pier fishing in Florida & I definitely get the hype about increased sensitivity.

The stated capacity on the Certate won't give me enough 20lb with mono or fluoro,, so I'm going to give braid a try.

Pretty well set on using Berkley X9 Crystal after doing some research & watching copycat site review. Now, do I go with 30lb or 40?

Is the Certate designed to spool braid without tape or backing, or will one of these be necessary?

Should I try spooling it on myself (I have no equipment but I'm not opposed to buying some) or should I seek professional assistance?

Please advise!

JS8588 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:43 pm

One of my Black Friday purchases was a Certate 5000D. Really wanted a 4000D but at 20% off, I couldn't pass it up. Going to pair it with a 7'6 Heavy Legend Trek (15-30lb rating) I bought when they were on closeout.

Heretofore, all my fishing has been with mono. Finally tried some fluoro (12lb Tatsu) last month doing some pier fishing in Florida & I definitely get the hype about increased sensitivity.

The stated capacity on the Certate won't give me enough 20lb with mono or fluoro,, so I'm going to give braid a try.

Pretty well set on using Berkley X9 Crystal after doing some research & watching copycat site review. Now, do I go with 30lb or 40?

Is the Certate designed to spool braid without tape or backing, or will one of these be necessary?

Should I try spooling it on myself (I have no equipment but I'm not opposed to buying some) or should I seek professional assistance?

Please advise!

Both 30 and 40 lb will work fine. I used 30 for years and lately switched to 40 for no real reason. I’ve never lost a fish because of the braid. When beach or pier fishing in FL, I always go braid to a fluro leader. Sharks and mackerel will hit straight braid. But, most of the more sought after game fish like snook, trout, and bluefish get spooked by straight braid and the leader is needed to increase chances of getting those. I will occasionally lose toothy fish on the fluro leader. In 21, I started using the new seaguar gold label in 30 lb and have only lost one toothy fish on that so far. Quite happy with it. I’ve landed sharks, all kinds of mackerel, big bluefish and anything less toothy that swims on it. It’s a good leader.

I don’t know anything about the Berkley braid you mentioned. I’d suggest getting a high quality braid to have a good experience your first time out. Since you went all out on Tatsu when trying fluro the first time, you might consider a better braid for the first try. That berkley line might be great though for all I know.

Spooling it yourself is super easy. Stick a pencil though the spool and hold it with you feet while you wind up the reel. That’s all the equipment you need. Of course, any decent tackle shop will spool you reels if you prefer.

I do put a little tape on reels before putting braid on. For nicer reels that I don’t want to stick tape on, I’ll put a few yards of mono on first and then tie it to braid and fill the spool. Good luck!

I use straight braid or braid to short leader over 90% of the time. The X9 is actually very good line. The 30# does fine on my Daiwa 2500 spinner for inshore duty, but I really enjoy the 10#, 15# and 20# on my baitcast reels.

Once you go braid, you'll never be afraid.

slipperybob wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:40 am

Once you go braid, you'll never be afraid.

Except to break your rod and lose fish in the wrong applications.

You can either apply a mono backing or wrap a strip of electrical tape around the spool--it's really up to you. I've done the electrical tape for years with success and one day stripped off some mono off a reel and left a little bit as my backing when I switched to braid and have always just used a mono backing since.

You could always invest in a cheap spooling tool to get line on...or some guys just take an old cardboard box, poke a hole through both sides and stick a pencil or screwdriver through it to hold the spook so the line comes off the top. Plenty of videos out there that demonstrate different ways of doing it with whatever might be laying around the house...I wouldn't bother paying someone to do it or investing in anything expensive.

I also used to run only mono. While I still love its durability/simplicity aspect I’ve since changed to braid/15’ mono leader and haven’t looked back. I’ve found braid gives me 1) better sensitivity 2) longer casts and 3) better hook sets. Oh, and I only use baitcasters. I will say though, monofilament seems to be the most trouble free line. That coupled with its incredible toughness is why I still use it if I have only one set up with me. I’ve caught some absolute tanks on 3-5 pound monofilament. Also, the knot strength is unparalleled. As I said earlier, I use monofilament as a leader material and I never worry about nicks or knot breakage.