Just bought a roll of braid and plan on spending the night at the lake next weekend for some cats.

Should I bother spooling my reel with braid or am I just as well off with 12lb mono. I am fishing for eating size filet but I hope to land into a 5-10 lb cat. If I do spool with braid to I need to add some mono as a backing? Do I need to add some mono or flouro as a leader? If I do add a leader how much of that do I need to put on?

Thanks for the help everyone!!

you never know when big daddy will come by and grab ur bait. better to be prepared than not. myself i have never put no other line or black tape on my line first. but that is just me. good luck

I've never used braid, I use 20 lb mono with 50 lb mono leader on my hook, I havn't had any problems and have caught up to a 45 lb Flat Head on it! I don't have anything bad to say about the braid, I just have never used it, and so far I havn't needed it! Good luck to ya which ever way you decide to go!!!

Most catfishermen use a Carolina rig with about a 2-3 foot leader
below a barrel swivel. Most say they use a 2 oz weight. I use a .75 oz barrel sinker. And a lot will put a small float about 6 inches from the hook; I thread on a slip float with a plastic insert to keep pressure on the line and not allow the float to slip. I have several different setups from braid to mono, but I also use a 50 lb mono leader. With the fish in shallow water, you can see the float and it gives you a little time to grab the right pole before the action starts.

either mono backin or tape spool or line will spin on spool unless spool has hole in it for line