Stephen - I have used braid for the vast majority of my fishing for the past 20 years. Once you get used to the lack of stretch and set your drag appropriately for that braid is night and day better for everything except long distance casting.

I always fill the spools completely with braid (big Emblems take around 480 yards of 30lb PowerPro). Since I cast big distances 150 yards would put me pretty close to my backing too often and I really don't want to play a fish on the backing line. After about 3 or 4 years I reverse the braid and use it for another 3 or 4 years. I have tried just about all the braided lines out there and PowerPro is the one for me.

I can count on two fingers the number of wind knots I have had in the past year - I think you are smart enough to work out how many that is LOL. In both cases the wind knot was easy to pick out without cutting the braid. These happened within the first three months of re-spooling over the winter, previous to that I cannot remember the last wind knot. One thing that most don't realize is that 40mm butt rings will help with reducing wind knots, without any reduction in casting distance.

I always use a 30lb nylon/flourocarbon/hybrid shock/snag leader of about 30 feet. This give be some security when casting, I don't like slicing my finger on big casts, so I can really lay into the cast. The leader also gives some cushioning when playing the fish in close because of the stretch. Finally the leader will fare much better over rocks etc than 30lb braid.

Braid generally is slower sinking than nylon until it has been used a few time and even then will still sink slower on the first couple of casts of the day. After the first couple of casts it will sink faster than nylon and will also cast further as the wetness in the braid becomes self lubricating. Nylon will consistently cast and sink the same way.

If you really want to get big, big casts in then stay away from braid and go for nylon in about 10lb or 12lb, use a 100lb braided shock leader and give the big chuck. I compared the same reel and rod loaded with 12lb nylon and 30lb braid with a 3.5oz lead, on a casting field the nylon was consistently 10-12% better on distance.

Braid is definitely less affected by big winds, however due to the lack of stretch does give more buzzer indication - this can be resolved by turning down the sensitivity on the buzzers.

so go with 30 lb PP? and how does that compare in diameter to 12 lb mono? keep in mind I have LC's and I have 20 lb Pline CXX strong fluoro as my shock leader.

do they sell power pro in bulk spools? 3,000 yards at bass pro, $250.00 dang

Yup but you can save a ton by reversing the spool as keith mentioned so really you are getting 6000 yds for $250 about .04 cents per yard. Not bad.

$250 yards for six years worth of line is only $41.66 per year for line. Go eight years and that goes down to just over $30.

30lb is equivalent to 8lb mono

They do sell power pro in bulk spools. I've seen it online in lots of places, not sure about in stores.

I use 100 Lbs. of power pro if that helps anyone. Got sick of busting off 50 lbs. Over kill? noooooooo

Completely overkill. No way a carp should be busting you off on 30lb PowerPro let alone anything heavier.

Only break-offs I get on PowerPro 30# are when I am in a snag.

+1 I rarely break off with 12 lb mono unless it is from angler error, ie. playing drag and set it too tight.

i use 10lb suffix (barge fishing) and have only broken off once with a fish hooked up. I've even had a fish take a rod (and the rod holder too) that was secured to the barge and the 10 lb suffix didn't break.

I second what Keith said.My fishing experience got better when I took his advice on the shock leader.I have been using 14' to 15' 20lb big game.Was using 20lb cxx extra strong for a while but decided I like the big game better.With my limber BFS carp rod I think the extra stretch of the leader puts more fish on the bank and puts them there in better condition, less tearing to the mouth from the hook. I use a fairly thick shanked #6 also and I feel the mono still helps.I have tried 30,40 and 50 pound power pro. The 30 is about like 8lb mono the 40 and 50 more like 10lb mono.The 30lb by far has the tightest weave making it smoother thru the eyelets.The 40 has a little texture to it and you can feel a bit of the coarseness when it contacts you eyelets on retrieve and the 50 is even coarser.On all of them the coating will wear off in a couple of months leaving you with a significantly smaller diameter line than when new.I'm no long caster like Keith but I felt I could cast all of them pretty well, a bit further than cheap 12lb mono.You would probably have to have a small diameter high quality mono to beat it distance wise or even a 10lb line.These lines would get fragile fast I think, and I'm not up to replacing expensive mono on a regular basis.All of the powerpro even the 50 will slice and dice your fingers if you have been packing method which makes you skin wet and soft.The long leaders will stop this.My favorite is the 40lb powerpro only because it is thick enough that I can easily get the knots out.If I was younger and had better eyesight I might just stick with the 30lb powerpro.Use it with a large spool desinged for carp fishing.I think the larger spool will get you better distance with all lines and it will put fewer twist in the line because more line will be retrieved in one revolution.If you absolutely have to have that extra bit of distance cut your mono leader off and use a finger stall to get a little more distance.Also make sure your knots can pass thru your method feeder. I can tie a slightly smaller knot with the big game than the pline.I use my baiting needle to tie a double nail knot to connect line and I believe i use a double clinch to my swivel at my method feeder.You do need to use a hooklink to break at far less to allow a breaking point in case of getting caught in a snag so you dont pull there lips off or have to straighten the hook.I now you already know these things Stephen just adding them for those who are new to carping.

I use 30lb suffix 832 in 300 yard spools. Cabellas was selling it for the same price as PP. Think its 90 bucks for 3 spools I prefer it because it breaks the surface and sinks quicker than PP. Probably doesn't make much difference if your casting but if your yaking your baits out at distance and a bass boat heads your way, it can save you a spool of braid when you need it to sink it in a hurry.To get the backing exact I spool the braid first on a spare spool then the backing to the lip. Then reverse it onto another spool. Just make sure you have the label on the braid and line facing down so when you reverse it, the line is coiled the correct way and doesn't spring.

Life is now better UKcarper.You have solved my problem of not getting the correct amount of backing when using 150yards of powerpro.

I might just spool with 500 yars braid and then 200 backing, but no spare sppols so the 3rd reel will be a guess.

Thanks shane and everyone else

What about 300 yard of braid and 400 backing?

300 yards is more than enough.I use 150 to save money and I'm a short caster.Also use small diameter backing mono to make the knot small and tuck the knot to the back of the spoolso that nothing could grab it from behind, with 150 this is more important than 300 yards.With 300 yards I would find some dirt cheap 8lb mono for backing.