I live and fish near Baytown and galveston. Is braided line the best for all applications and what size reel and line should be used in this area?

I wouldn't say for all applications but fits the bill for me most of the time.. I use 2500-4000 size reels with 20-40lb braided line.

i use it for everything except popping corks. just can't get the right feel with braid, maybe too many yrs strechin that mono.

A 4000 sized reel with 20 to 30 lb braid would fit the bill very nicely in Baytown. Get a 7 to 8 foot 30lb class medium rod and you will be good to go. You need a pretty wide range of horse power with sensitivity to fish around town.

As an example I fish Cedar Bayou in Roseland park off and on all year round. I catch everything from 1 inch gafftops to 40 inch Black drum, and everything else in between. I have even caught a medium sized sting ray or two in there.

Also invest in a spool of 30lb test fluorocarbon leader, and learn how to tie either an Albright, Slim Beauty, or Double Uni knot to attach that to your braided line, there are times you will need 10 to 20 feet tied on to help with the abrasions and sharp stuff around, like shell beds, barnacles, and the like.

I use braid and mono, when its real windy braid can be a nightmare. I use 20 - 30lb on my spinning reels. On my round bait casts I still use mono, on my low profiles I use braid, my c3's have better drags so I don't need the extra line strength I run 12lb or 14lb on those.

I'm a lot like FreeFall, I don't use much braid on bait casters, I actually only have one or two low profile reels I use for moving baits that I use braid and maybe a short leader, but don't like to run a knot through the level wind, it damages too many things.

Most of my low profiles have 12 or 15lb mono on them, good enough when targeting slot sized fish.

I will add my 2 cents here, I am changing all my reels to braid when I change line except my offshore reels which I have braid backing on the larger ones, on these 130#, my favorite is Suffix 832 50 & 65 for smaller reels. Power Pro is ok but no comparison to 832. I seldom fish spinning rods but do use #100 Power Pro on my Fin-Nor 095. On my Abu and small bait casters I am converting to braid as needed 40-65#. I like the casting and feel of it and don't loose near as many lures as before. In saltwater I use leaders almost all the time, wire and cable due to too many bite offs and now rarely have them. I fish big baits with heavy tackle almost all the time. My Penn 9/0 and Avet 30wide are my favorites and most used, I do have 100 & 80# on these, mono.
After using braid for awhile I am partial to it, I don't like the smaller sizes.
Larry

I use braid for everything except topwaters. Sometimes I'll put a top on with braid...but if i'm only going to work tops I'll use mono. Just something i've noticed.

If you're using braid there's a few things you have to be aware of.
1 - less abrasion resistant
2 - set drag correctly!! because of braid strength if your drag is not set right you can break your rod
3 - cuts lol
4 - some reels don't like braid.

I use braid on spinning reels throwing plastics. I like mono better with baitcaster using topwaters. There you go.

So does the test weight of a line mean that is all of the weight it will handle for example 20lb test will only hold a 20lb fish.

It has nothing to do with the weight of the fish persay... it does have to do with the rated break strength of the line in pounds of force. The break strength is basically that it would hold a 20lb force applied to it and break if something more was applied to it. Many lines rated for 20 will break at a little higher but you don't want to test that. So a fish would have to exert 20lbs of pulling force. Also, this is only for perfectly new line, not line with 100 cast, nicks from shell, tooth abrasion etc. all of those compromise the integrity of the line and how much it cna hold.

The 30 holds up much better to abrasion than the 20. The 20 is fine if all you are doing is fishing clean open water and your lure isn't getting down to the bottom or bumping shell or other structure that might damage it.

Think of people, very few can pull their own weight, a fish that weighs 20lbs can't put that much pull on a line. And they pull less as they tire, that is why you play a fish to tire it out so you can bring it in easier.

Using that same 20lb fish and line, if you try to pull it out of the water that line can break, that is why we use nets or other means to bring the fish out of the water where the actual weight of the fish will be felt.

Like the fish tiring, the line will also tire, or wear weakening it slightly, although most line holds up very well as long as you maintain it and check it after every trip.

When you talk about braids, you also have to take into account the thinness of it, thinner lines are easier to be catastrophically damaged than a thicker line. That is why many people go to heavier braids, although for around Baytown, 20 to 40 would suffice, if you start fishing some places in the Gulf, then you might want to ramp up, but you will also have to get heavier gear.

If you live in Baytown, we need to hook up some time and hit someplace around here, It is a lot easier to answer some questions like this when in person.

Sure. Whenever you have time on a weekend let me know. I will be glad to go.