Well thought I would chime in about gear fishing and baitcasters with tuff-line which is what I prefer. like mentioned you have to line it on the spool tight no matter what pound you use or it will cut into itself with any pressure. I had a friend spool his own on his reel and than another friend used his reel rod set-up for springer fishing the willy and the first day he lost a nice 25 pound fish and the second day he lost two springers. springers are way to hard to come by to be losing them so I checked the reel and found he didn't spool it on tight enough and every first or second run a fish would make it would cut into itself and brake the leader. He will never make that mistake again!
The lightest tuff line I use is #50 because it is still very thin and if you get snagged when you brake the leader it can still cut into the spool so you have to pull line out to make sure it isn't stuck after fighting fish or getting a snag undone. #50 pound when backlashed is still a pain in the ass because it's still the diameter of about #10 mono but is a good light bobber line and floats for years helping to set the hook with no stretch. You will also need to not set the hook as hard when dropping to #10 mono because with no stretch it is very easy to "pop" the leader making you think the leader is bad but actually it is the no stretch of the braid!
I use #50 for steelhead and 65 or 80 for salmon. #80 with #40 mono leader at the coastal fisheries for bobber fishing and #65 for trolling purposes because it is smaller in diameter. the 65 under extreme pressure will still cut into itself if say you un-snag with #30 mono leader - that's alot of pressure but I have found the 80 will almost never cut into itself but is so strong many times you need to use the boat to brake the damn stuff. But braid does not take shock well so it's better to try and shock brake it instead of a steady pull type of braking.
When using #50 on my steelhead reels I can still fish chinook with it by just bumping up the mono leader size, you just have to make sure to check every-time you land a fish or put lots of pressure on it to see that it is not stuck in your spool. We use this system every summer above bonni because one minute you can be fishing steelhead and the next move the boat to target 15 to 40 pound chinook. having a chinook troller set-up with #65 and a steelhead set-up in #50 means I do not need another bobber set-up in the boat for the chinook bobber fishing, just change leader with the #50 steelhead set-up and use mid strength steelhead rods not ultra light steelhead rods for the combo!
I have never used braid for drift fishing and never will!
Braid on spinning reels are great for kids steelhead and salmon fishing but make sure it's at least #50 because it can cut the skin pretty easy. even #50 will cut but not as bad as 25 or 30! my daughter started bobber fishing chinook with me with a spinning reel at around age 7, good large spinning reel with 65 pound tuff line helped with tangles (larger diameter) and never braking off while fighting a fish and not having the strength to control it so she could just lay the rod on the boat side and use it to help herself on hard long runs. By age 9 she was throwing a baitcater lined with $80 pound for coastal chinook. #80 hardly ever tangles and even when it doesnt is very easy to undo
and will only cut under the most extreme pressure.
What I would also like to add is that gear fishing for new people in the sport like kids, grandmother, grandfathers, wives, father in laws and I could list many more I have taken allows me to pass fishing on to all sorts and levels of fisher-people. from my daughter friends to mother-in-laws and it is well known weare losing the younger community in outdoor sports to computer games and drugs everyday! Gear fishing is a way to help the "non-fisher-person" enjoy the sport and maybe "hook" one more person into taking care of our resources.
Because of gear fishing my daughter landed over 100 steelhead by the time she was 10, by age 9 she was good with a bait caster and a very good fisher-person out fishing many of my friends. it helps that she was in diapers in my drifter but also I took her friends - some that would of never of had the chance to go fishing if it wasn't for my daughter and I. I got on my nephew last year because at 30 years old he still only thought of himself! I told him it's about time to share what I and my brother had taught him since he was about 6 years old - a very good fisherman, he agreed and now takes old high school buddies and is teaching them.
It is much easier to share our sport starting with gear and moving into fly fishing! my daughter started fly fishing around 10 or 11 and is pretty darn good now at 20 years old.
So i ask the question -
how selfish are you with fishing?
is it all about you?
If you could share the sport with more people with gear - would you?
Here is a pic of my niece from last week with her first chinook and just turned 9, she also released another and lost one in the motor. That's my nephew I got on about sharing the sport and now in two trips my little niece has landed 3 chinook and lost a couple others. It's finally not just about him and he will be a good teacher! Like I told him I didn't teach him so "HE" could catch fish. Baitcaster and #65 tuff and plenty of excitement! Fish was a little dark but it was her first and wanted to show mom!