Help with new reel!!!!

[Bigger-benny]

G'day all just bought my first overhead reel its a penn 330GTI with 80lb braid on it.Only problem is i don't know anything about braid.It seems to me like there is not much braid on the reel as there is a gap about 2cm from full capacity.I have also been told that you need to know which knots to tie or you loose your fish.Any advise would be great as i'm keen to give it a run cheers. ;D

[Nathanrb4]

How much braid did you put on the reels Bigger_Benny? Braid is alot thinner than Mono of the same weight rating. Therefore you may have 300m of 80lb braid on the reel but becasue its alot thinner than 80lb mono it hasn`t taken up the room on the spool that mono would. i use 30lb braid on my abu 6500c4 but i`ve underlayed it with a couple of hundred metres of mono to make up the space. Another reason is that braid is so expensive and if you wanted to fill your spool you`d need hundreds of dollors of the stuff and you`d probly only ever see top 150m or so of it where as if you use mono under it you really only need like 300m at the most (i`m talking Barra fishing here). have a talk to the guys at your local tackle shop about it all. they basically set my reel up for me when i changed over to braid. They`ll probly also show you how to tie the knots aswell. Believe me its alot easier once you`ve watched someone tie one than trying to just copy a picture.
hope that helps
nathan

[clearwater]

matre they are a great reel i have had one for years and i have never done a service on it and it just keeps going ....as for braid watch your fingers ..and u need to run a mono leader..and dont get in any tangles with ppl fishing with mono as they just knot up big time

andy

[Bigger-benny]

;D cheers guys i might take the braid off and put some mono on the spool first.I got the reel from a guy in Brisbane who moved from up north end and dosen't fish anymore.I had used the same model reel on a charter at port stephens and we where pulling kingfish easily.I only paid $45 and its near brand new what size should i use to put on the spool.?? 8)