What kind and strength line for striper fishing

Hi All, just came across this forum and signed up today.
Well my Brother-in-law invited me out to a Striper/blue fish tournament this coming Saturday out of Newburyport. ( he has a pretty big boat)
A few years ago he got me a deep see rod, (Not sure of the specifics but seems pretty nice. About 7 or so feet with a spinning reel..
The line on it looks pretty thick and is a mess. I would like to replace it but have no idea what to get since I don't usually do striper fishing..

Can you guys please guide me in the right direction? I won't have the time to order anything so I will have to be available at a Wal-Mart or something local.

Thanks a bunch

Harpoon

I've caught stripers on 20# Spiderwire from WalMart. Granted I haven't caught anything bigger than 25", but it held up fine. They probably have higher pound test there too. Since its a tourney, you might want to ask someone who has more striper experience than me though!

20lb-50lb Powerpro Green Braid should do the trick just fine, but you will need 20yds to 25 yds of a Mono line(cheap 10lb should work) as backing so the braided line doesnt slip.

Thanks guy,

Meat, you lost me with the 25 yds of cheap 10 lb mono line..

Are you saying to start the spool with 25 yards of this stuff then tie to it the 20-50lb Powerpro green Braid line?

if so am I just filling the rest of the spool with the "good" stuff?

Thanks alot

Harpoon

Exactly, about 25yds of cheap mono, than use a double uni knot(I think) to tie both lines together and fill rest rest of the spool with the braid. Braid tied to the spool directly will slip.

You can also just go straight mono to keep it simple and less expensive to start, 14-20# test depending on where/what you're fishing. Have metal leaders handy if you're fishing for Blues. But what Meat said is what many striper fisherman do and works great too. Its just a few more steps involved.

I set up my spinning reels exactly how meat suggested with 20# power pro but my buddy uses straight mono 25# and doesn't have any issues. You just have to pay attention to your line for any nicks or abrasions. Good luck

Thanks, you guys are awesome.
Well I found a large spool of 25lb Mono in my tool box. Is this too thick for the base layer? since you mentioned only using 10lb Mono.
I did find the Power pro green at my local sports authority and was going to pick it up today but not sure if I should also grab the 10lb mono as well or just use the 25lb I have..

Thanks guys

Harpoon

you want the mono and the braid to be about the same size so go with the 10. It will be much easier to tie them together. Hope you catch a beast. We went out for a couple of hours last night near Deer Island and only bagged one fish.

Hey guys, thanks for all your help on this. I just ended up putting on some Trilene green 30lb test mono. I was on a time crunch and this was the quickest and easiest option..
I can't really tell you how it worked out because I didn't catch a G@# darn thing.. Was out there from 8:00 AM to about 4:00 PM between the 3 of us only one stiper was pulled in..
Was a tough day..
I am going to try to get out again this Thursday ( i hope)

Thanks again though at least my rod is ready to go now.

Much appreciated

Harpoon