so im getting this van staal its tims old reel. american made silver handle black spool gold every thing else. now this is the question should i put braid backing with mono top shot or what should i do?

All mono. Less money and you still get 300+ yards.

If ur buying a cadilac do you put some old out-dated noname tires on it.
No you put brand new michillins on that biach.
If your gonna be spending the money for a van staal I want to be able to cast
as far as anyone and be able to pressure my fish more.
I'll admit if I was primarily tarpon fishing I would fish mono but for most everything else braid is superior.
Fill about 1/3 of the spool with 20-25 mono and the rest of the reel with 40-50 pound
braid.

That is a excellent casting reel. All braid with a short mono leader.

alight thanks guys

fill it with 40lb braid and you're good to go

I put a punishing on all Tarpon, Blacktips, Stripe bass on this reel with 30lb braid and a 4ft leader.
Good Luck