Braid. Is it just me that hates the stuff?

[n4lly]

Total bollacks shaun, davy.

Drifting in 300' or at anchour?

Snag at with 30 lb braid, good luck

[Spur-Hound]

LOL honest you gotta see it to believe! I dont realy know enough about it to comment too much, im sure others will though. Ask other softies whove been... Guys, is there anything else quite the same as fishing up there? Its like a diffrnt planet

[chevin]

spasor:

John?

I don`t think braid was introduced as a casting line. More as an aid for boat anglers to fish with lighter weights and improve bite detection.

I would agree with that statement. For a lot of my fishing I would never use anything else, but when casting a free lined mulie, (something like a sprat), braided line does tend to snatch and cause a birds nests. I have been casting with multipliers for some 40 years, so I know that the cause of this isn't entirely my fault. After a little thought, the reason for the problem really is quite clear. Braided line does not hold water on its surface as mono does and therefore is not as slippery when it is peeling off the spool. Any uneven tensions during a retrieve can result in the formation of loops and with the braided line there is little chance of them clearing themselves as they often do with "lubricated" mono.

 

I would agree 100% with what has been said about it in regards to bottom fishing as long as a leader of about twice the rod length is used.

 

I remember when some of the first braided lines began to hit the market, it was often said that braided line was the best line to use on multiplier reels and taking that as gospel I tried some dacron on my Penn 6/0. On my first trip while using the stuff I lost a skate that was approaching 200lbs because of my lack of understanding of it. However, I did think about the statement that had been made and realised that it had probably been misquoted and that what had most likely been said was thet, "multipliers were the best reels on which to use braided line". I think that the correct use of braided line is more difficult at times than the use of mono, but in most circumstances it is worth taking the trouble to over come those problems.

[Guest NickInTheNorth]

n4lly:

Total bollacks shaun, davy.

Drifting in 300' or at anchour?

Snag at with 30 lb braid, good luck

At anchor.

 

What does "Snag at with 30 lb braid" mean?

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

 

Good post Chevin

 

n4lly : have you fished the mark I'm talking about??? no... well you cant say it's total B*llocks then can you

 

Snagging with 30lb braid: simple you do the same as you do when you snag with 30lb mono either lock everything up solid and uses a direct pull for a break or use a bit of brush shaft and wrap the braid round that and then pull. It works the exact same for 100lb braid. In fact it is a lot easier to snap 80lb braid than it is to snap 80lb mono thanks to the lack of stretch. just ask Norrie about that one..

 

[ 01. July 2005, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: Davy Holt ]

[Guest jay_con]

If you use braid in deep water from a boat you will instantly realise the difference and never ever go back. Fishing with mono at depth is like fishing with

a long elastic band.

 

[ 01. July 2005, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: @SUMMER@ ]

[Davy Holt]

and a very stretchy elastic band

 

(oh no.. I've just agreed with Summer)

[Guest jay_con]

Dont worry I wont hold it against you.

[john frum]

Hmm, well as with most other things in life there seem to be differences of opinion. My original question was about casting, so a lot of the discussion of braid used for uptiding etc is not immediately relevant to me. When I buy a boat I'll let you know... Meanwhile my conclusion from what's been posted here is that, for casting, the problems outweigh the advantages. I doubt that my casting technique is pushing the limits so it's probably not going to help much. Might just try the fused variety someone suggested though, before I give up.

 

Also, although no-one has mentioned it I get the impression that the new mono lines like the Ultima I'm currently using (are they all "co-polymer"?) have improved a lot over the last couple of decades - thinner, more supple etc.

 

I also notice that the two coarse fishing clubs I've just joined ban braid. I've had various interpretations why. Maybe it just makes the membership worse tempered.

 

I was amused by the junior-angler-rock-fishing-hazard scenario. I'd have thought that this was dangerous enough with mono! Interestingly enough, when I lived in Australia a popular statistic was that rock fishing was the sport that caused the most deaths. I used to attach myself to a safety rope having had a few frights that caused me to believe this statistic.

[spanner]

I fish a lot with braid in a variety of situations and love the stuff ...

 

As for casting with it on a multiplier I do it all the time. Just ask the pike lure anglers. 50lb to 80lb braid is the norm for them on 5500 and 6500 size reels. I use 50lb on a 5500EON and 60lb on a 6500CSmag. They chuck anything from 1oz up to 8oz lures on it, I use up to 5oz. Less than 1oz and fized spool is definitely the way to go.

 

All my lure fishing in the sea is done on braid, typically with a fixed spool up to 2oz and multiplier for chucking macky feathers.

 

There is one reason above all else to use braid for lure fishing, lack of stretch = sensitivity. You can feel exactly what the lure is doing and you can work it accordingly. If you want the lure to twitch and jerk it will, you cannot do that effectively with mono.

 

But yes, you do then have to set the drag lower, or use a softer rod to cusion the impact from a diving fish. Using mono to absorb this through its stretch seems pointless to me, feeling the fish is what is all about.

 

You do not have to use a soft rod if you set the drag properly .... take a look at jerkbaiting rods. Mine has less flex than a 30lb class boat rod, stiff as hell, but you can work the lure perfectly as the rod does not absorb the twiches and jerks and they go straight to the lure. You play the fish on the drag not the rod.

 

I also use it for bait fishing on clean beaches, up to about 100yds max. The bite detection is tremendous, I hate fishing with 15lb mono because I always feel so blind with it, fine if its a decent fish but braid makes every tiny nibble so obvious and you get much better hook-ups. Lip hooked and not deeped hooked becasue I don't leave it to hook itself.

 

 

The only probelm is if you get uneven tension when you wind in. Loose coils are the main problem on a fixed spool, but that just means paying attention to what you are doing when winding in ...... as I keep telling my son who regularly gets this while I never do.

 

On multipliers you have to watch out for overtension, causing it to bed in a little. A level-wind helps, but again just being careful, for example if you get heavy weed carefully pumping the rod and keeping even tension on the downstroke. If I get uneven tension I just do a gentle lob first to cure it.

 

In general you just need to cast smoothly and don't try and hammer it. I thnk a lot of people who have trouble with braid are too jerky in thier casting.

 

 

As for boat fishing .... I've yet to try proper uptiding but in any other situation I prefer just because of the 'feel', especially in deep water.

 

 

Sam, as for your wee boy on the rocks alone .... if he isn't allowed to handle a knife he certainly shouldn't be allowed any near such a mark on his own!