Thinking of moving to using braid...

[Chris Playle]

Myself and my fishing buddy are thinking of moving over to using braid for main line.

 

What are the advantages of using braid, what are the disadvantages? Obviously, braid will be better for using feature finding leads. But does braid have shortfalls compared to mono ??

 

Are there any special conciderations to take into account when using braid such as diameter of the rings on the rod and reel type. I've heard that braid has to be loaded on the reel differently to mono and can be quite good at giving a birds nest round the spool if not loaded correctly.

 

Most importantly, what are the safety aspects of using braid in terms of fish welfare. Is braid more adrasive than mono against a fishes body and does brain hold out better when rubbed against snags such as underwater branches and stone bottom lakes?

 

Your thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

Many thanks to those that reply.

 

Chris.

[erik]

whilst it has it's strong advocates as a mainline and would always use it on the marker rod, personally as a day to day mainline don't like it. obviously you've got to consider what type of fishing you're doing, e.g. range or close in, and how having no stretch in yer mainline will impact this, + balance with your rods etc.

if most of your fishing is done say from the margins to 80 yds on averagely weedy stillwaters, as mine is, i really wouldn't bother.

on a safety aspect if using braid would always make sure you use a long bit of tubing or leadcore as it can cut a bit like cheesewire.

[Gaffer]

Chris, do it!

 

I would never ever go back to using mono, unless I was to fish a water where it was banned (which I do).

 

Advantages:

No stretch - excellent bite indication from short to extreme range. No stretch allows you to feel what the fish is doing when being 'played'. No stretch allows you to remove your hooklink, 'lead' about to find a feature with ease, clip up, replace hooklink cast out to feature and be within inches.

Low diameter - more line can be loaded onto the spool allowing baits to be boated out to over 500 yards if need be. I find braid gives a more subtle presentation, especially in weed, because of it's low diameter.

 

Disadvantages:

Poor abrasion resistance - Compared to mono (lb for lb).

Lack of cushioning - In using braid you will loose the cushioning effect that mono gives you. You will have to change your 'playing' style to avoid hook-pulls.

The best way to do this is to loosen off the clutch enough to allow the fish to take line with ease. Then, whilst playing the fish, keep your index finger pressed against the side of the spool. When the fish makes a lunge release your finger and allow the fish to take line easily(ish) on the clutch. To slow the the fish, apply pressure to the spool using your index finger. Then , to stop the fish, apply pressure to the spool (using your index finger) and lift the rod to gain line, release finger and wind up the slack as you lower the rod, and keep doing so until the fish is ready at the net.

Also, when you strike, no matter what range you are fishing at, just lift the rod, don't strike as you would with mono.

 

Ring wear, IME, is just an old wives tale. If got some really cheap rods, with cheap rings and have used braid on them for over 5 years, with no signs what so ever of wear.

 

As Erik has said, always use tubing or leadcore to prevent scale lift.

 

If I was to recommend a braid it would have to be PowerPro, which I use in 50lb (fifty).

 

How I use mine.... http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/gaffer04.htm

 

Hope that helps.

[Newt]

I like braid and am also a confirmed PowerPro user.

 

One caution regarding rings though. The braid itself won't cut any except maybe the softest (and cheapest) ones. But the good ceramic ones are prone to getting tiny cracks if struck and those cracks will seriously weaken braid over time where mono wouldn't be affected.

 

Simple to guard against. A Q-tip passed lightly along the inner surface of the ring will show if you have even the smallest crack since cotton will get caught in the crack. It takes less than 2 minutes to check a rod and you can easily do it with the rod rigged and ready to go.

 

I have a feeling that the few folks who say they have a problem with braid not tolerating abrasion and breaking unexpectedly are dealing with ring issues.

[jeepster]

i've just got some power pro in 30 and 50lb, its incredible! i've been using fireline and spiderwire in the same BS and power pro is so much better

[topbait]

thumbs up from me!

 

been using braid for a long time and would find it very hard going back to mono,it does get a bit scary when you got 1 on the end because there is zero stretch and you can feel every single movement the fish makes,but its got loads of other advantages......find really nice spots to put your baits....better bite indication(even at 120 yards)...casts better...lays nicely on the lake bed...cuts through weed easier than mono but then its got the bad side :confused:

 

if a fish goes through another line and it tangles it can be tricky to un tangle and if not wound onto the spool correctly can cause wind knots,when you load it on the spool dont fill it right up to the top because it seems to lay on the spool better with just a few mm of space from the braid to the top of the spool

 

also always use some sort of fish protection near the rig ie: leadcore,tubing or better still use a shockleader(mono)

 

steve

 

"keep watching the water"

[Peter Sharpe]

"does braid hold out better when rubbed against snags such as underwater branches and stone bottom lakes?"

 

Too right it does. Usually, with the result that the person who gets hooked up on an imoveable snag has to cut the line leaving yards and yards of lethal braid in the water.

 

Last year it took me nearly an hour to rescue a tufty that had taken a snagged up bait. The trailing braid had become wrapped around some kind of underwater obstruction that was yielding just enough to allow it to get to the surface for air, when it would then pull it back under. The thing was that when I eventually got the bird halfway into a landing net, I managed to just reach the braid, but could neither break it nor bite through it. I eventually had to leave it while I went back for a knife. I then had to repeat the procedure all over again.

 

When I eventually got it out, I could see that the hook had worked its way into the muscle under the bird's tongue, almost up to the eye. It was then that I realised that the hook was a damned barbed one and there just wasn't enough room to push it through. If it had been barbless I could have pulled it straight out, but it was absolutely immoveable and I had to settle for cutting the hook as far down the shank as I could reach, which wasn't far. It was bleeding from its leg where the braid had cut in, but it flapped off ok when I released it. God knows how long it had been there though. I doubt if it survived.

[Chris Playle]

Thanks to those who replied.

 

Peter, that's one of the main reasons I'm undecided about using Braid. I too have dragged out yards of the stuff when preparing and raking Tench swims. I've lost count of the amount of times I've taken a crows nest of braid (and mono for that matter) home to put in the bin. Not mine, may I add, but discarded by other anglers.

 

I suppose alot of this is down to angling practice (not tying on a shockleader of a lower breaking strain mono for instance and tying the hook direct to the braid main line). That's why I asked you guys for an opinion. I know the stuff can be very strong indeed and my main concern is using in a safe and responsible manner so as to present as little danger to either the fish or wildlife as possible.

 

I'm still a little undecided though. The advantages over mono are great but I don't think I know enough about braid to look at using it yet. I presume that with the difference in material used in braid, that some of the knots used on mono cannot be applied to braid. I think I'll do a bit more reading up on it before I commit myself to filling a spool.

 

Once again, thanks for the replies guys. A mine of information as ever.

 

Tight lines.

 

Chris.

[Newt]

The idea of leaving long pieces of braid in the water is certainly not a good one.

 

I usually fish powerpro 50lb mainline to 30lb hooklength so if I have to pull for a break, I know where it will happen. Can't remember the last time I had a break above the swivel.

 

Peter, you said ... Usually, with the result that the person who gets hooked up on an imoveable snag has to cut the line... Why cut?

[RobStubbs]

I have used braid as a mainline but it has a number of disadvantages and hence must be used with even more care than mono. In part similar I guess to using 30 or 50lb mono mainlines - which you wouldn't even consider using. It is essential to use safe rigs, even more so than with mono because braid will hang around pretty much for ever. Braid does loop in the water more than mono and suffers more from undertow. It is also prone to awful wind knots which can often be impossible to undo.

 

I am fortunate that I can't use braid on my main water so I don't have it on my reels. I have used it abroard and have separate reels loaded so as to use it there - but again in the last few years all the waters I have fished ban it. I will use it again but not just so I can cast 10Y further.

 

Rob.