Line ratings...

[Tigger]

If I go and get myself a rod and it's rated for say 8lb mono then I feel safe/right using 6lb sensor (which actually breaks nearer to 8lb) as I know it's gonna stretch in conjunction with the rod, so it all works together when striking, playing in a fish etc etc.

I've noticed drennan give line ratings on their rods stating a B/S of say 6lb, but then they also say it will cope with 8lb or even higher high-tech lines. I think i'm right in that drennan mean high-tech lines are ok to use in the higher B/S because they will snap at a lower pull than standard mono. I mean if a rod is rated to 6lb standard mono the standard mono will usually break higher than the stated one by a pound or more were as the high-tech mono usually breaks at it's stated B/S or below so they should be roughly equal on the B/S.

 

What I can't get my head round is why people say it's ok to use a braid in the same diameter as the recommended mono when the braid has no stretch and will have a much higher B/S. Surely this is nonsense as the braid is far to powerfull for the rod, won't stretch along with the bend of the rod which puts more pressure on the hooklink and rod. Obviously the hooklink being under so much pressure is concerning (to me at least). I mean if your reel is spooled up with the correct mono then the mono stretches from the hook all the way back to the reel and if a hooklength is used it has the buffer of the mainline and rod as well plus it's own stretch so it has got to be far less likely to crack off.

 

Has anyone got any thoughts/concerns about it ?

[JV44]

Ian I hadn`t even given it a thought before may have to change back to sensor don`t want to risk the beloved Normark,think the braid diam thing is more for Carp/Pike/Barbel for abraision ressistance as much as anything

[Tigger]

Ian I hadn`t even given it a thought before may have to change back to sensor don`t want to risk the beloved Normark,think the braid diam thing is more for Carp/Pike/Barbel for abraision ressistance as much as anything

 

 

Yeah Steve, I think your right, I think it's much more of an issue with float rods and lighter rods. I wouldn't use braid on the rivers round here though, it snaps for fun when it touches a rock and under pressure, mono is far safer/tougher against rocks .

[Adam247]

I have a mate who uses braid on a reeder rod that is recommended to 8lb mono and he uses braid to I think about 15, the way he has it set up is that he has a leader of around 5-8 ft of either fluorocarbon or mono to act as a buffer when casting out and playing , I can understand why he uses it on feeder fishing for the extra sensitivity but wouldn't use it on floating gear myself

[Steve Walker]

If I'm using braid for trotting, I will always have a lighter hook length, and if I pull for a break, I will point the rod down the line. Same if I need to pull a lure out of a snag.

[Dick Dastardly]

I believe than the old maxim of choosing braid by using the same diameter as the mono you would is sound. Basicly it stops all the "problems" people seem to suffer with braid! The main issues being abbraission resistance and "manageability" You use the same breaking strain you end up with an ULTRA thin line that is difficult to control (ie tangles, wind knots etc) and ofg course poor abbraision resistance.

 

BUT as Ian says you need to consider all of the materials properties. As much of a bonus they can all be they can equally be a problem! For example the lack of stretch. With big fish I allow for this by using softer rods. With small fish I have a "cushion" of mono built in. Its a matter of using the properties you need for the job and compensating for the ones you don't.

[Tigger]

Problem with a braid mainline and a mono hooklength for me is that a short peice of mono can't stretch like a long peice off the reel so there won't / can't be as much cushion as there should be and the rods action can't work as it should be able to as it would with mono. I mean most of the cushion is coming from the rod alone as the ammount of stretch in a 6ft peice of mono is negligeable really.

[Steve Walker]

Yes, you have to use the give in the rod rather than the stretch in the line - so maybe the perfect rod for mono might be too stiff for braid? The hooklength won't give you any real cushioning, but it should at least mean that the braid being strong enough to snap the rod isn't a problem.

 

Similar situation with fly fishing, not much stretch in most fly lines, but made worse by the amount of drag they create through the water.

[Rusty]

I'm not convinced that braid of [say] 6lb BS is much thinner than mono of the same rating. The advertising blurb says so but in the hand they don't seem that different, at least not with Fireline Crystal. When trotting with the Harrison rod I use braid and a mono hooklength but in the same breaking strain as if it was all mono i.e. 8lb or 6lb mainline and 6lb or 4lb hooklength. The non stretch braid puts all the emphasis on the rod coping which it does from memory, it's been a while since I've caught anything big enough to test it.

[Tigger]

The thing is the rods have been designed to bend in conjunction with mono's up to and down to their rated strengths to give their maximum performance....haven't they ?

If you think about it a 4lb botton (for example) attatched to 6lb braid has got to snap off sooner than if it were attatched to a 6lb mono as the rod must bend round to it's maximum test curve sooner due to the lack of stretch...if you unerstand what i'm getting at lol.