POOR BRAID TESTS!!! Merged threads...

Simen

Sealiner
After reading the current topics of the breaking strains of various braid types, I would like to share the following with you.

This is my personal experience/views and don’t want to influence any person or any product in any way.

I have been fishing full-on with braid for a period longer than 10 years. Full on I mean using braid direct as a main line and not as backing.

Also before we continue I exclude any form of shark fishing in the below topic.

I first noticed braid while visiting the U.S.A back in 1991 ( lake Michigan ). Saw a angler getting off his boat and noticed this line on a reel. ( he called it fibre line ). After trying to find out about this line I was told it was given to him by a friend over from England. Back in S.A. I  tried to get hold of this line but no one had either heard of it or seen it. In 1995 a friend of mine visited England who brought me my first roll of FIRELINE. I used it for freshwater fishing ( 9lbs ). That is where my braid fishing started and I have not looked back since then.

All different brands were bought and tried ( see photo ) Fireline, Viper ( rainbow, smoke, black etc ), Tuffline, Sufix, Kingfisher ( Their first being white, which in my opinion is much better than the one we get today ). From the expensive one to the damn expensive one. Lets face it there is no cheap braid.

Breaking strains given on the lines are according to me incorrect as all lines break way below what is given except Berkley fireline. Tried casting all without a leader and no-one can really take the punch when doing a full-out cast. They all break just above the rod tip. So started using a leader to absorb the initial energy of the cast. Great success. Not 2x the rod length but cast drop and only 4 to 5 turns on reel ( see photo )

When casting nothing is different than using normal line. ( whether casting further than other lines I guess that depends on the angler ). Burns like hell on the thumb if too much pressure is applied.( same as nylon ). After one or two casts the line actually gets a wet  feel to it which makes casting much easier. I know it is said that braid does not absorb water but I beg to differ. Once the line has been used a while it looses its colour and stiffness. It is then more soft, flexible and will get that wet feel.

Striking of fish: one does not actually strike but gently lift the rod. As there is no stretch in the line if you move your rod tip e.g. 30cm you move your hook 30cm. Where with mono you will have stretch. ( barring the min. in your leader )

The feel you have on the line with a bite cannot be compared with any mono. You get so used to the feel that you can distinguish between your sinker rolling or a definite peck.

How long does braid last? see the photo of Fireline which I now replaced after 7, Yes 7 years. It is scarred, discoloured and completely soft---but still strong. ( Actually performs better when a little used as it becomes more soft and tends to be easier to handle )

Braid is mainly manufactured with either 4 or 8 strands ( see photo ). Don’t think this makes a diff in strain but only in dia.

Knots: I usually double up on the line when tying a knot. Meaning that I will fold the line double over itself when tying. ( does not apply to any loop knots--Bimini , Spider etc. )

Many a time it has been said " I don’t want to use braid as I don’t want to cut my finger". Maybe I am lucky as I never had a cut of any sort from braid while casting. My wife should be more lucky as this is her first year fishing with a multiplier ( filled with braid ) and also did not have any cuts. ( overwinds yes. but no cuts ).

Now this is a lot of words I just wrote but will follow it up with what I think are the pro's and con's of braid.

 
 

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Hey simen... What braid is it that u use as mainline and matched to what leader.. That pic off that reel show loaded with braid,what is it and what size? Love to know how the whole set up is done..
 

Dorado75

Sealiner
Great Topic, i have been wanting to give it a try.

One thing though, i have heard great things about using braid, especially when fishing in foul places like for Galjoen at the point, but have heard that you dont want to get a overwind with braid as it is far more difficult to undo than with mono..... is this true??
 

NetSoGroot

New member
[color=#006600]Dorado75[/color] wrote:
Great Topic, i have been wanting to give it a try.

One thing though, i have heard great things about using braid, especially when fishing in foul places like for Galjoen at the point, but have heard that you dont want to get a overwind with braid as it is far more difficult to undo than with mono..... is this true??
This I want to know and How long do the rod eyes last???
 

dup-zn

Senior Member
Hi Ppl.
I've been fishing with Sufix 30 lb braid for the part year now.
I'm not as adventurous as Simen to use it with my multiplier. Also heard the stories of loosing thumbs.
The outfit that I'm using is as follow.
13 ft Loomis and Franklin two piece rod of which i changed the first two guides to bigger guides.
Daiwa Capricorn 4500 J filled with 30lb Sufix braid. (Used to be an Exceller)
I only use about 2m of 0.6 leader, that is just so i don't have to cut my braid too often.
The last thing you'll need is a finger protector for casting with the spinning reel. My old lady made of one from a welding glove, works like a charm.
I've found that this outfit works like a dream when fish are slow to bite. You can even feel the fish farting next to your hook. the biggest fish fish I've landed is a grey shark of 9kg. My old man landed a blue skate of 16kg with his outfit.
 

Reefman

Sealiner
[color=#006600]The master assasin[/color] wrote:
Hey reefer..i am guessing that the whiplash u tested was wat we filled on your saltist 30? U paid over 500bucks for that braid! Bloody hell..so its not only kf braid thats horribly wrong..
Furthermore that whiplash braid is only about 3 or 4 months old..

 

You're right about that Kish... it's only 3 months old... been used on 2 trips so far - plenty of casting and getting wet, but no real stretches... so I'm not particularly happy about these results...

@Simen - nice post bud. I'm sort of "relieved" that the results are not only restricted to Sufix and KF....
 

sven

New member
hey there reefman,

the sad part is that it should be holding beyond the breaking strain, as they always tell us the that it is still stronger then the actual breaking strain they put on the packaging...... makes 1 think.
 

Pylstert

Sealiner
Hi all, what I don't understand is how these guys in the link got most brands of braid to pop above stated breaking strain as supposed to? How does that work why are we getting such low poundage breaks?



http://www.sportfishingmag.com/article.jsp?ID=43573
 

marine69

Senior Member
Shjoe guys, i cant believe what im actually hearing. Not goot at all and i strongly believe that this matter should be taken up further with the manufactures.

Has anyone tried these tests with Whiplash? Have my reels loaded with it and would love to find out if anyone has. Otherwise will try make a plan tonight to test and see what the results are. Am so pissed/confused now, that i actually want to leave work now and go try!!!
 

200ts

Senior Member
What a lovely monday morning,  Last december i spooled my Saltist 50 with 600m 45lbs kf pro braid. and my 30 with 150m,  now i am biting my nails.  I will test it as well, i hope i got a good batch,
 

Reefman

Sealiner
What worries me more than anything, is that in Karma's latest report, we have stories of "hundreds" of sharks being hooked and lost in the latest WP league outing... How many of these lost hookups can be accounted to crappy braid...???? And because of this, how many sharks out there are swimming around with 2x 10/0 hooks imbedded in their mouths....
:(

We need to find out who has contacts with the agents of these Braid products... This certainly needs to go further...
 

Reefman

Sealiner
[color=#006600]Pylstert[/color] wrote:
Hi all, what I don't understand is how these guys in the link got most brands of braid to pop above stated breaking strain as supposed to? How does that work why are we getting such low poundage breaks?



http://www.sportfishingmag.com/article.jsp?ID=43573

Leon... as far as I'm aware, those tests were all done on PowerPro braid... which we are waiting for the Nepps to bring us some good news....

@Marine... The 30lb tests I did, the last test I did in this thread was WHIPLASH!

In all the tests I've done so far, including on the nylon, the ONLY line that holds according to claims is FIRELINE....!!!
 

marine69

Senior Member
And not only hooks in the fish's mough Reefman, but 300 meters of mono followed by how ever many meters of braid left from where the braid broke.

I was with Buckley and strandfontein about 2 months ago, and he hooked into a bus of a bronzie, taking line like there was no tomorrow. I still checked his drag to see if he was doing ok and not pressuring the fish too much, and all was good. Until the braid decided to part half about 30 meters from the mono. This being Kingfisher!!!

Now that fish in excess of 100kgs must swim with -+ 350 meters of line behind it!

NOT GOOD AT ALL!!!!!!
 
G

Guest

Guest
Hi guys,

I haven't really done any tests, but I use Kingfisher braid as the topshot on my bottom fishing outfit - an 8 inch KP on a Natal Ski / Elbe Powercurve.  I reckon bottom fishing is probably one of the most rigorous ways to test your braid - you'll know very fast if its no good. 

I have been using the same braid (80lb, I think, can't even remeber anymore) for the last 5 years.  I have never cut or changed the line since new, so its the same first 100m (incl line bow etc) or so that have been used over and over again.  I've never had a problem with my braid, after 5 years of regular use.  Even when stuck in the bricks its my mono trace that always breaks first, and that can sometimes be up to 85lb mono or flouro hook snoots.

I think you guys might have got a bad batch.  My braid of 5 years ago is still great - seems there is a problem with braid mostly bought / produced in the last year or so?Any other ski-boat fishermen out there using braid as your mainline for bottoms? 

BTW I don't like braid for too many other applications.  Used to use it for spinning, but find that it effects drag performance on spinning reels if line lay on the spool is not pefect - now who can always keep perfect tension when reeling in light spinners and other small bass lures?  If it tangles you're in trouble.  The only other applicatiosn I use it for is for backing where line capacity is an issue, and I have also recently loaded it (15lb Mustad Dynamite) as topshot on my ABU Garcia Record Series No50 baitcaster - will have to see how that works out.

Gilly

 
 

Simen

Sealiner
Master--The line shown is on a Calcutta 700 -pared with a T53 6/8 blue marlin rod ( off the shelf no modification )I add aprx 50m of mono on the shaft of the reel ( acts as shock-absorber when really winding braid on tight.Then fill the spool with braid. I prefer braid between .3 & 3.2mm but have gone as high as .35mm. Lower dia is a waste of time as they tend to break easy and also cut in between the line on the reel. The leader I use is in most cases .65mm tied with a spider hitch ( braid ) and then add the mono with a yucutan knot. I wind the braid onto the reel fairly tight and then for the first time casting do a couple starting close and working my way deeper until casting depth is reached. This helps the line to lose its stiffness and take on a good casting wind on the reel.
 
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