Braid - Getting ready for the new season

Thanks Dave, I've done a lot of plugging with braid in the past and I also use it on most of my boat reels. With the lure fishing I have always tended to go for 14/15lb braid but I've noticed on here that a lot of people seem to start at 20lb. Is this because of the abrasion ?(as you mention) or possibly even air knots?
I've never used the 8 strand varivas stuff before, hence I was wondering if it's worth paying the extra few quid for and if I do take a plunge on it is 15lb too low? Where I fish I generally don't have problems with abrasion (touch wood!!).
Lastly, is there any colour that people fancy or does it really make any difference?

As a ps, does everybody use mono backing to save on the costs or do people use braid all the way through on their reel? I tend to use 10/15lb mono backing.

Cheers
Colm

You may be aware that a few of us are seriously re evaluating lines.
I think there is a place for heavier braid but, as a tool just to get you plugs back ?

No, I don't subscribe to that. it works of course but, I don't choose braid for that purpose.

I have recently tested some excellent braid. yamatoyo PE 1.5 8 strand. It is beautiful.
I put it on my VS some months ago now to test it and never expected it to be on my reel
by the end of that week. It is still there.

Now, I broken out on it, but boy, does it take some busting out.
Ask yourself this...

When has a fish ever broken you ?

I have never been broken on a Bass. I've been cut off, but not broken due to the
breaking strain being exceeded.

To this end I'm searching for some 8 or 10lb braid as going finer increases the feedback
to soft plastic's and jigs. It also helps plugs achieve proper running depths.

However, rock really is the last place any of us should be fishing braid over.
Braid sucks near rocks...

So, there are the 0.19 - 0.23mm power pro braid school who swear by it.
I've got this too and at times, on topwater baits etc it is great.

But.., 0.11 and 0.13mm braids are simply awesome to fish with.

There is always a place for mono and we are starting to experiment with fluorocarbon
reel lines too.

Think carefully before you choose.

Well, the other night, we were out playing. Chasing tiny pollack etc for the hell of it.
Why not eh, fishing isn't just about big Bass.

Anyway, Kev had had a few 6oz Pollack and me and the Squid were getting hit, no hook ups.

Creative as always, i rigged a single SSG on a size 4 hook and nose hooked a mini
Xlayer. total weight maybe 3.5g, maybe ? An SSG is 1.3g i think.

PE 1.5 Yamatoyo, VS100, Injection, sitting down, underhand pitch cast sent the
rig plenty far enough. It was extremely surprising in fact.

PE 0.8 ? For sure, its going to be awesome m8. I'm not that stuck up my own ass to refuse
drop shotting for pouting and pollack in our harbours or Japanese style 'rock fishing' for anything
that swims.

PE 0.8 will bring screams of "You'll lose Bass", but I reiterate...
I've never been broken on a fish whilst playing one. And...
Remember, PE 0.8 is still most likely going to be 8lb BS and the average size Bass is what ?

I've had smash takes when fly fishing and the occasional smash take plugging
when on the stop. It is rare though and I don't think there is much realistically you can do.

Those smash takes are violent. You'd need tow rope to completely protect against it.

In the end, plain and simple, finer lines will get more bites. For a multitude of reasons
but bites, or takes are few enough these days. Why make it harder.

a few years ago I had two spools for my Technium spooled with two different braids, I had one with 0.19 PP and the other with 20lb Whiplash. The reason behind the two braids was I wanted to use the Whiplash on small jigheads, well what I considered small back then, about 10g to 20g. Well it certainly let my softy get down to the bottom quicker, and was perfect for what I wanted it for. Well as usual I couldnt be bothered to change back to the PP when changing lures so I started casting the Whiplash, which was really thin compared to the PP, with my plugs. What I was amazed at was the thinner line didnt really cast my plug much further. I mean a little bit, but not every cast and not really noticably further. I ended up getting a huge tangle in it and it was sacked off. I just remember that by going thinner it didnt really make alot of difference to the distance, maybe there is a limit? Maybe the weight of any lure gets to its point of where it just cant be cast any further no matter how thin the line is?

Oh, and I will be getting that Yamamoto line, or what ever its called. Wish I had looked at it closer before I gave my spool of it away, but I just didnt have the time to get out and test it.

I have some details guys...

I will be doing a proper review on my blog of this line.
I have a clue as to the price and it comes out, very favourable.

PM me if you need details asap or hang fire cause the review is going up on the
Yamatoyo braid and new Tenryu fluorocarbon this week.

Mick has the latter in stock and the Yamatoyo is 3 weeks away from general release.
It will be a strong contender to power pro imho and I have relied on that for a long time.

Maybe, no longer except for specific tasks like ripping weed..

I've also ordered 2 newer lines from 'Sunline' one called rockfish and the other 'castaway'.
The rockfish is super PE, PE 0.6 comes in very strong but, is BRIGHT orange !!
The other is a hybrid line loved by the B.R.E.A.M circuit men and is 4 strand PE /
4 strand PET. The latter is tough and more abrasion resistant but a total PET line
wouldn't have the limpness or the smoothness. So, they blended it.

When I recieve it and have fished with it, I'll let you all know how it compares to
our known braids and the Yamatoyo. The Aussies love that one too and I think its like
you belong to one camp, or the other. So, best thing is, both Sunline and Yamatoyo are
being used in saltwater. That is better than us trying to figure out a lines properties based
on its resistance to logs and lily pads I guess. These guys are fishing open oyster beds and believe
me, oysters are NOT braid friendly.

More later....

This Yamatoyo braid feels like seriously nice stuff - please bear in mind that I am no braid guru, but from my limited understanding, there are essentially two kinds of braid we can get our hands on..............

Power Pro, Sufix etc - very good quality 4-strand braid, with that typical braid "feel"

Then there seems to be what I would call "high-end 4 strand" braid - like that green Varivas Avani Sea Bass Braid - great to use, lasts for ages, still with that typical braid "feel", but overall it just feels that bit more refined if that makes sense.

This Yamatoyo SW Super PE braid I believe falls into the same category as the Varivas Avani Sea Bass Braid - "high-end 4 strand" stuff that feels a step up from Power Pro etc. - but at a price that is not too far away. Looks like really good stuff for our bass fishing and I believe the price will make it very competitive.

Then we come to the true 8-strand braids - far more expensive generally, but they don't feel at all like the braids we know - in my mind they feel a bit like silk - not sure if that is a very good description, but it has none of that slightly coarse, rough feel of 4-strand braid, and it is considerably thinner and much limper. When I first got hold of some 8-strand braid a couple of years ago I actually stayed away from using it for a while because the thiness freaked me out a bit. But the moment I put it on and fished with it I was completely blown away with it. Casts like a dream, lasts for ages and ages, just a delight to fish lures with it. 20lb 8-strand braid is so thin.

I am aware of some true 8-strand braids being close to the UK market place, and reports are outstanding - but the only one I am aware of that is currently for sale in the UK is the Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE. Not cheap at all, but you get what you pay for. If there are any other 8-strand braids for sale in the UK, please fill me in. But note "for sale in the UK", and not "for sale in Japan".

As more come to market, it has to be a good thing for us anglers. Anybody who has never used this 8-strand stuff - I fully accept the "I would never pay that for a fishing line" remark, but hold back until you have fished with it.

Henry Gilbey said:

Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE. Not cheap at all, but you get what you pay for.

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I've seen it.

Words cannot describe how it is so not like braid to the feel. Very, very slick.

I know of no other (true 8 strand braids) currently coming in though...

Yet.

I would imagine we will get them. However, as usual, it will take time for the UK to
catch up.

Have you got the Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE on your reel Henry ?

I have been using .23 and .19 power pro for over two years depending on location and type of lures used, but about eight months ago I started using .13 power pro. And as Keith has said I have never had a Bass snap me off. I will be looking at using even lighter braid this summer.


I have a spool of Veravis Avani Sea Bass Max Power in the shed awaiting the arival of the Van Staal, it sertinaly looks the dogs whatsits.

Using lighter braid with smaller plugs and soft plastics seems to make a huge difference in the touch and feel on the right rod. As Keith has said some of these very light soft plastic--jig head setups cast a very long way

I am also using smaller and smaller jig heads (some home made) In reality we probably need to lok at the weight of thye soft plasic before deciding on the weight of the jig head and not the other way around one of my Wrassing soft plastics weighs 4g so i have just supper glued it to a jig head hook.

I think that most of us are supprised about how quick a ultra light soft plastic sinks in sea water where there is not much current.

Henry Gilbey said:

Keith - I have been using the Varivas 8-strand stuff all of last year, and for a lot of the year before that as well - once I had got my head around how thin and different it was to "regular" braid.

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Henry:

I just wish others would give thinner braids a chance. Plugs come alive on it.
I appreciate thicker braids give the "I can get my plug back" cushion but...

When I go fishing i want every chance of hooking up. Really thick braids kill plug action
get dragged around in swell and tide etc.

Thinner braids are weird at first but you get more bites imho.

Mark Sleep said:

I just bought some of the Powershot from Mick. 0.15mm at 25lb!! Cannot wait to give it a go.

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I've looked at that line carefully Mark. It does look very nice and is certainly thinner than the average braid
for it's BS. It is quite limp and as such, just be a little careful with it until you become accustomed.