Let's talk Braid Line

[mikeg]

I here a few of the fishermen on here frome time to time talking about Braid Line what is the purpose of Braid line,yes I have used it a few times Bass fishing in some realy bad conditions such as pads,hydrila,it will cut through that kind of stuff. Yes I now it is no stretch but what would be the purpose to use it Crappie fishing,when I put out Crappie condoes the only way I want to see them again is on my depth finder I don't want to pull them up to the boat and see how many bates have ben lost on them. About the strongist line I ever use is 10# test with the mono line we have now 10#is prety dog gone strong but most of the time I use 6#test line sure I will break off some but a lot of the time that is just what I want to do if I get hung up. Most of the time the hook will bend with 10#test line. If you keep a check on your line and retie when you see frayed line you will be ok. Who needs that junk.

mikeg

[TAE73]

I switched all my crappie reels out to Power Pro 10lb test/2lb dia. To me it has its pros and cons. But the pros for me far out weighted the cons. I dont ever see myself going back to mono line for long long time. If you do buy some of the power pro, i would suggest the yellow or white. The moss green hides itself to well, its tough to see a bite as the jig is falling.

[PanMan_VA]

The main reasons I use braided line are the low memory and smaller diameter.

[J White]

I kind of have a love/hate relatioship with "superlines" -
but the places it really shines for me, is a deep vertical jigging ,
drifting, or trolling application. It is so much more sensitive, you can
better feel whats going on at the other end, and it cuts through the
water easier, in smaller diameters, so you get less bow in your line.
I used 10 lb. Fireline for main line a bunch when I was mainly flatlining
jigs. But if I'm casting and reeling, I can't stand the feel of it going through
the guides... One other benefit I almost forgot, if you are fishing with a lot
of lines, and end up with a bunch of slack line laying in the floor, say untangling a catfish out of 2-3 rods, it is EASY handling - it won't wad
and ball up like mono - no "memory", limp.

[horseshoer]

I just posted on the VA board couple weeks ago asking about braided. Someone there said Power Pro also. I am going to try it. I have fished Trilene XL all my life (either 4 or
6 lb) and years ago I bought a big spool of Ande 6 lb that had 925 yds on it-it has turned out to be the best line I have run across. Don't know why I have kept buying
Trilene. Also just tried Shakespeare Supreme Super Smooth and it seems okay. I am
mystified as to why the Ande lays on my reel spool so much better than any other line.
It has like zero memory from day 1. Maybe being wound onto a wide spool vs those
narrow 330 yd ones at the factory makes a diff?
Agree with Mikeg on overkill. I lifted a gallon paint bucket with 4' Xmas tree full of
cement up 27 ' on 6 lb years ago and that told me what I needed about my line strength as I am not sturgeon fishing.
Jeff
Ted, what are the pros & cons about the Power Pro ?

[Boatman]

NO MEMORY!!

I am going to install Power Pro on my rods this weekend before going Sunday.
Last week with new Mono I had a few birdnests off my ultralight. I am not going to do it for strength reasons, but the very low memory P.Pro has. I exclusively use PPro on all my bowfishing Spinning reels 100lb test. I am sold. It is very user freindly, for that matter very strong also.

[TAE73]

Ted, what are the pros & cons about the Power Pro ?

Pros-
Lose alot less jigs fishing in heavy cover.
Hauls fish out of heavy cover.
Detects the lighter bites much better, even on a cheap rod.
Has no memory, been using the same spool over a year thats pretty much every weekend.
No stretch, which helps the bite detection.
Cast farther than mono.

Cons-
Will not cut with clippers, need to use scissors.
Will cut your fingers when you are hung and pull on the line with your hand. Use a towel or rod handle instead.
Seems to catch on the last eye on the rod.
The line is very light so a windy day the wind can be a pain.

I have tried the 8/1, 10/2, and 15/4. I seem to like the 10/2 the best. The 8/1 is to light and the 15/4 was to much of a pain to break when snagged.

[horseshoer]

Thanks. Going to get some today.
Jeff

[Jim C.]

been useing it this summer i like it on a short rod with not very much wind. It is very sensitive to feel the soft bite & saves alot of jigs!!!. Jim

[labill]

I got hooked on braids from the first time I used it. It's nice to have a line with no memory, no stretch hence super sensitivity, and for trolling the advantage is the greatly reduced line diameter. You can still get depth even when the crappie want a faster moving meal, no planer boards or super heavy weights. Strong enough to get your jigs back if hung on brush, but heed the warning about it cutting your hands!!! Wrap it around something other than your hands, as mentioned in a previous post. One of the downsides not mentioned is it's higher vis in clear water. Here in LA, we don't have many really clear waters, but there are some that are clear. In those cases, I tie on a 3 ft. florocarbon leader, usually in a 6# test, using a "Uni Knot Version of the Hangman's knot" to join them, it's the only one I found that works with mono to braid. I've used mono again a few times under certain circumstances, but it feels like a big rubber band as compared to braid and I have to remove it. My preference in braids is SpiderWire Stealth in various weights, depending on the species I'm after that day. That's my 2 cents on braids, boys and girls.....good fishing!

This is a link to see the "Uni Knot Version Of the Hangman's knot" if you're inclined to try it. Just scroll down to find it.

http://www.fishingcairns.com.au/page6-1.html