Yet Another Line Experiment
The Yellow PE (Braid) by Unitaka is here to stay, I have put considerable seat time deep vertical jigging and pendulum casting with it this Summer and so far it has held up nicely.
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Rated for a couple of my JDM rods, I can switch the braid spooled reel to any rod and get the same performance and confidence of not exceeding lb. test ratings. For a comparison and back up vertical jigging combination I tried some Berkeley Crystal Fireline in 2lb test (from Bass Pro) on my Majorcraft X-Ride.
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The rod is rated for 5lb test, and I do not know the true breaking strength of the Fireline product but with the smooth Diawa drag and a good net I decided to use it alongside the Yellow Braid loaded on the Majorcraft Triple Cross, another rod rated for 5lb test line. I used the same lure on both rods, a light wire 1/32oz jig head with a Bobby Garland Baby Shad jig body.
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Using both rods interchangeably and fishing 20+ft deep, I found both to detect the bites well, handle the Specks with ease, and bend the light wire hooks out of the brush well. Advantage on pulling out stuck jigs went slightly to the Fireline, but I sort of expected this. As far as casting, the Yellow Braid seemed smoother through the eyes but the pendulum/ cast retrieve bite detection was about equal. While the jig was sinking I could see both lines jump if something intercepted the falling bait, and have even learned how to detect when the jig hits a limb on the way down. I tied the same Palomar Knot in both lines, used no shock leader as a storm came through last night and really churned up the waters, and had no knot slippage that I was aware of. Abrasion resistance seemed about equal also, I re-tied a couple times on each rig.
In conclusion, I like the Fireline Crystal product, it is readily available and compares almost equal to the JDM line. I do not know the true breaking strength of the Crystal, but with a good drag and quality piece of graphite I think it will stay on one of my reels for now. As always, your mileage may vary!! Oh yeah, fish were caught this morning during the experiment
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