Thread: Ninety minutes of braid testing.

The tree service folks canceled on me this morning because of a threat of rain.
The rain was over about over by 10:00 , except for a couple of sprinklers while I was fishing .
And I needed to be back home by noon .
I took three combos , figured thirty minutes each should give me an idea on how they would fish.
First up was the KastKing Kestrel combo . Kestrel reel and rod . I like the reel somewhat , the replacement, smooth winding with a nice carbon disc drag . Loaded with 6# KastKing yellow braid .
All three combos had a streamer hook/tungsten bead jig with a size 10 hook .
Casts with the Kestrel we’re in the 40-45’ range .
I started with a black Trout Magnet and it didn’t take long to catch a nice redbreast . I don’t know if it was the braid or the rod , but the redbreast felt double its size . I could feel every kick of its tail . Fun!
The Kestrel rod is rated as a featherlight finesse rod . It’s more of a regular five foot ultralight rod at best .
I caught a nice bluegill on the kestrel too , before switching rods .
Next up , 5’6” St Croix Avid ULF paired with a Soare XR 500spg , spooled with 7# Varivas pink tournament braid . It’s rated at 7# max , but it’s thinner than the KastKing braid and man will it cast . I’m guessing 60-70’ once the braid got wet .
This is easily one of my best casting combos. Even with a Bobby Garland Itty bit Swim’r , I was getting 15-20’ farther than the Kestrel/KastKing braid combo .
I caught four medium to small gills on the SC Avid/Soare combo .
A lot of fun in that combo even with smaller fish .
Last , was a 5’ St. Croix Triumph ULM , paired with a Piscifun Carbon X 500 reel, spooled with Daiwa J Braid X8 Grand in blue .
This was a surprise combo . It casts as far as the Avid . By this time , the fish had turned off , although the bites weren’t that hot to begin with.
I caught a good looking little warmouth on the Triumph/carbon X . The reel worked smooth too . I’d forgotten about this reel .
I apologize for being long but I tried to give the details in as short of a write up I could .
I like the Varivas braid the best , but the Daiwa grand is a close second .
I’ll be making myself fish braid for the next couple of weeks to give it a better shot of winning me over.