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Braid is the word! By Konrad Hill Braided main lines
have really taken off over the last few years, especially amongst
lure angling enthusiasts. My own introduction to braid was about two
seasons ago, when it was recommended for use with marker rods for
feature finding. At the time Fox Tackle had two braids on the market,
these being Driftmaster and Trollmaster, both specifically aimed at
pike anglers. I purchased a spool of the Driftmaster, a braid that
permanently floats – brilliant! No more greasing of mono, no more
line sinking between float and rod tip, but most impressive of all
was the way the braid picked up easily and quickly off the surface
of the water during striking. Braid was also to prove far superior
to mono in setting the hooks into pike, especially at range. Now,
when it comes to predator fishing I am a confirmed bait angler, deadbaiting
mainly and more recently livebaiting. Last season I decided to switch
from having braid on only one rod to using braid on two of my bait
rods, to see how it would perform and to find out if there were any
advantages or disadvantages over the more usual mono lines. After
a full seasons use I have to say that the braided lines were superb!
However, the one thing that I did discover fairly quickly - was that
with braid, it is best not to overfill your spool. Up to a point,
you can get away with overfilling mono, but with braid you definitely
can’t, as it will soon tangle and ‘birds nest’ when casting. I have
found it much better to slightly under fill your spools to avoid such
problems. The great advantage of braid though is probably the fact
that due to its almost ‘stretchless’ properties, it has no ‘memory’
and therefore doesn’t seem to suffer from the dreaded line twist that
can afflict even the most carefully tended monofilament. The first
time you play a fish on braided line the experience can be a little
nerve wracking to say the least. Every lunge, roll and head shake
of your quarry is greatly exaggerated when compared to mono lines
and can be felt right through the whole length of the rod. However,
after catching a few fish on braid you can often sense just when a
pike is about to shake its head, flare its gills and make a last dash
for freedom. It is this unique sensitivity that can tell you just
when to apply more pressure with the rod and equally when to ease
off a bit to avoid pulling the hooks. When fishing in very windy weather
I have found it much easier to take the bow out of the line after
casting with braid. This means I can have my line tight to the lead
and back in the rests in just a few seconds, whereas with traditional
mono, it could take up to a minute or more to get my line taught.
Bite indication is also greatly enhanced by the use of braid. One
method I nearly always employ on rivers, canals and even pits, is
to walk a little way up or downstream and lower the bait into a likely-looking
spot – often close to the near-margin! I then walk my rod back to
the rodpod. The trouble was that with mono, often all you would get
with this method would be a couple of bleeps and the rod might tremble
a little, which, if you didn’t watch your rods like a hawk, you could
easily put down to wind movement. Since changing to braid though,
these small rod trembles have become more like 25lb carp bites, as
my buzzer goes berserk, followed by my rod being wrenched around about
two feet until the drop-off indicator falls away. There is really
no mistaking a run when using braid! All-in-all, since changing over
to braid last season, I have caught pike over eighteen pounds, as
well as perch over two pounds, These species do a hell of a lot of
head-shaking when hooked, which can be felt right through the rod
– exhilarating stuff! The only real disadvantage probably has to be
the cost, at around thirty quid for a spool. So loading up three reels
is quite expensive, at least initially. However, it should last several
seasons, so will prove cheaper than mono in the long term. Many catfish
anglers use braid and I am sure it would prove effective for eels
too. I am certainly glad I have made the change to braid and I can’t
see me swapping back to monofilament for a long time to come. |