Hello all, Is there any braided line that's less abrasive and suitable for the stainless/ chrome line rollers & guides on vintage spinning equipment? I'm not sure if it's the actual braid material that scores vintage equipment - or if it's the fine grit that embeds into the braid - or both.
But there are tiger muskys stocked where I like to bass fish and I'd like to not have my monofilament cut thru. Maybe I just need to use a 2ft braid leader - if so can anyone recommend one as there are so many to choose from and the best knot ?
Thank you !
Do you mean steel braid? Regular PE braid is more susceptible to being cut by teeth or structure than mono is, and would make the WORST leaders.
Other than that, I fish mostly vintage tackle and only fish with PE braid. I can't think of a single issue this has caused.
No, I might be wrong, but when braided line first came out, I recall it "grooved" hard chrome guides and line rollers. But not the new style ceramic or Fugi guides.
Quote from: Springer1 on January 29, 2025, 06:35:49 PMNo, I might be wrong, but when braided line first came out, I recall it "grooved" hard chrome guides and line rollers. But not the new style ceramic or Fugi guides.
Yes it can,,,are you using spinner reels,,,,im using 20lb mono on a 706 penn and 50lb braid on a torque5 penn,,, ;)
Braided Spectra (PE) line is suitable for vintage tackle.
Use a fluorocarbon leader and Spectra line for bass. For the toothy muskie use Spectra line and a wire leader. But, wire is not generally considered advisable for bass fishing.
Connect the line to leader with an FG knot.
I think early on the damage to guides from PE line was greatly exaggerated. I'm sure it could happen but it wasn't a common thing. Maybe on cheap crappy guides or braid that had picked contaminates like sand or something I wouldn't worry about it
I've been fishing braid on several vintage rods and reels without issues..
YGK G-Soul so far is the most durable. Many of the other braids I've used for light fishing (PE 1 and below) seem to wear very quickly and then there are mystery breakoffs - the line simply parts without any real strain. Once this happened on Daiwa J-braid, with the bass lying tired near my feet. I waded out and picked up the line to handline the bass in..
Berkley Fireline is a fused braid, so theoretically would be more like mono in terms of abrasion. It's also supposed to be fairly tough, though the thickness used for bass fishing would not stand up to musky teeth at all.
for pike I use a leader always, whether fishing braid or mono for the main line. Usually this is a foot of one of the tieable wires, Cortland's Toothy Critter, AFW's Surflon Micro Supreme and Rio's Powerflex Wire Bite Tippet, or other brands as found. A double surgeon's works perfectly well to tie this on to mono.
Earlier braid, and cheap coarse braid with fewer carriers, was hard on things like chrome guides - the first 2 rods I put braid on had chrome guides and the braid (old Spiderline) sawed into them in less than a year of fishing. Modern braid, especially with a higher carrier count, tends to be softer and more gentle on guides and rollers but I think will slowly eat away at it regardless.
Not sure what lb mono your using but just use a 12" fluoro or 100 lb mono leader. Connect with a heavy duty swivel and a muskie grade stay lock snap on the other end so you can easily change baits. Muskie don't pay any attention to your terminal tackle so the size doesn't matter.
If you get into muskie fishing you will ultimately start using larger baits so I recommend you go to a bait caster as you will find it difficult if not impossible if you start casting 8 inch body baits or 9 or 10 size bladed baits.
I got braided line on most my reels,,,so if I'm not catching fish I'm getting wind knots out,,,,,, ;D
A lot of my gear is vintage with stainless and chrome guides and line rollers. I use 8 carrier braid, fish saltwater, and haven't noticed any grooving. The earlier version braids did feel coarse, and some of the older Spiderwire had some type of coating. I could see where that might attract grit and do some damage on some cheap guides.
Thank you all, I really appreciate all your input & comments. I guess I just haven't kept up with the improvements in braided line since the first few offerings "back when". Thanks again !