CASTING WITH BRAID ON CONVENTIONAL REEL

[Cor]

I have often made the statement that on conventional reels mono is a better line to cast with, it is easier, gives greater distance and not as many serious birds nests!

Subjectively most of us think that braid would be the better casting line because its thinner and lighter limper etc.    

The issue with the braid is that A) it is too limp, specially so after having been in use for a few weeks, & B) it sticks to the spool and gets pulled around the spool during a cast.    The latter causes the sinker/lure to get stopped instantly in flight and to break with all the consequences.

I have often looked and spent time trying to figure this out.    My impression is that it jams itself between the coils.   The "sticking effect" is light but very clearly visible and strong enough to pull the line around the spool.

New braid has some coating which give the line more body and reduces this effect.

• Does anyone have any understanding why the braid "sticks" to the spool in that way?
• Anyone know what they coat braid with, so I could perhaps try to replace it when its worn off?   I once tried bullet lubricating wax, it made the problem worse as that stuff is sticky by itself.

[CapeFish]

Hi Cor, I am not sure if it is that the braid is sticking rather than because it is so limp and soft it actually continuously cuts into the layers below and gets trapped for a split second. I have been fishing 2 multipliers with braid and it works well enough and actually found it economical as it lasts so long, till the catastrophic fluffs strike at the most inconvenient times. On a recent away trip I had a proper snap off and the line pulled in so deep I couldn't get it out. Luckily I had a back up reel with mono and got some decent fish  I pulled of the remainder of the casting braid top shot and replaced it with mono. It took quite a bit of yanking to get it out, but the one thing I find with braid is that you don't tend to get the same effect of loops trapping each other like with mono so the overwinds usually untangle quicker. Ive tried it for a few years now and have decided I will leave the casting of braid to spinners.

[Gfish]

Know what you're talkin bout. Indeed, it seems to worsen as the braid ages. Also, braid seems to twist more than mono. Overall it is much better for distance casting on a spinner. No solution yet, let's see what others say...

[Tiddlerbasher]

Braid needs to be spooled really tightly (approx. 10lb drag) otherwise it will dig in. When freshly spooled that's fine - but after a bit of use it obviously loosens up quite a bit that's when I've found it starts to dig in. The only answer I found is to re-spool it under tension. Spinning reels automatically do a lot of crosswinding on the retrieve, this would appear to reduce digging-in.
I mainly fly fish these days, but prior to that I would re-spool several times a season. Unless you like arm ache a power spooler is essential

[CapeFish]

Problem is when you are casting all day long it loosens up and you can't exactly respool while you are fishing. The harder you cast the more it likes to dig in......

[Gfish]

Yeah. What about that 50+ yards you keep winding on as you cast repeatedly?

[Tiddlerbasher]

Longer mono topshot so the braid doesn't get used (so much) ??

[Cor]

I think it seems everyone agrees it digs in to itself between the strands and is a function of the braid being wound on to loosely during retrieve.   I've again been looking to see what happens and how it happens but the why I cant see...... it seems to find a little space between two strands every couple of turns.

I like fishing the braid for reasons of strength and it reduces my re spooling, not sure if its economical.

The trick to casting the way I do with braid is to have a good cast control system, preferably adjustable and keep it fairly tight to keep a little tension on the line during the cast.   I use a static mag which works well enough under most circumstances but at times I need to increase my casting weight which may be undesirable.

Yesterday I was fishing under difficult wind conditions, constantly changing direction and fairly gusty and the fish were far requiring hard casts with a longer rod and it was very awkward.    Once you have one bad blow up, you start breaking the cast and that aggravates the situation and you lose confidence to put all your power behind it.

I probably need to go back to mono for some situations, or perhaps replace the braid more frequently.

There is no way I can lay the line on the reel tighter while retrieving a lure and certainly not with a levelwinder and braid.   That would require holding the braid between my fingers, which are wet and will bleed within 20 minute....LOL

[mo65]

  I have found the best solution is to match your braid's diameter to what mono your reel was designed for. For example...50lb. braid is an equivalent diameter to 12lb. mono. Forget about the "strength" factor being so high, it's that diameter you want to match. So many folks sub out 12lb. braid for 12lb. mono, and that's where the trouble begins.  

[thorhammer]

I don't use braid for going long, but I've had Fusion on an Abu for years and it does well or bass casting and jigging and would probably do well enough out to 50 yards or so. It's pretty smooth and doesn't backlash too easily- what I found is that for me personally, I don't want to cast anything less than diameter of 10lb mono- which is 50 lb braid. That can tear up the internals on a baitcaster during a hookset if your drag gets moved bouncing around in the boat so you have to pay attention- setting a hook  with strectchy mono for decades is not an easily undone muscle memory.

Braid works great Carolina rigging for bass, flounder, etc.

My 0.02.

John

[thorhammer]

exactly what Mike said..

[Cor]

Longer mono topshot so the braid doesn't get used (so much) ??

I actually use 40mt 80lb braid as topshot, a short 80lb mono leader, and 50lb braid mainline.
I experimented with braid for a number of years and used to load 100mt 0.52mm mono (topshot) on top of 0.3 mm braid.   What happened was that I would cast out the mono, and then the reel would be on its last few turns when it got to the braid, and bang!   The reason for that was largely the fact that you use a different casting style with mono with loose coils on the spool, great for mono but deadly for braid.

  I have found the best solution is to match your braid's diameter to what mono your reel was designed for. For example...50lb. braid is an equivalent diameter to 12lb. mono. Forget about the "strength" factor being so high, it's that diameter you want to match. So many folks sub out 12lb. braid for 12lb. mono, and that's where the trouble begins.  

That crossed my mind, but as I am already using 80 lb, I wonder what 0.52mm braid will pull, maybe 200lb could tow the boat on my line.

Part of this problem is that I constantly cast, or try to cast accurately at a moving target which is sometimes far.   Even though I don't believe braid would be a number one choice for multipliers, if you make deliberate careful casts, it will work fine.

[thorhammer]

moving target at distance- yep that's a challenge with that set up.

[oc1]

You just have to assume that every time there is some extra tension on the line it is going to dig in.  It is not a problem as long as the tension is uniform.  It can be packed on really tight or wound on loose and everything will still be fine as long as the tension is uniform.

If I have to pull a snag free I try to pull the line by hand (grabbing it between the reel and striper guide) rather than letting it dig into the spool.  After catching a fish I have to slowly increase the length of each successive cast until the line stops sticking.

Despite the aggravation, I would never even consider going back to mono.  With braid, you can do the same job with a much smaller and lighter reel.  A small and  light weight spool will always cast better than a heavy spool.

-steve

[Cor]

Here is the type of stuff I cast at, this one is close, maybe 40 mt away!

Photo taken by my good friend Barrie, keen angler and Nature photographer, who has since passed on.