What braid?

[Andy135]

I've been using Daiwa J-Braid pretty much for ever on my boat reels. Whilst I have no particular complaints about the J-Braid, it is expensive for what it is.

What other braids are people using?

 

@headlight, I'll save you the effort of posting to add that I already know about your chinese Spectra braid 😉

[Odyssey]

Spectra braid is cheap and does the job well....

 

[Saintly Fish]

Another vote for spectra and KastKing is good and cheap, if a tad thicker. 

[Maverick]

I use whiplash and whiplash crystal and have never had problems with either and no i'm not kinky 

[JDP]

My favorate by a mile 

 

 

[Saintly Fish]

[Saintly Fish]

2 hours ago, JonC said:

Grow up. 

🤷🏻‍♂️

[Maverick]

2 hours ago, JonC said:

Grow up. 

He did once but didn't like it 

[jonnyswamp]

I always bought the cheep 4 strand stuff from China, used to be 5/6 quid for 500m of 30lb (I'm still using it now, but got none left)

Just paid £18 ish for the 8 strand spectra 30lb (literally just before coming on here) so will see how that goes

Did buy some 18lb J braid that's on a Fathom 12, which I'm yet to use in anger

[Saintly Fish]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

He did once but didn't like it 

I never did. I tried, but didn’t quite make it. 😩

[SiDfish]

If you want to use as little lead as possible, go thin.  We use 8 carrier Whiplash Pro and Spiderwire Stealth smooth.  Apart from early stuff that snapped for no reason, they've developed into true superlines and seem almost indestructible (2 yrs use with no apparent wear), though they get more supple.  I use 60lb from the shore for rock and storm fishing and it smashes 75lb mono traces when snagged.  One small thing, I've not seen elsewhere, is that the braid gets wet and brings the saltwater back to the reel, where it runs over/into the reel.  I've had no probs with Penn Fathoms but my fishing buddy has seized up new Shimano and Okuma multipliers in a year of use.  I also use an interline rod sometimes and the water off the line clogs the tip section occasionally with salt crystals, needing a warm rinse out.  To get economy with these lines you have to commit to 2000+m spools, so try before you buy!

[JDP]

These braids some people like may well be ok on fish of 10lb on 30lb braid but turn that around to 30lb fish on 10lb line to see how they last. I like thinner light lines as they are so much more sensitive when I'm dropping plastics, jigs or baited rigs in depths of around 120m. If I can target a species using 10lb drag, then using line heavier is simply overkill. 20lb braid is still relatively thin but doesn't give me anything like 10lb in terms of sensitivity and up to 20lb of drag is some serious stopping power.

When I see people saying their 50lb Jbraid, powerpro or Chinese braid has never given them any problems and then look at their catch reports, I'm not surprised at all the line hasn't given them any problems. 

[Andy135]

3 minutes ago, JDP said:

When I see people saying their 50lb Jbraid, powerpro or Chinese braid has never given them any problems and then look at their catch reports, I'm not surprised at all the line hasn't given them any problems. 

🤣👍

[Jon cook]

Another vote for stealth 8 braid. Won't use anything else now for my lure fishing.

[headlight]

When I see people saying their 50lb Jbraid, powerpro or Chinese braid has never given them any problems and then look at their catch reports, I'm not surprised at all the line hasn't given them any problems. 

John I"m using cheap Chinese Spectra for shark fishing, in fact I use it for all my boat fishing and have done for the past about 12 years, and I have never had a problem with it on fish up to 250lbs.

[JDP]

11 minutes ago, headlight said:

When I see people saying their 50lb Jbraid, powerpro or Chinese braid has never given them any problems and then look at their catch reports, I'm not surprised at all the line hasn't given them any problems. 

John I"m using cheap Chinese Spectra for shark fishing, in fact I use it for all my boat fishing and have done for the past about 12 years, and I have never had a problem with it on fish up to 250lbs.

Yes but there are many different Chinese braids, some people were caught out buying 50lb green Chinese braid that snapped like cotton because it was actually cotton over here. One fella asked me to take my 1800m spool of saltiga braid to work to see if it compared to his saltiga he had bought off eBay from China. Instantly you could see the label was different (why don't people copying simply scan a label ). His line had a really bad chemical smell and the colour easily rubbed onto our hands. The braid did however seem pretty strong until it became wet after the first time, where it then dropped to an easy hand pull and break. 

To me it simply isn't worth the risk, I buy genuine line from reputable suppliers.

Jervis Walker do a braid that is very cheap, under $10 for 300m, I bought some to put on a reel I was selling which was the first and last time I will buy that!!! This stuff was meant to be 20lb but was thicker than the saltiga 150lb I own. 

 

 

[headlight]

I"m not quite sure what you are saying ?

I use Chinese Spectra in 40lb for general bottom fishing and 70lb and 100lb for sharks.

I have had fish to 63lb on the 40lb and to 250LB on the 70lb.

I can only speak from my own personal experience and that is that I have never had any issues with it in the12 odd years that I have been using it, maybe I have just been lucky.

Admittedly it is not as thin or smooth as more expensive braids but for my use it is fine.

[Dicky]

Stick with Daiwa J braid. In the grand scheme of things the price difference isn't worth worrying about. 

[GPSguru]

10 hours ago, Andy135 said:

I've been using Daiwa J-Braid pretty much for ever on my boat reels. Whilst I have no particular complaints about the J-Braid, it is expensive for what it is.

What other braids are people using?

 

@headlight, I'll save you the effort of posting to add that I already know about your chinese Spectra braid 😉

 

Another vote for Spectra in green  ............... IIRC it is made in the same factory as Powerpro .............

I buy direct from china and there has never been a problem .....................

I use 28lb for general wreck and bottom fishing, and 80lb for sharks and other stuff .........other stuff can be counted as fish weighing 100's of lbs !

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by GPSguru

[GPSguru]

1 hour ago, JDP said:

To me it simply isn't worth the risk, I buy genuine line from reputable suppliers.

It isn't a risk if you know a little about the manufacturer etc .......... being in the trade, I probably am able to source this info easier .

28lb spectra with a 30lb Sakuma  copolymer leader and a 92lb conger is a fair test ........... 👍 ................ 80lb Spectra and a large Bluefin is also a fair test, TBH I was more worried about my bimini top shot knot and the Aussie plait leader knot than the braid 🤣

[Odyssey]

Spectra braid bring this stuff....

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392359465339
 

Just checking as will order some to spool up reels. Then attach dog biscuits on the end and go fishing for Daisy the dog 😂😂

[JDP]

On 12/8/2020 at 10:05 AM, GPSguru said:

It isn't a risk if you know a little about the manufacturer etc .......... being in the trade, I probably am able to source this info easier .

28lb spectra with a 30lb Sakuma  copolymer leader and a 92lb conger is a fair test ........... 👍 ................ 80lb Spectra and a large Bluefin is also a fair test, TBH I was more worried about my bimini top shot knot and the Aussie plait leader knot than the braid 🤣

What do you mean by being in the trade ? are you a tackle store owner supplier. I would of thought being in the trade you would test as many different braids as possible so you can advise your customers or at least hand out samples for customers to test, we tend to get given a fair amount to test direct from tackle stores and the rep's who come out on our boats.

What is the spectra tabled as, is it labeled as power pro or simply spectra ?

I contacted major companies over a discussion from the other forum on different labelling being used for different parts of the world. I received reply's from three companies assuring me the same line we get here and labels was the same as what comes from factory to both us and Europe. This to me doesn't make sense as virtually all the braids that were independently tested to industry standards were so far off the strength according to the label it didn't make sense. Powerpro was one of the lines where 20lb actually had a breaking point more than double its stated strength, as did many other brands. Even the 131 I now use braid dint seem to make sense to me when I removed about 100m of 20lb power pro from a small full spin reel to put 300m of 20lb 131. This would have to indicate 131 was 1/3rd the diameter of the pp. No wonder people are saying they haven't had problems with power pro breaking if the line they are using is double the strength they think it is. 

Being in the trade, you would know places that do industry testing, have you considered getting those lines tested to see if they are actually what they state. One of the big issues I hear from China braids is quality control and the fact some simply aren't even braids at all and just a rip off scam ( Which I know people have fallen for).

As you most likely know my daughter is sponsored by a franchise known as the Complete Angler who have stores all over the country, she also skippers what's considered one of the best game charters on the south coast who are tackle testers for both Daiwa and Shimano. They get tackle to test which isn't labeled at all, including rods and reels which they are able to totally punish and break if possible (that's the point of testing). Not that she would want to pester these reps who she has a great relationship with, however I feel she would be able to get honest info from them though. When I got my reply from the companies I questioned, people on the other forum weren't interested in the answers I got because they didn't match what they'd heard on Facebook. 

Im simple keen on knowing the truths and can only go by the info given but do admit I find it quite interesting delving deeper. We all want accurate info and not to be ripped off, so it makes sense to delve deeper, hopefully you have some test results on the lines you mention if you are trading them.

[GPSguru]

16 minutes ago, JDP said:

are you a tackle store owner supplier.

Err ........... yes

However, my main brand that I supply is aimed at the shore lure guys, and slow jigging ............. YGK and Jigmaster ............ Braid is a big market place and not a big earner unless you can sell bucket loads of it and therefore buy it in at a cheaper rate .................

When I want Spectra for me, then I just buy it in straight from China ..................

Testing braid scientifically is extremely complicated and not something I would want to be involved with, but just basic side by side testing of Spectra and powerpro  has shown there to be no difference .............

 

[JDP]

3 hours ago, GPSguru said:

Err ........... yes

However, my main brand that I supply is aimed at the shore lure guys, and slow jigging ............. YGK and Jigmaster ............ Braid is a big market place and not a big earner unless you can sell bucket loads of it and therefore buy it in at a cheaper rate .................

When I want Spectra for me, then I just buy it in straight from China ..................

Testing braid scientifically is extremely complicated and not something I would want to be involved with, but just basic side by side testing of Spectra and powerpro  has shown there to be no difference .............

 

So even though you sell line you don't use what you sell and buy cheaper stuff for yourself, or do you also sell the Chinese line you get for yourself. Goes to show there can't be much of a markup on braid if you find doing it the way you mention works out better. Do you have a shop or sell online and how are you finding supply lately ? Its gone crazy here, with shelves empty and supply not able to keep up (bit like the toilet roll craziness).

Do you also sell gps's or use that title for another reason ?

Edited December 20, 2020 by JDP

[GPSguru]

34 minutes ago, JDP said:

So even though you sell line you don't use what you sell and buy cheaper stuff for yourself, or do you also sell the Chinese line you get for yourself. Goes to show there can't be much of a markup on braid if you find doing it the way you mention works out better. Do you have a shop or sell online and how are you finding supply lately ? Its gone crazy here, with shelves empty and supply not able to keep up (bit like the toilet roll craziness).

Do you also sell gps's or use that title for another reason ?

Hmmm ....... the YGK braids are soft 8 ply and really not suitable for multiplier applications, they are aimed at the shore lure anglers. Put that stuff on most multi’s and it will ‘dig in’ ...... multi’s require a ‘hard’ braid.

 The only mono’s I stock are a quality coploymer from Sakuma (Nite Crystal) which was the main stay for many competition casters. I also stock heavy mono (up to 250lb) in large half kilo spools from Supacast as it is a favourite with the commercials. 
 

There are numerous Brands that I could stock, but TBH unless you can buy in massive quantities, then the returns are small as every tom, dick, and harry sells braid and mono !

Yes, I use jigmaster braid on my slow jigging reels as I need a high quality thin braid and it has colour depth markers..... again, it has to be used with care even on a level wind.

The bottom line is ........ if I could find any advantage of using powerpro over spectra, then I would use powerpro.

Before I went over to Spectra, all my multi’s were loaded with powerpro, but  TBH I cannot find any difference between the brands, only the price and packaging.

The GPSguru handle comes  from a lifetime in the public safety communications industry ...... I was using and designing GPS and differential GPS receiver systems way back in the early  90’s for location and time signal locking in quasi synchronous radio systems .... 

Stock  is difficult from china at the moment due to staff shortages at the factories as all the Chinese seem to want to be in hospitality right now.

Most of the stuff I stock is made in Japan and flown into the uk, so all is good  for me at the moment, but yes, huge shortages are expected in the coming months, mainly due to container port issues, and Brexit.

Edited December 20, 2020 by GPSguru