It’s true you can drift baits hundreds of yards and still hit takes. You cantrot them down like they’re on rails.
You can cast further. You can lay on, leger or paternoster with less weight.By now you’re probably thinking there has to be a catch somewhere along theline and there is.
Braid can drive you up the wall with tangles. Some makes also have seriousquestion marks over their reliability, while its lack of give can also loseyou fish.
Modern monos spoil us in many ways. So do modern reels with their outsizedrollers and twist busting features.
Most tangles with braid are caused before you even get on the bank. If youdon’t spool it on right, you’re asking for trouble.
Whatever make you go for braids need to be spooled on under tension. If itisn’t tight enough, you’ll get slack coils which fly off the spool andeither cause a bird’s nest or catch in the rings.
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You can’t keep braid tight enough with your fingers without causing frictionburns. The answer is to wind it on through a towel, which allows you to getgood grip without burning your fingers.
Some people also recommend dropping the braid spool in a bucket of water, so the line gets wet, because it shrinks slightly as it dries and this helpskeep it tight.
Filling the spool correctly the first time can also be a pain, especiallywith low diameter ‘super braids’.
As a very rough guide, an 8010-sized Shimano spool will hold around 250ydsof 30lb Fireline, so you won’t need backing.
It’s still worth putting a couple of dozen turns of strong mono on firstthough, because the braid can slip and spin on the spool if you let most ofit out on a long drift before you hit a fish on it.
The same spools will easily hold 300 yards of 20lb Fireline or 30lb Whiplashwith a lot of room to spare, so you’ll need backing and a spare spool toget it right.
Wind the braid on first, then tie on your mono backing and wind that onuntil it slightly overfills the spool. Then tie the mono to the spare spool,wind back on under tension and you should have a perfectly-filled spool.There’s little need for 300 yards on a spool unless you plan to use the linefor drifter fishing or with a bait boat.
Some people use backing to fill three spools with 100yds each of braid,which is obviously ample for most run of the mill piking.
If you want to try braid out before taking the plunge, you can save on costby just buying a 100 yard spool.
Avoiding tangles when you’re using braids demands a bit more discipline too.Wetting the spool by scooping some water over it before you start helpsavoid the dreaded wind knots which form in some of the lighter low-diameterlines.
Most of these little so and so’s come in the first few casts, when the lineis still dry.
You also need to ensure you don’t wind any slack onto the reel. After eachcast close the bail arm by hand and wind the line through your fingers forthe first few turns to ensure it’s still tight.
Those couple of slacker turns you get when you close the bail arm by turningthe handle are a tangle waiting to happen.
If you fish with the bail arm open, as many pikers do, you need to repeatthe process before winding down on a take, or reeling the bait in to recast.Stiffer braids also take time to wear in. So it pays to be careful for thefirst few trips.
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Some braids have far less abrasion resistance, especially the super thinbrands like Whiplash, so it clearly isn’t a good idea to use them near hardsnags, gravel bars and mussel beds.
Playing fish can be scary at first. It takes time to get used to the factyou don’t really have to strike to hit takes. With zero stretch all you needto do is wind down until you feel the fish bumping on the end and bend intoit.
When I started using braid, I ended up hitting fish far harder than I didwith mono. Some pike go bananas when you do this.
Without the built-in shock absorber of line stretch, you either need to setyour clutch more lightly than you did with mono, or be ready to give line bybackwinding.
Some braids grate in the rings when you play fish. While this doesn’t appearto wear out rod rings, it can be a little un-nerving to start with.
I usually keep the rod down to the side when playing pike unless I need topump them up over weed, because a sudden surge can kite them to the top with the risk of a hook-throwing tail walk.
It’s also worth slackening the clutch off when you net a fish, in case thepike finds its second wind when you’ve got the anti-reverse on.
I don’t find I suffer any more hook pulls with braid than I did with mono when pike fishing. In fact I’m sure the lack of stretch gives me a better hook hold, with less chance of a hook dropping out.
Without the stretch to absorb the pike’s head shakes, it’s worth stepping uptrace wire to something sensible like 25lbs or stronger and making sureknots, swivels and any other connections are up to the job.
If all this sounds like a lot of trouble let’s look what you get in return.
Not surprisingly, braid is essential for drifter fishing. You can hook fishat 150yds as easily as you can under your rod tip.
It floats, so you don’t need to grease it. You can also lift it off thewater cleanly to straighten bows or steer the float on a different line.
Lack of stretch doesn’t just mean you hit takes cleanly. If the float goesunder on one of those “is it or isn’t it” takes, you can feel whether thebait’s dragging weed or a bar or a pike has taken your bait, avoidingstriking off a bait and a wasted drift.
I use 30lb Fireline for drifting, but have heard good reports about the FoxDriftmaster braid.
Trotting is much easier with a floating line and again you can hit takes along way down the river.
Being able to straighten the line cleanly means you can trot along a shelfwithout a bow dragging the float off course.
You can also check whether the bait has dragged bottom or weed and pulledthe float under, or whether a fish has mouthed the bait without moving off,as pike sometimes do with livebaits.
You can paternoster or fish free roaming baits without risk of the linesinking and an up and over tangle or bite off.
You can even use a bottom end only float with the line floating, because thefirst couple of inches won’t drag the rest of the line under.
This means far less disturbance on the strike and you can feel the fishstraight away, rather than having to strike through the resistance of athrough the middle float.
For trotting I usually plump for either 20lb Fireline or 30lb Whiplash buthave heard good reports about the Leeda braid.
Legering with one of the superbraids means you need less weight to holdbottom in flows.
The greater the thickness of the line, the more resistance to current.
Braid doesn’t sink into snags either, but it lies higher in the water so youhave to watch it if there are boats about.
I usually leger with 20lb Fireline, as it’s tougher than Whiplash and other’super braids’.
Distance-wise the super braids like Whiplash will put yards on your casts ifyou use them with care.
The 20lb is the same diameter as 4lbs mono, the 30lbs the same as most 6lbsmonos.
All in all, I’m certain braid has revolutionised my piking and put me morefish on the bank.
Like everything else it takes time to master and you may have teethingtroubles. But if you persevere with it, the end result will be more thanworth it.
BRAID FACTS
– Braids are made of super tough man-made fibres originally designed to make bullet proof vests.
– They were leapt on by American lure anglers, before UK pikers startedusing them in the early 1990s.
– Unlike mono, the line is not degraded by UV light and water doesn’t rotit.
– That means it lasts far longer and can work out cheaper in the long run.
– Blood knots and some other knots used for mono will slip when tied onbraid.
– Uni, grinner or palomar knots are recommended by most manufacturers.
– Premium lines can cost £ 35 or more for a 300yd spool.
– But shop around, because competition among the big mail order dealers isdriving prices down.
REMEMBER – SAFETY FIRST!
Braid is far stronger than mono which means less tackle lost to snags.
Instead of snapping off and leaving baited end rigs tethered to snags, youshould be able to straighten hooks out with a firm pull.
A word of warning – don’t just point the rod at a snag, screw down theclutch and pull. This can bend the spindle, seriously damaging a reel.
If a few tugs with the rod fail to free the hook, slacken off and take 10 or15 turns of braid around a stout bank stick or pair of forceps.
Hold at arms’ length, look away and walk steadily backwards.
Don’t wrap braid round your coat sleeve or gloved hand, as it could cutthrough both and cause an injury.
Where leads or lures are snagged close to the bank, ensure they are notgoing to come flying out of the water and hit you in the event of abreakage.
