Cortland Master Braid comes on 150 yards spools and my advice is to split this for lure fishing by measuring out two clean banksticks 10 yards apart and put 75 yards onto a spool. I split mine between a low profile multiplier and a Shimano 4000 fixed spool and 75 yards is enough for lure fishing. The most you’re going to cast is 50 yards so that still leaves you 25 yards to stop a big fish’s run in and if you can’t do that with 30lbs braid, quit fishing or buy the 50lbs. Before you wind the braid on, put some normal monofilament backing on the spool to ‘cushion’ the braid. If the braid is wrapped around the bankstick wet it first with a sprayer or if it’s the remainder on the spool, throw the spool into a plastic cereal container 1/2 full of water so it can’t lay on it’s flat side. Braid always works best if wound on wet and under tension. Before going any further, try looking at this site. Look at the table for 20lb braid and see where Cortland Master Braid sits – 3rd place, 41.6 lbs and 208% of the stated breaking strain. The emerald green ( also sea green) is no different to the brown that’s under test and this is a test on straight pull, no knots, but tables like that give you extra confidence. I’m not going to test the b/s of this one, I’ll take the consensus of opinion in that it is strong. It is an attractive colour of brown, a dark sandy colour, but that’s makes no difference pulling a lure through the water. The thing I’m most concerned about is does it lose any dye like some other makes do and I’m pleased to say that dye loss is nil so far, it will take much more time to see if the dye fades at all under sunlight. On the multiplier it’s been superb. Smashing casting and retrieving although grip it between your thumb and forefinger to put some pressure on and you will find it takes on a fair bit of water. The benefit of this is that it does sink a lot faster and so keeps the lures down closer to where you want to fish them. A lot of braids lift the lures in the water. On a fixed spool, so far it has surprised me with no twisting of the line as I might have expected. Cast it 30 or 40 times with a real spinner of a lure and after retrieving, let the lure lay on the floor and lower the rod until the line is slack. No twisting at all. It has quite a round form which does help stop it from forming twists. It doesn’t tend to spring off the spool as happens with some monofilaments so, all in all, I am really enjoying it in use. I haven’t caught anything yet to really test its 30 lbs of breaking strain, just a couple of around 5 or 6 lbs, and neither am I trying for monsters. My attitude to pike fishing is to enjoy them all, whatever size they come in and the reason for 30lbs line is just so you can pull free from a lot of snags. After all, this is only the same diameter as using an eight pound monofilament, but it will be there, I’m sure, should I need it. Excellent line well worth a try. Rating: 9/10 |
