Braid for Piking

[Paul Williams]

Had a chat with Chris Bishop today about using braid for piking and i have decided to give it a go (despite not getting on with it when barbel fishing).I won't really be looking at it with a view to long range fishing, what appeals to me is the fact that it floats, i like to trot and freeroam livebaits and do tend to get grease everywhere!!! i need a robust floating braid, any chance of a few comments and recommendations?

 

[BUDGIE BURGESS]

Paul try the heavier BS Fox braid(cant remember if it is the Drifting one or the trolling one) Easily available and not to pricey.Another one is Herculine but get this in 30lb+.Not the Rolls Royce of braids but allright to start with.With drift floats tangles can be a nightmare with soft braids.I will be submitting an article on drift float fishing to Graham in the next few days which gives some tips on how to avoid this.As we have said before,for the jobs that you mention braid is ideal.Once again dont be afraid of using the heavier braids ie 40-80lb look at the diameters.(in case you were not aware the average diameter of 15lb mono is .35
Let us know if you have any specific problems with it and I will try to help.Also (please forgive me if you allready know these details)remember to attach your braid to your spool via a length of mono first as otherwise it will not grip properly and when under pressure the whole lot will just turn!Another thing is if you are not fishing long ranges then save pennys by only putting on the amount you need ie for normal Pike work you can split one of the Fox spools into three.Best way to do this is divide the braid into three equal lengths.Load one of the lengths of braid on to the reel,top it up to the required level with mono then reverse it on to another (identical) spool.Just repeat the process for all three spools.Hope this helps.

 

[Chris Bishop]

I'd go for 30lb Fireline for drifting and any situations where there's a risk the line will come into contact with snags. It's slightly thicker but indestructible and easy to knot up. A lot of people also use this line for lure fishing.

I like Whiplash, the low dia braid for laying on, float fishing, trotting etc. The 30lb is same dia as 6lb mono but you have to be a bit careful knotting it, sliding rig stops upand down it etc.

When you stick it on make sure it's wound on under a decent tension. This avoids the tangles you get with new braid when coils of slack line fly up the rings.

You also need to watch you don't let a couple of coils of slack on - like when you turn the reel handle to close the bail arm after you cast etc.

Dipping the spool in the water before the first cast also helps.

You can get cheap braids from Sea Fishing mag - Fireline's around ?14 for 100 yds, ?24.99 odd for 300.

It's worth up-rating your trace wire to 28 or 30lb when you use it. Using braid puts a lot more strain on knots, swivels, crimps etc so it's better to err on the safe side.

 

[Paul Williams]

Budgie and Chris, cheers fellas, i only use 30lb wire and qaulity swivels so my gear should adapt fine, i have however dug out my glass pike rods!! they have a bit more forgivness!!! think i'll go back to backwinding too, one of the probs i had when using it whilst barbel fishing was that i didn't like the way it dug in too itself when trying to bully a fish away from snags, this stopped the clutch from doing it's job and further aggrivated the problem, but as i said i probably tried it for the wrong reason.....i'm prepared to try again!!

 

[Chris Bishop]

Backwinding's always more reliable, they haven't yet invented a reel with a 100% reliable drag and the clutch on Baitrunners certainly has a habit of sticking.

 

[Philip Inzani]

I have been using Herculine for drifter fishing and I have to say if you if have been on mono/grease for drifting or free roaming up to now then you are in for a real treat initially. However I still have doubts about the reliability of it after a period of time. I know people are leaving braid on their spools longer than with mono and the usual argument is that it is more robust. I am not 100% certain of that and I think people are just saying this to justify the expense of it.
Another problem I have found is that braid does tend to sort of "stick" if you use it in a sliding type of arrangement. For example if you have put a stop knot way up the line to fish deep water there is a tendency for the braid to jam up in any eyes or holes its meant to run through although I found this tended to be more common with those flimsy small metal eyes that you find on some drifter set-ups. Basically you can help the problem by making sure the bore of anything the line has to run through is reasonably large. I definitely agree with Chris that wetting the line prior to casting helps to avoid tangles and dont try and fill the spool to the lip like you would with mono although you probably know that already. My experience is limited to Herculine so I cannot comment on the others and the jury is still out for me.

 

[Chris Bishop]

Attach the float to the controller boom mate - that cures it. Cast with a high lob and the air resistance on the vane pulls the float back up the line as it flies through the air. Stop it just before it hits the water and you should see it land in a straight line, preventing tangles. There's a diag of a drifter rig Budgie did floating about on anglersnet which illustrates float/controller set up.

Fireline definitely does last - I've had some 30lb on drifting reels two seasons and it's still sound. I haven't even turned it round yet. The only thing which knacks it is lure fishing, but then it doesn't tangle or kink up like nylon and I can remember when I used mono I frequently had to change it every couple of trips because it was twisted up or weakened by hauling out of snags or all the other abuse it gets.

 

[Birds Nest]

Hell

Am i the only one left using nylon then ?