clear braid

was looking on-line for braid as checking prices/brands and i am planning on upgrading from mono, found some clear braid, has anyone heard anything about it, it seems like a good idea, any comments?

i got it about 2 months ago, its FirelineCrystal, got 20 lb 125yd cost 29.99 euros. Its ok,its round and stays that way,not sure about crystal its more white color you cant see through like showed in a picture,but its less visible in the water than green or grey if that's what you after,wasn't using that much so not sure if it will get dirty or not.if it will it could be better of just getting grey

seems to be a wider diameter per bs than powerpro/spiderwire stealth

seems to be a wider diameter per bs than powerpro/spiderwire stealth

may go with the spiderwire and use a mono leader, thanks for the replies

i dont bother with mono leaders, especially if fishing over rough ground where the time lost retying leaders could be substantial.

also if gilling for pollock you will prob b using approx 15foot of trace anyway so u dont really need a leader as the trace wil buffer the fishes head shaking

[Marty Harrison]

Spiderwire and Fireline are similar diameters, both are fused braids making them a bit thicker but also more abrasion resistant. Alot of lure anglers prefer the thicker braid as it help you achieve the best of both worlds, balanced BS of line to diameter.

14lb fireline is approx .25 in dia so thats about the equivelent of your average 6lb mono so it pretty thin and will help you cast further in the average situation while still being a sensible breaking strain for the gear you are using it on. The fusing process makes it slightly stiffer too which helps reduce windknots if you usually suffer from them, they are generally the anglers fault and not the lines anyway. It should also be mentioned that fireline like most braid is understated in the breakingstrain department too with tests showing the 14lb stuff actually breaks at 21lb, so its plenty strong.

The same dia braid in whiplash/powerpro and most other brands (most of it comes from one of 3 factorys anyway) will have a 30/40lb breaking strain and is far too strong for the gear its being used on to be properly balanced in the BS department and mishandled can easily lead to broken rods and overloaded reels. To fish most soft braids in 15/20lb BS you will be using a line that is like cotton its so thin and will tangle and wear easily, not worth the hassle.

This has all been explained to you already Martin, you obviously dont believe us :lol: :lol: ;)

Marty

Last edited by Marty Harrison on Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Marty Harrison

MC never mentioned his prefered breaking strain of line, so im not too sure you can say that he hasnt been taking advice on board.

you are right in what you say but id like to hear what MC has to say regarding what BS he was thinking towards

MC, a reel with too light a line is worse than useless, i recently used the fladen maximus line in 20lb and the line broke with the pressure of the lead alone on the way to the bottem.

IMO 30lb braid would be a good recommendation, either off the boat or shore as it is thin enough to yield the benefits of braid yet strong enough to handle most situations.

hope this helps you have a decison

rgds

Paul

FYI Paul, Martin has already asked this question and had everything about braid explained to him in detail elsewhere :D:D:D Hence my smiley, winky comment at the end of my post ;) :)

I was using the BS as an example of how line diameters work and not telling him what to use thanks :D The rest of it was a suggestion that balanced tackle is the way to go but i have given up on trying to explain that these days tbh.

If you are using weights that snap braid on the way to the bottom you seriously wanna change brands asits obviously a bad batch or use a shockleader to sensibly cover the weight you are casting (10lb per ounce of MONO, NOT braid), its nothing to do with the breaking strain (lightness?) of the line Paul unless your using weights heavier than the BS of the line and i doubt that :D:D

Marty

k thanks for clearing that up marty.

the fladen line was something i won, used once and shall never see the light of day again. it was rated 20lb but is very very fine. too fine infact.

i much prefer to use whiplash pro, and if fishing a comp will use 65lb line, as i am less likely to have my line cut/ weakened from rubbing against other anglers line, also if someone is constantly snagging me, a couple of sharp strikes will cut their line and not damage mine :twisted: :twisted:

the fladen line was something i won, used once and shall never see the light of day again. it was rated 20lb but is very very fine. too fine infact.

Cheers Paul that displays my point perfectly. I dont like to use the softer braids as once you get to a good fishable diameter on a fixed spool the BS is way above what i consider balanced for the gear im using it on. I mean we wouldnt go out lure fishing with 30/40lb mono would we for 5-10lb fish as it would simply feel unsporting, to me at least. The line would also be way to strong for the rod IMO. Its for this reason i really like the fireline as its the closet i can come to striking a good balance between breaking strain and diameter for the gear i use it on shore fishing while still achieving the benefits of fishing with braid.

Boat fishing is a diff story, gimmi the thin stuff then :D:D Whiplash pro is my fav for that with a good wind on mono leader.

I look forward to the IGFA rated braids making their way to these shores from the far east. No doubt they will get diverted to America for several years first leaveing us last in the line as ever.

Marty

I am just curious....to most of you that favour fireline....how long u ve been using that line??i am using a lots of brands since 96 including the fireline.....most of the other brands will last on the spool up to 2 years....and i still have FINS PRT wch gonna make it 4 and still going tough...in my experience with Fireline is a diffrent story....the line only survive for less than a year.....all the coat got cracked here and there....maybe i got the bad batch....

If u gonna get it from online.....theres a lot of choice of decent braid...sufix performance braid is one of them with six strand and more rounder....i dont think fireline is round enuff....its flat....its a 4 strand braid....daiwa saltiga surf....8 strand and more rounder profile.....

For the ppl that dont like braid because of their nature of lack of stretch...go get a stretch braid....rapala produce one recently....

For boat fishing....i have use rapala tritanium,whiplash and stealth.....all are good line.....but still consider an old tech.....still flat and lack of 'water cutting' feature compare to today 6-8 strand braid....specially when compare to japanese new generation braid(Varivas,YGK) for jigging and boat fishing wch are more abbrasion resistant but still loss to mono in this department.....

Braid is expensive.....consist of a few strand....easily damage in tough terrain than mono.....thats why we use leader.....dont use short leader.....use long leader which some called it top shot.....10-20m when i do boat fishing.....most of the line expose to abbrasive structure at the end....so 20-30m is more than enuff.....at the end of the day u just loose a cheap mono not an expensive braid....and the length of my mainline is still the same.....theres nothing wrong with using braid straight....then in tough terrain u keep on cutting ur expensive braid rather than loosing a cheap mono....unlike mono wch have effect exposed to the sun light....braid can last for a few years and if carefully use and maintain....u still can save more money to get other stuff instead of spending it for line every year.....just my 2 cent....cheeerrrssss....

Hi Joe,

I have been using fireline personally since about 2001/2 for fresh and saltwater fishing on fixed spools. I do notice some breakup of the lines coating but tbh i dont mind as it will take on water then and sink a bit better, tests have shown it hasnt lost any of its strength when like this. The spooling of fireline on my Stradic is 4 years old and has been reversed once, i can honestly say i have had no problems with it and love the stuff through my own experiences. All brands of braid seem to have their lovers and haters with each person finding what is right and works for him completely diff from what another guy has exerienced.

I havent had the chance to feel or use a 8 stranded braid yet, they are on my list of things to try next season as im always looking for something better.

Marty

Cheerrsss MH.....u re right.....just thought that i am the only one got my line coated peel off....just that i am using multi for spinning and its a bit annoying feeling the abrasion of the cracking coated on my thumb...u should try the 6-8 strand braid....more quieter on the guide and bail arm roller....as for the wind knots....its just like the 'indian,not an arrow'...most angler not paying attention on what they re doing and simply crank in to close the bail arm rather than close it manually.....other than that....a spool design also play an important factor.....if u can get a Low Rider guide than there will be less problem on the wind knots....cheeerrsss...

Hi Marty i know my questions have been answered,thanks for all your help, and no i haven't made up my mind completely, that's Santa's choice, i wanted to find out how many people have used the clear stuff and what they thought of it, ie gather as much info as possible before deciding



don't worry Marty i did believe you, i don't like leaving Questions unanswered, ie not finishing a thread off


Paul i didn't state a b/s as i knew very little about braid before Marty gave me some good information.


ps still don't know what to go for :?

if you tied the braid directly to the lure/plug wont the fish see the line? and doesnt a mono leader add an extra security when near rocks?

As Fireline Crystal.....IMHO its just a marketing jargon.....same like Fluoro Carbon.....yea...the index is as near as the index of water and blablabla.....and its only from human point of view we just still assuming....many people used color snood and still catch fish.....and i dont think the color(other than black) is important criteria each time i am buying a line or lure.The point of using leader is for abrasion resistant.....stretch.....economic......braid is weak compare to mono when its come to abrasion....braid don't stretch....thin....strong,but cant take sudden impact like a bail arm suddenly close while u're casting ,it can easily snap.....by using mono as a leader,the stretch in mono will absorb the impact saving ur lure.Economically.....u got a 100m braid....the line will get shorter each time u got snag....cut and retie...etc.....by adding mono leader u save a lots of your line....each time u got snag most of the time the leader will break....when u cut and retie....u cut a leader.....u only cut and retie braid when ur leader got short and ready for a new leader(which is not most of the time,usually after 3-4 session) hence u re saving the more expensive braid....cheeerrrsss...

thanks rapalajoe

MC hi! Thought I would add my ten cents here! Joe think I have to disagree, I think that colour of line and diameter can play a big part in your fishing success. I personally fish quite light, I find that 15lb verivas is enough for most of my bass fishing and drop it alot lower for sea trout. As for leaders well I go back to my principles of fly fishing and think back to the impact that the advent of flurocarbon had on dry fly fishing, it made a big difference to catch rate and feel that at times the same may be true of lure fishing. We all know there are times that you could throw tea spoons at the bass and they will hit them but at other times particullarly on really calm summers days they can get a bit more finicky, at these times I have found that scaleing down the line and lure size has made the difference between fish and a blank. I allways use a fluro leader, one for shock absorbtion but also for lure presentation. Most importantly I feel that it effects my level of confidence which effects how activly I fish!

Cheers

PG

Cheerrrsss there padge....i think padge it again back to personal preference....just use what u really comfortable and confident with....dont take anything that i post as a fact or as something solids,its just from my experience and preference(theres still room for improvement i think) ,some guys medicine maybe a poison to the others....

I do use and love FC leader,but not because of their said "invisible" feature but because they re more manageable than mono,more abrasion resistance and have just enuff stretch that i need over mono wch tend to have more stretch and can reduce sensitivity.I you notice,most of FC are like amnesia leader,u can pull stretch them to make them straight and not coiling around like mono.They sink fast too compare to mono,but i wont use them on the top water lure,on top water i prefer mono.....its look small and negligible but i just dont feel comfortable using FC on topwater as i am using sometimes up to 2 mtr of leader....the 2 mtr of sinking FC is enuff to make me feel uncomfortable to pick up the line slack on each jerk while walking the dog.

As for line size we got same preference,15 lb braid.... but theres time that i sometimes love to go down to 10 and sometimes 8,depend on the situation and what size off lure and spoon that i use.Leader and line size play a lot of role on the action and the optimum depth of your lure....the lighter the better...but u will lose some breaking strain.....

As for the colour....i love hi vis colored line so i can easily see and spot them.As for lure just use any color that u re confident with.

Btw all this just for the discussion....theres no right or wrong....just use what u prefer,comfortable and confident with.....the most important things in lure fishing....theres no point of doing anything that u re not confident with.

Cheeeeerrrsss....