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braid for mainline

Most sensible people would think that person would be a 100% Idiot.

I also dont think there to be such a thing as a 100% safe rig, unless i have missed the invention of line and hooks that dissolve when imersed in water for 48 hours. I also dont think there is a setup that is guaranteed to never cause any harm to a fish, it may not have done to date but one day something of a freak nature will happen.
 
PROOF IN THE PUDDING RETURNED WITH A "SLIGHTLY" DIFFERENT RIG. 1 bite and a 13.2 FROM EXACTLY the same place
 
There is such a thing as a 100% safe rig. It hasn't got a hook on the end. The way some people go on, it's a miracle that they are prepared to use such implements, that are absolutely guaranteed to harm a fish, should they actually get stuck in one.
 
Chris. I once caught a barbel on the H. Avon at Severals when it grabbed the feeder that turned sideways in its mouth and with the pressure on it keeping it sideways managed to land it.......the hook was free of anything.

Amazing but true.

Graham
 
Graham,
amazing but perfectly believable. I've seen similar with chub and carp over the years.

Perhaps that's the way forward? Minimize your chances of damaging a fish and prove beyond doubt that you are a stunningly skilful angler, don't use hooks.
At least those that babble on about "just being there" being enough should be quite happy. Those that struggle with lugging lots of kit can leave scales, landing nets, matts etc at home.
 
Wayne, turned in to an interesing thread despite the criticism you received ! So would you share with us the successful rig change and risk the wrath of others ?
 
probably an uptide rod and 100lb braid , yeah point missed , wonder if the fishes head was still fully attached
 
I've gone full circle with the braid thing, I changed to it from Maxima ten or more years ago for better bite detection but started loosing fish on a short line due to the lack of stretch. To counter that I bought a pair of soft action rods designed for fishing braid, they made very little difference but were a bit floppy for casting heavy feeders so I started using a 20 ft mono leader and went back to the old rods; but I still wasn't happy, I now had a very vulnerable knot in the system. Around that time I bought a pair of Chimeras and decided to give mono a go again, that was five or so years ago and tbh I wont go back, I can see the advantages when lure fishing or even carp fishing but for barbel on rivers it causes more headaches than it cures.
 
Ade aint that just the same as saying balance your gear? Nothing wrong with braid or mono if it’s in the right situation and you have it incorporated in the right gear.
You know I do a lot more pike fishing than Barbel fishing these days. It’s my opinion that braid gives me far superior dropback indication whilst retaining low uncliping resistance. What has this got to do with braid v mono for Barbel? When I go to my bivvy my rigs are reeled in and unbaited after a rat run or two, not because I am the godlike definitive safe angler but because I am a lazy beggar and I don’t like having my sleep broken. So this is a question for the guys who bivvy up at night on the bank. Do you see "cheesewire" damage on fish you have caught at night and do you think it may have anything to do with the fish having some slack line before striking and playing the fish in? I am not pointing fingers or even tutting in a muted tone, just wondering why I and others have not seen this and some have?
 
With respect Kev the pike and zander you are catching know when they are beaten and don't get a second wind when they see the net and take off on a blistering final run. This means you can safely fish with braid and not get hooks tearing out as the fish makes that final lunge for freedom. That's why I went back to mono and am more than happy doing it.
I did at one time think there was a case for using braid on smaller rivers when sight fishing but after watching a barbel spook off my bait several times when I was using braid straight through and then taking it the first time it was offered when I added a mono leader I decided it was time to give braid the old 'heave ho' for all my barbel fishing.
 
Too right Ade, pike do it as soon as the hooks go in. Huge tailwalks in the autumn before the cold sets in. That tests anything, talk to Ray about the twenty I had with him from the Parlour, a Lumby BB350 bent tip to butt and it still managed 60 proper yards at least with its head out the water. When Ray asked me where it was going I replied "Seaside I think" Please don’t fall for the old Pike can’t fight line, It aint true. Zeds however fight like Italians. What I said was broadly in agreement with your earlier post.
Balance braid to a softer through action rod, not a floppy old stick but something like my Lummby's rods, they are built on a three and a half chimera and you can pull the plug out with them. If I needed to cast a ton it stays at home with the braid and I fish an entirely different setup.
I had not thought about it before but it’s probably why I prefer my Pulse rod to the Torrix when fishing under my feet. I’ll have to load a reel up with mono and try it out in Monty's rediscovery.
 
As a standard I slacken off the clutch a turn when the barbel are near the net. I'm sure quite a few do.

Whatever line I use.

Cheers

Grahams
 
We have much in common no doubt Jon. I am not worried about a small spat regards a minor difference of opinion about fishing. Nor should you.

Its basically what many postings are about.

Lets move on. Kind regards

Graham
 
Robert Beal said:
probably an uptide rod and 100lb braid , yeah point missed , wonder if the fishes head was still fully attached
Click to expand...

No it wasnt Bob, it was hanging on by a Whisker :D. For the record it was the only bite i had and the braided mainline "which i am awaiting to be delivered" was wrapped around the fish 24 times :rolleyes:
 
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At the end of the day it all comes down to personal choice, none of us are compelled to give our reasons for our choices but a nice bit of civil (ish) discussion does make a welcome change from the old, 'what _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _' (fill in the blanks with the tackle item of your own choice) threads.
 
I seems to me that Ray Walton's ongoing use of braid as a mainline never fazes the barbel he catches...which often runs into several hundred fish per season. Nor those of the thousands of other anglers that took his advice and use it still. I also find it hard to believe that if it became obvious to him, or any angler, that such line was damaging fish...that it would still be in use. Can you imagine the furore that would ensue if fish were turning up in the H.Avon with the sort of damage that some attribute to the use of braid?

Come to that, it didn't put any of the carp off that I and many, many others caught over the years either....nor to my certain knowledge did it ever damage any of those carp. Repeat captures by those fishing carp fisheries, and the lack of bodies showing signs of such damage pretty well guarantees that.

I rather think that not even Paul Daniels could come up with a fishing line that fish cannot see...if it's in their environment, they see it, in my opinion. My guess is that it's not what they see, but whether it moves/acts suspiciously that spooks them. And they definitely don't like coming into contact with a tight line of any sort. Damage to fish by the use of braid? Possibly mouth damage, in my opinion...if we are talking ULTRA thin braid as a hook link....but the same damage could result from any ultra thin material...and does....I have seen it done by nylon mono many times. Same goes for body damage and scale lifting. I HAVE seen that occur when anglers were using mono, but not by anglers using braid. That is not to say that braid won't do the same...I believe if certainly would if the circumstances were the same....I have just never seen it (Probably due to the fact that the majority of anglers use mono, rather than for any other reason)

I rather think this debate could run for ever, like all hotly disputed issues in angling...they run and run. It's all part of what makes it what it is, I guess :D:D:D

Cheers, Dave.
 
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