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Braid

That’s all I use, it’s not very forgiving but if you set your clutch right it’s fine, I always put about 12” of rig tube just above the hooklink to stop it rubbing on rocks
 
Have used braid exclusively on all of my reels for over 15 years. Power pro 20lb, moss green.

I recently bought some Powerpro Super Slick 8 but due to Covid I've not got around to using it yet.
 
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Never ever use it in freshwater,except on lrf gear , and that is only a rare occurrence .
After seeing a barbel cut to ribbons on tethered braid it is definately not for me.

Tin hat on !

David
 
Never ever use it in freshwater,except on lrf gear , and that is only a rare occurrence .
After seeing a barbel cut to ribbons on tethered braid it is definately not for me.

Tin hat on !

David
It’s not for me either but this shouldn’t happen if using a decent length leader to protect both the fish and the braid against abrasion.
I can see the benefits of it especially with long range work but I like a quality mono personally
 
After seeing a barbel cut to ribbons on tethered braid it is definately not for me.

Tin hat on !

I wouldn't normally respond to this sort of post but in this case I will. IF one uses a sensible setup this tethering situation you mention will just not occur, will it David?

If you saw a horrendous crash on the motorway would you advocate not driving a car? No, of course you wouldn't.

We on BFW can hopefully help to guide people towards good equipment and good practices. I can say with 100% honesty and accuracy that I've never caused any damage to any barbel because of my using braid mainline, nor (coated) braid hooklength. I'll add that none of my fishing pals will have either, else none of us would use or recommend braid.

So you can remove your tin hat, and simply follow whatever advice suits you :)
 
Hi all, I am new to the forum ,
What's your opinion on using Braid as a main line ?
Thanks in Advance
So to answer your original post Adam.

I use braid for several reasons. I like that it has little (or no) stretch so it is good for touch ledgering. I like it because it is thinner than mono. I like it because it doesn't deteriorate like mono.

As I only use c'pins, and in certain circumstances one can get line twists, braid does not suffer from twists as compared with mono. This can be thought of as odd, since whatever causes the twists will equally affect braid, but the fact is that one will not have any problem with braid in this respect. A fact that Ray Walton pointed out to me many years ago, and especially he would notice this with his "rolling pin" rotating reels.

I don't believe I've ever lost a barbel due to the lack of stretch of braid. I use it on small intimate rivers like the St.Pats and Loddon, equally so on the Trent. Abrasion is not something that concerns me where I fish, so I don't utilise anything to combat this.
 
Having no experience of braid, I am not in a position to offer an opinion on its use. The rivers I fish are small with few barbel going into double figures. So I fish 12lb mono main and 10lb mono hook length, it works for me so I stick with it.
 
I have used braid in my carp fishing for well over 20 years ( the old Nash bullet sinking braid) but now the semi sinking Power pro
for my Barbel fishing on the Trent tidal and middle

and never seen or heard of a fish being damaged by it either ? ( seen a lot more damage caused by poor hook choice)
I nearly always used a long mono leader for many reason rocks etc and just as important a little bit more of a cushioning effect at the final stages
 
I have used Braid for all my barbel fishing, since I started. Never seen any damage to any fish I have caught too. The one caveat with Braid is to always use a leader, be it mono or a fluoro etc. Braid and rocks don't like each other and you will be found out.
 
I have used Braid for all my barbel fishing, since I started. Never seen any damage to any fish I have caught too. The one caveat with Braid is to always use a leader, be it mono or a fluoro etc. Braid and rocks don't like each other and you will be found out.
Yep...always use mono shockleader, fluorocarbon is good because it sinks well and is tough. I’m quite a fan of Fox submerge braid...the original stuff I have had on my spools for a few years now, last year I reverse spooled them onto spare spools and now effectively fishing with new braid again...so basically, good quality braid is expensive initially but long term works out very cost efficient.
 
I don’t know if I over gun it but I use 65lb powerpro which has a dia of .41 which is about equal too 20lb mono and with the rig tube I’ve never lost a rig through abrasion on rocks and pulling out of snags is easier
 
I can only echo what others have already said ... braid is great line to use, but (IMHO) you must always use a leader, minimum 2m, 3-4m preferably.
N.b.. since I first used braid for long trotting I've never thought about changing back to mono. It's a game-changer, especially when striking at 30m+ Best used with an upstream wind though 😂
 
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