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Coated braid

Paul Whiteing

Administrator
Staff member
Ok, I'll ask the question and risk getting bombarded with alternatives :)

I think I just used the last of my Sufix Camoskin 15lb coated braid in green. Help!! can't find any anywhere ........... although I did find a spool in a Gardner outer package, looks the same but not sure. Have Sufix gone and someone taken over? The Gardner site shows a few coated braids but not the same one.

I've been using this for years and years, don't do this stripping back lark I just leave it intact and stiff.

So what do I do ? I tried ESP strip-tease and didn't like it, and I really don't want to be trying new products. So what's not to like? it's a confidence thing. Having a big barbel pulling back at you, the last thing I want to think of is will the tackle handle it. Using what I've used for years I don't even think about it.
 
Seem to remember a name change but maybe wrong. Some years back a tackle shop was offering Sheath Skin and Camo Skin at the bargain price of 2.99 per spool. When it arrived the strippable outer skin was almost black and the inner a pale green.
 
You can get some from Germany via EBay,15lb green or brown,
The good news if you really want it,just over £20 incl. delivery!!!
 
Eric's Angling have been selling off loads of Suffix hooklink materials for £2.99 over the last year or two. This is all they have left. I was under the impression that Suffix was a Shimano brand that had been kicked into touch.
 
Hi Stephen,
A few things for me,the coating gives the inner braid and fish more protection,it's anti tangle(almost),whilst being more supple than a lot of flouros,also gives me more options with just one hooklink.
Having said that i must admit I seem to have accumulated nearly every material going,but a coated braid is my first choice.
I'm interested to see what others think?
 
Thanks for the reply. I haven’t used it myself, I like yourself and probably all of us tend to hoard stuff. I have a collection of plugs I’ve never used :D. Just wondered if the coated braid is an edge or just something we as Angler’s like if you see what I’m saying.
 
Thanks to DaveC who found some available online, I've ordered some so am ok now :)

Just wondered if the coated braid is an edge or just something we as Angler’s like if you see what I’m saying.

For me it's not about having an edge, it's a practical thing. I used to use supple uncoated braid but suffered from tangles all too often, in those days I used to cast every half hour or so (or more often with the dreaded crays in abundance). I completely changed my fishing style (and river/venues) some years ago and started to cast maybe only once per session, preferring to leave a bait in the water for many hours, Tangle potential is a no no in this situation so I changed to coated braid and am fully confident.

Some anglers seem to chop and change their tackle so often, trying this trying that, ending up with a huge amount just sitting there, and at a cost! I use the same for years, if it ain't broke no fix required.
 
I can relate to that. I think the paranoia of is the bait still on and is the rig in a mess, causing regular recasting, has cost me fish.
 
I am a relative newcomer to Barbel fishing comparared to some on here, only been "at it " for about 25 years. In all that time I have never ever used anything but either flouro or mono, cant actually remember suffering from any feeling of missing out on anything, bites AND fish , both in size and quantity have been equal to those around me using this new braid stuff, I dont suffer from tangles, and have only bumped off a miniscule number of fish on the retrieve.


I have however, caught fish with braid wrapped around them, and bad "braid" cuts as a result , cuts around the mouth, with hooks attached to braid still firmly embedded.

So what are the advantages ?

Dave
 
I've not caught fish with cuts; I've not caught fish with braid wrapped around them; I've not caught fish with hooks embedded in them attached to braid.

Braid is not "new stuff" I've been using it for longer than you be been barbel fishing David.

Coated braid is stiff so less prone to tangle and I like the fact that it won't waver. I leave it intact so the coating will not, I firmly believe, cause cuts. I have used the same hooklink for many sessions and there is no deterioration unless encountering a snag.

But I cannot write a case to convince anyone to use it. By experience I have reasons not to use mono these days, and I don't need this " new fluoro stuff" :)
 
I would agree with Paul and Bob as a braid user for more years than i care to remember i have never seen a Barbel with braid wrapped around it or mouth damage caused by braid.
I've used braid hook links up to 4' and don't get tangle's i just use a PVA bag or a stringer on the hook when i cast.
 
The braid "wrapping " problem may be down to the nature of the swims I fish, mostly they have a deep rocky channel , probably five to six feet deep 3/4 of the way across, where the Barbel hold, that gives way to a very shallow , very rocky and boulder strewn wide stretch between the bank and the deep area. The Barbel have to be "steered " through to net, the river is about 30 or 40 yards wide, so the problems can be seen, the only way to successfully fish is to keep the rod tip very high, and once a fish is hooked it must be brought up out of the channel quickly, and into the shallows, between the rocks. It is a noted spot for bigger fish, but anglers fishing it for the first time dont really know its pitfalls and that could probably be a cause. I have seen several anglers using Braid letting the fish get their "heads down" once hooked , the line digs on a rock and parts, then there is a tethered fish maybe, or a fish trailing lengths of braid or a braid hooklength,between the rocks.
Not an easy place really . I suspect if I fished some of the less problematical areas I may have a different perspective.

The "new braid stuff" comment was supposed to be funny.... I will have to take more humour pills :rolleyes:

Dave
 
I am a relative newcomer to Barbel fishing comparared to some on here, only been "at it " for about 25 years. In all that time I have never ever used anything but either flouro or mono, cant actually remember suffering from any feeling of missing out on anything, bites AND fish , both in size and quantity have been equal to those around me using this new braid stuff, I dont suffer from tangles, and have only bumped off a miniscule number of fish on the retrieve.


I have however, caught fish with braid wrapped around them, and bad "braid" cuts as a result , cuts around the mouth, with hooks attached to braid still firmly embedded.

So what are the advantages ?

Dave
In my eyes there aren't many Dave . Using braid seems an awful lot off faff for little gain , maybe better for touch ledgering i.e. greater feel as no stretch ?It's unreliable breaking strain and tendency to cut puts me right off ,but each to their own
 
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