[SeanCrabb]

Hey
There are different colours of braids. Which colour should you use for what?

[Somenomai]

I usually do hi vis yellow unless im trying to go for carp, then i switch to moss green spool. Some say the yellow being more visible will scare off fish, but then again, I wouldn't want to be catching those small fry anyways.

[FrankTheRabbit]

Saw this from another thread/forum, but pick up some Sufix 832 braid for $14.39, normally $23.99 at Canadian Tire. Sale ends today, but call and check for availability. I picked up two spools of 30lbs & 50lbs. Saved myself $36!

[Joel52]

Doesn't seem to matter for catching fish for me - they all work the same with a leader. My personal preference is smoke coloured, or black because it doesn't fade as quickly. I like the way it looks on my reel too... <grin> But if I find a different colour on sale, I'm in.

[SeanCrabb]

I picked up a spool of 20lb suffix that was on sale to try. The guy at Bass Pro said all the guys there used it and swear by it. I always use Power Pro so I will try this and see what happens. Thanks

[getin]

I don't think the fish minds the color. Last week I caught a small mouth (yes, released!) while going for pike. main line was green braid and the leader was the coated metal wire!! Later, I caugth 4 carps on briad, moss green. they did not mind.

I have loved the castability of Power Pro. Once tried Stealth briad, 50lb and did not like it at all. tangled a lot, but not sure it was my lack of experince with braid back then or the line quality

[NADO]

Ya I like green because if you dont use a leader then it is much more natural looking than the hi vis

[PainInTheBass]

The colour depends on application for me. For reaction baits (crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.) I will use any colour, with green being my current preference. For these baits, I do not think brightly coloured braid will be too much a deterrent since the fish are reacting to a quickly moving object as it is. For these baits I use a thick fluorocarbon leader in case of pike.

For bottom contact baits and finesse baits, I tend to use hi-vis lines because it allows me t line watch in addition to feeling for bites. So, I use the neon fire colour in Sufix Performance braid. For these baits, I use a fluorocarbon leader for stealth.

[Blair]

[

[Coreyhkh]

Why Braid is so much better.

[toober]

After a few bad experiences with braid, I tried Fireline Crystal and stuck with it. In the 3 years I've been using it (6 lb to 20 lb test), it's been virtually trouble-free. I usually tie on a fluoro leader, or I'll use a wire leader if I'm targeting pike. Until somebody comes out with a fully transparent competitor that has similar line characteristics, I won't be switching away from it.

-toober-

[Joel52]

I use braid or composite braid for a few reasons. First, it doesn't stretch so my reaction time to set the hook is much better, and fewer "lost" fish. Second, when I troll with spinners, it doesn't wind up like mono. Third reason is strength vs. diameter - same strength, smaller diameter. Fireline's a good choice IMO.

[getin]

Re: Color of briad: I have used moss green with success, but observed people catching fish with other colors as well. In fact, the other day we were fishing with three differen line configurations (briad, briad with FC leader, and mono) and everybody caught the same number of fish more or less. I do not think it really matters to fish. I compare it with us eating food. 90 out of 100 times, we eat with not much attention to the details (say plate color?) becuase we are hungry. Every once in a while we get fancy and get picky on the details. Same story for fish, if they are feeding, they don't care. If they are not feeding, they get more picky and you have to bt lucky!

Observing and experimenting, skills, fishing eating habits (time of the day/year, what they are feeding on) and location are far more important that line type or color, IMO

[NADO]

It doesnt matter when the bite is on or if the water isnt crystal clear. But when they are biting light and being picky a fluro carbon leader or mono will increase your hookup rate for sure.

Im not sure that you can compare fishing to presentation of dinner...lol We process complex thought so its quite different from a fish that acts on instinct.

[Greggys]

I'm rocking fireline moss green 20lb braid. So far this year I've caught more then I ever have. Not saying its cause of the line but hey I'm gonna stick with it for now. It pulled all my pikes outta some serious weeds. I would def recommend it to anyone!

[Float_On]

I recently switched to spiderwire braid, and ive found that's it's been hard to break-in. It's still pretty stiff even after half a dozen times out. I've always used fireline and havent had this much frustration dealing with new line. It's really been casting poorly.

The one thing that's really bugging me is that the line on the reel (spinning) is actually free-spinning if my line is dry (first 1/2 hour or so. It seems to get better once the line has absorbed some water.

Has anyone ever had this issue with braid? Are there any tricks to avoid it? I was thinking about putting a dab of krazy glue on the knot around the spool... Buy a bit hesitant about doing that. Are there any special spool knots that work better for braid?

Any help would be great,
Thanks.

[staffman]

I would suggest starting with 10 feet of mono. attached to the spool, then attach the braid to the mono. using back to back uni knots.

[NADO]

Ive never reall had any problems with stiffness or with the line slipping on the spool. Its more difficult to get the line on the spool the first time but I have found that after I get some line on the spool the pressure of the line pushing down on the first loop stops any slipping from happening.

How much line to you have on your spool? if you are reaching the end of your line when you are casting I can see slipping being a problem, but if that is the case you definately need more line on your spool.

As for the stiffness I have used some braids that have high memory and will stay in the shape you bend it in but I have found braid never curls up like mono will so I think that is definately a pro that comes along with braid. The con is that you cant cast as far with braid but I havent found it to be too big of a setback, the only time I had an issue was when I was beach fishing with a buddy and couldnt cast it out as far as he could with his mono.

[Neb]

Float_On, on 17 July 2011 - 10:05 PM, said:

I recently switched to spiderwire braid, and ive found that's it's been hard to break-in. It's still pretty stiff even after half a dozen times out. I've always used fireline and havent had this much frustration dealing with new line. It's really been casting poorly.

The one thing that's really bugging me is that the line on the reel (spinning) is actually free-spinning if my line is dry (first 1/2 hour or so. It seems to get better once the line has absorbed some water.

Has anyone ever had this issue with braid? Are there any tricks to avoid it? I was thinking about putting a dab of krazy glue on the knot around the spool... Buy a bit hesitant about doing that. Are there any special spool knots that work better for braid?

Any help would be great,
Thanks.

I had the same issue with the 'camo' coloured Spiderwire braid. It kept getting knotted when casting (after about the 3rd time out fishing with it). I actually lost my gold williams spoon because it knotted then actually snapped because of the knot. Weird I know, but after that I threw the rest in the garbage and went with a different smoked gray coloured braid (Forget the brand offhand) and no issues.

[Float_On]

Thanks staffman for the mono tip.

I unspooled the braid back onto an old spool and dtarted the spool out with 15-20 wraps of 8lb mono with a uni-knot to the braid. Worked like a charm...

Ended up catching a musky on the saugeen not 1 hour after the whole procedure. No camera, no iPhone... So no picture. Just a fish story

Not sure about braid still, was fishing topwater this week and found that I hate the way the line lays on the water, its terribly visible in some situations, but extremely beneficial in other situations.

I don't know?