Braid Vs Mono

[PPSGT]

Hi Raiders -

Just thought I'd add to the Braid debate going on.

I've used braid since 98 went I went on a week long deep water jigging trip where 25kg+ Samsons & Kings

were targeted over heavy reef. I learnt to tie braid from some proffessional fisherman on the boat

and have always used a bimini twist double then a plaited twist to the swivel. On the trip everyone was

using braid and from my experiences just doesnt fail if used correctly - I have had freinds went on another trip were all twenty anglers caught massive samsons all landed on braid - this fish are as big as the anglers themselves and the only bustoffs were from the braid rubbing against the keel of the boat ( it was 135 long ) or if the fish reefed them.

Here is Bruce the guide with an average king & samson from the charter.

In 9 years of using Bionic Braid I have never had it fail under fish pressure including sharks, rays that have

dragged my boat off anchor when i've locked the drag and tried to bust them off , big snapper, kings and reef fishing. I had cut through over wrecks and reefs but not just snap. Its a lot like car seat belts very strong but one small sideways nick and it fails terribly.

Why peoples braid is failing so badly is a bit of a mystery to me especially seeing they are experienced

fisherman. I dont used the thermo fused lines as I find them too sharp on my finger, and I always forget

and slice myself. It could be a combination of things - but from what us addicted fisho's on this

chat site likes to spend on tackle it cant be from spending too little money

I like using both braid and mono for different types of fishing - Maybe braid isnt the best line to use in

shallow water under extreme drags as it still does need to stretch and give a little and under short lengths to

an angry fish on a full loaded rod maybe its not the best choice?

Or maybe its being cut by rubbing on the fins of fish under

pressure? but most leaders would be longer then the fish hooked so i dont think that would be the case

unless other fish are chasing the hooked one and make contact with the line?

But then again a lot of big fish are landed using braid in both shallow and deep water, which could

never be stopped on mono unless your using wipper snipper cord!

Here's an article on Braid from a US magazine - Those crazy Bass fisherman risk $100,000 paychecks

on braid so it cant be all that bad

We Test 31 Superbraids and 27 Knots/Variations for Some Surprising Results- and a Major Discovery

7/08/2006

By Doug Olander (More articles by this author)

Hey, I wasn't born yesterday. I knew very well that superbraid (gelspun polyethylene) fishing lines overtest considerably. So when I caught a trahira — a brown, toothy prehistoric-looking predator — in Brazil a few years ago on 6-pound braid, I figured the line would overtest and put me into the International Game Fish Association's 8-pound line-class category, where the weight of my fish would qualify it as a new line-class world record.

Wrong.

The "6-pound" line overtested, all right: The IGFA's tests not only put it beyond the 6- and 8-pound classes, but also made it too heavy to qualify even in the 20-pound category. Its 23-pound actual breaking strength bumped up my catch into the 30-pound line class, where it didn't qualify.

That was a rude awakening to just how strong for their size these remarkable microfiber lines can be.

Suffice it to say that anyone intent on world records puts himself at a disadvantage by using braided line rather than monofilament. The reason goes to the heart of two key concepts that serious fishermen using braid need to understand.

1. Braid overtests. Nearly always it proves to be much stronger than the rating stated on the spool — sometimes (per the example above) two or three times what it claims to be.

2. Braid loses strength at the knot. How much has long been debated, but the industry has often cited 25-percent loss of strength at the knot as a fairly typical figure.

This seems to be the basis for line manufacturers understating their braids' break point. As many in the industry have explained to me, they want to provide a cushion that compensates for weaker knot strength.

Braid manufacturers have done so and then some. For instance, the "6-pound" braid cited above broke at 23 pounds. Even if I had in fact lost 25 percent of its strength at the knot, I was still fishing nearly 18-pound-test line!

20-POUND BRAIDED-LINE TENSILE STRENGTHS

Manufacturer Line Actual Break (Lbs.) % Rated Strength

Berkley Fireline 54.5 273%

Triple FishBully Braid 46.3 232%

Cortland Master Braid 41.6 208%

Cortland Spectron 41.3 207%

SpiderWire Stealth 39.7 199%

Stren Super Braid 37.6 188%

SpiderWire Spiderline 35.7 179%

Ande Braidfluoresc 34.6 173%

Western Filament Tuf Line 34.5 173%

Western Filament Tuf Line XP 33.8 169%

PowerPro Superline 33.0 165%

Platypus Bionic Braid 31.5 158%

Izorline Spectra 30.5 153%

Offshore Angler Magibraid 30.0 150%

Cabela's Ripcord Si Plus 27.6 138%

Sufix Performance Braid 23.4 117%

50-POUND BRAIDED-LINE TENSILE STRENGTHS

Manufacturer Line Actual Break (Lbs.) % Rated Strength

Cortland Spectron 83.7 167%

Sufix Performance Braid 71.4 143%

Cabela's Ripcord Si Plus 68.6 137%

Cabela's Ripcord Sifluorescent 67.7 135%

SpiderWire StealthTracer 65.9 132%

PowerPro1 SuperlineMoss 64.8 130%

Platypus Super-Braid 64.3 129%

Western Filament Tuf Line 63.7 127%

Berkley Gorilla Tough 62.4 125%

Offshore Angler Magibraid 61.1 122%

Ande Braid 58.4 117%

Western Filament Tuf Line XP 58.2 116%

Izorline Spectra 55.8 112%

SpiderWire Spiderline 55.0 110%

KNOT TEST -- 20-POUND BRAIDED LINE (Fireline)

% of Actual Strength (54.5 lb.) Knot Mean Break (lb.) %of Spool Strength

Double Line

81% BIMINI TWIST 43.9 220%

80% BIMINI TWIST 43.7 219%

53% SPIDER HITCH 29.0 145%

50% 90% SPECTRA KNOT 27.5 138%

42% BIMINI TWIST 22.8 114%

42% SPIDER HITCH 22.5 113%

37% 90% SPECTRA KNOT 20.0 100%

37% BIMINI TWIST 19.9 100%

33% BIMINI TWIST 17.8 89%

Line to Leader

78% YUCATAN 42.7 214%

65% YUCATAN 35.6 178%

65% SURGEON'S 35.2 176%

49% SURGEON'S 26.9 135%

41% SURGEON'S 22.4 112%

40% SURGEON'S 21.8 109%

40% UNI TO UNI 21.7 109%

37% UNI TO UNI 20.2 101%

32% REVERSE ALBRIGHT 17.5 88%

Splice, Line to Line

59% YUCATAN 29.9 150%

40% UNI TO UNI 21.7 109%

38% UNI TO UNI 20.7 104%

25% BLOOD KNOT 13.7 69%

Line to Swivel/ Tackle

100% PALOMAR 54.3 272%

70% UNI 38.4 192%

64% IMPROVED CLINCH 34.7 174%

63% IMPROVED CLINCH 34.5 173%

63% UNI 34.1 171%

59% PALOMAR 31.9 160%

50-POUND BRAIDED-LINE TENSILE STRENGTHS

Manufacturer Line Actual Break (Lbs.) % Rated Strength

Cortland Spectron 83.7 167%

Sufix Performance Braid 71.4 143%

Cabela's Ripcord Si Plus 68.6 137%

Cabela's Ripcord Sifluorescent 67.7 135%

SpiderWire StealthTracer 65.9 132%

PowerPro1 SuperlineMoss 64.8 130%

Platypus Super-Braid 64.3 129%

Western Filament Tuf Line 63.7 127%

Berkley Gorilla Tough 62.4 125%

Offshore Angler Magibraid 61.1 122%

Ande Braid 58.4 117%

Western Filament Tuf Line XP 58.2 116%

Izorline Spectra 55.8 112%

SpiderWire Spiderline 55.0 110%

The rest of the article can be found here:

http://www.#####ingmag.com/article.jsp?ID=43557

I tied my braid aroudn the trailer hitch and tried to snap it - which resulted in cut hands

Went and got some gloves and it took quite a bit of force to snap a short length of 20lb braid,

mono was a lot easier - But I'd rely more on the results above that my "myth busters" techniques.

All i wish is that braid was cheaper!

Jason

[netic]

Hey mate, That is the article that i was referring too.......but don'tbeilve everything you read.

I know that braid is used to catch some massive samsons over in WA and SA....but as mentioned in the article there are so many factors to braid that the avereage joe does not know about.......

But i still urge everyone to test there lines......you all will be very surprised.....

Im not trying to turn people off braid....i just want people to be aware of my discoveries..thats all

[Guest IFishSick.]

Great article mate. Might have to try some of that Bionic Braid, sounds like good stuff.

[PPSGT]

Maybe we can get choice magazine to do a test on braided lines - they would have a field day with results that varied.

Jason

Edited March 12, 2007 by PPSGT

[Flattieman]

Maybe we can get choice magazine to do a test on braided lines - they would have a field day with results that varied.

Jason

Good idea, Jason! I've tested some braid on scales before - it snapped over the stated breaking strain, not at the knot but above it by about 15cm... Very interesting debate... I would also appreciate seeing tests that have been conducted by a third party such as Choice. It would also be interesting to know how these entities have tested braid i.e. whether they gradually increase pressure on the line or quickly apply force...

Flattieman.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Flattieman