What about braid?

Anyone use braid for ultralight? I have 5 lb Power Pro hi-vis on a rod. I think I decided to try it after somebody was harping about how thin the line is compared to other types. Now, I cannot find any listing showing the diameter. I wrote the manufacturer. Seems to be strong line, I can bend a hook if I get snagged. It seems to cast well, lays limp. I wonder if fish can see it more readily. Seems to me, it's easier to handle (tie knots!) than, say, 2 lb test non-braid line. I'm using various types of line and trying to decide. I'm all ears about UL line!

I note that Varivas Area Super Trout 2.3lb ester line is .117mm diameter. I see Suffix Nanobraid line and the equivalent diameter would be 8 lb test! As for nanobraid, they even have 2lb and 3lb test and it's super small. I don't know anything about Suffix Nanobraid but I like Suffix 832 for bass fishing.

Nanobraid:

Line Diameter	2 lb.	3 lb.	4 lb.	6 lb.	8 lb.	10 lb.
Inches	.001	.002	.003	.004	.005	.006
Millimeters	.04	.06	.08	.10	.12	.14

I use the power pro slick 8. It is 2lb diameter. 0.15mm is the diameter

I've used Suffix Nanobraid in 2 lbs and 3 lbs. It's a good line, but its breaking strength is much higher than listed and its diameter is much higher than listed. 1 lbs mono equivalent and 0.04-0.06 mm diameter – that's a joke, I have several 1 lbs mono lines to compare. The Nanobraid in 2 lbs and 4 lbs is probably equivalent to 0.4-0.6 Japanese PE, depending on manufacturer. Any PowerPro product will also be much thicker and stronger than listed – more so than the Nanobraid.
Take a look at DUEL Armored F+ Pro 0.06 PE, Gosen Light Game 4 in 0.15 PE, XBraid Upgrade X4 in 0.2 PE. Varivas Light Game 0.15-0.2 PE and Sunline Small Game HG 0.15-0.2 PE will be a bit thicker in the same sizes. All are great and truly thin braided lines, the last three are easy to find. The first two are the thinnest, in my experience. Want to go high end? Varivas Avani Saltwater Finesse X8 in 0.2 PE, YGK Lonfort RealDtex in 0.3 PE, Sunline Egi Ult HS8 in 0.3. As far as nylon, fluorocarbon, ester – any JDM line will be true to its listed diameter and breaking strength.

P.S. Forgot to add Daiwa Gekkabijin Si2 in 0.15-0.2 PE – also great ultra thin braided line.

That's a lot of great info! What do you like about braid or have you not stuck with it?

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Originally Posted by s_v

I've used Suffix Nanobraid in 2 lbs and 3 lbs. It's a good line, but its breaking strength is much higher than listed and its diameter is much higher than listed. 1 lbs mono equivalent and 0.04-0.06 mm diameter – that's a joke, I have several 1 lbs mono lines to compare. The Nanobraid in 2 lbs and 4 lbs is probably equivalent to 0.4-0.6 Japanese PE, depending on manufacturer. Any PowerPro product will also be much thicker and stronger than listed – more so than the Nanobraid.
Take a look at DUEL Armored F+ Pro 0.06 PE, Gosen Light Game 4 in 0.15 PE, XBraid Upgrade X4 in 0.2 PE. Varivas Light Game 0.15-0.2 PE and Sunline Small Game HG 0.15-0.2 PE will be a bit thicker in the same sizes. All are great and truly thin braided lines, the last three are easy to find. The first two are the thinnest, in my experience. Want to go high end? Varivas Avani Saltwater Finesse X8 in 0.2 PE, YGK Lonfort RealDtex in 0.3 PE, Sunline Egi Ult HS8 in 0.3. As far as nylon, fluorocarbon, ester – any JDM line will be true to its listed diameter and breaking strength.

P.S. Forgot to add Daiwa Gekkabijin Si2 in 0.15-0.2 PE – also great ultra thin braided line.

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90% of my fishing is with braid, whether saltwater or freshwater. It is thin, strong, and has virtually no stretch. The first and the last qualities are most important to me – incredible control over lure presentation and bite detection. Braid does float and also behaves badly in windy conditions, especially the soft and supple kinds. For that reason I prefer hard PE, typically the four-strand types (often have "4" somewhere in the name). They are much noisier (they "sing" in the guides) than the eight-strand types (almost always have "8" somewhere in the name), but I don't really care about that and they are also typically cheaper and more abrasion resistant (longer lifetime). With that said, some eight-strand PE are hard and some four-strand PE are supple due to special treatments. One thing to remember is that expensive, high end eight-strand PE will most often have much shorter usable lifetime relative to more reasonably priced, often four-strand, types. Ergo, high end braid will be even more expensive in use than one would guess from the price tag.

My experience is limited to domestic braid. I have some 2lb nanobraid and fish some nasty cover, which speaks for its durability. If you really want to try tiny I have a couple of spools of 1lb Nanofil. I haven’t gotten that brave yet.

I have 2 lb Nanofil on one of my 5’6” ul rods and the Sufix nanobraid on the other 5’6” ul rod. Both cast and shoot well and the Sufix is plain tougher than the Nanofil. When the Nanofil gets short I won’t replace it but will change to something else. Nothing casts like it but it just isn’t tough enough for where I fish. Both are under $20 a spool and I use a 4lb clear leader on both for abrasion and retie.