Originally Posted by
wicklundrh
My all time favorite kind of braided line is ANY braid that is spooled on someone else's rod!
I hear all the great things about giving better feel, less line stretch, blah blah blah.... Yet, the issues that I see with it (in the walleye jigging community) is that far too many people are utilizing the incorrect rod with it. They use rods that are like tent poles. There is no give. They set the hook, there is no give or stretch in the line, and the end result is a hook set that rips directly out of the fish. Couple that with a stiff rod, fighting a fish doesn't allow for the rod to do any of the work. Reels need to have a lighter drag setting to offset the lack of stretch in the line and forgiveness of the rods.
There are rods that are built (high end and otherwise) where braid is NOT recommended. Mostly because the eye inserts will not handle the braid. It WILL cut through the insert. Most cheap rods however will handle it better simply because the eyelets used do NOT have fabric or polymer type inserts. They instead utilize cheap inserts in metal format (as previously pictured in this thread) or no insert at all (commonly referred to as Boat rod eyelets). The biggest issue I have seen is the user not correctly matching line with the rod and the utilization of the rod and combination as intended. In other words, they expect an "ATV" type of rod that you could potentially get out of the same rod spooled with mono simply because of the stretch of the line.
When I build a rod, the first question I ask the customer is what is the rod intended for. The second question I ask is what they intend to spool on the reel. I make my blank selection based on those two characteristics.
For trolling, I no longer utilize braid (unless I am running heavy, deep diving, salmon dipsy divers). The reason for this is simple. Most release aids used on planer boards do not hold up well with braid. The braid tends to slip through it resulting in the need to put several twists in the line in order to increase the surface area on the pads. As a result of the twist, you get line wear when you recreate the same set back over and over. Eventually, you go to pull the release and the line breaks. You do not get that with mono. Another issue is that braid will saw off the plastic stop pins inside of a planer board release. They will also saw through the pads in short order.
I understand however that for your situation, dealing with the pesky Gar, you are looking for an alternative and I would say that you are on the right track however... IF you intend to utilize a mono or floro leader between your braid and your terminal end, it really isn't going to help you much.
For what it is worth, trolling in Saginaw bay and lake Michigan, we deal with Pike, walleye, channel cats, and the occasional GAR. In most instances, the line is unharmed. For terminal line for walleye, I utilize Berkley XP 10lb. When running harnesses, it is always done with 20lb floro Seagar Red Label. For salmon, early spring gets 20lb Ande line. Towards summer and fall when the fish are pushing 30lbs, we switch up to 30lb Ande line.
I think Jackie is on the right track by the way with NanoFil.
