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I dont know if this topic has been covered before as i have not been following ausfish for a while.
A mate from the bush recently asked for some advice on a couple of beach rods to suit a 7" Alvey. I gave him my opinion, being a Gary Howard greenback, or a Magraphite.
Then he said he was planning on spooling them with braid.
Do any of you beach / rock gurus run braid on your alveys.
If so what do you use, and what are any pros ,cons?
Biggest drawback is the braid running over your finger when feeding line on, and holding braid to cast, might end up being called stumpy I think!
My thoughts as well Noel, but my mate seems pretty sure there is no problem.
If anyone is using braid on an alvey i would be interested in how it performs , particularly when bringing in a fish.
Noooooo! Not good for your finger, and quite an expensive way to fill a 7" Alvey IMO
Just thinking, Alvey's being known for line twist, I can see a big drama with a "twisty" tangle with braid, from experience, it's near impossible to untangle braid unless it's just a single small knot type of thing! but, I could be wrong.....
Peter and Tony Robinson used to fish Bass and Bream comps with Alveys running braid. Charltons in Ipswich should be able to give a contact for Tony.
I have run a short topshot of braid on a 6 inch for whiting fishing as an experiment. It is doable but as mentioned you need to be extremely mindful of braid under load cutting your fingers. I deliberately ran a heavier line class in an attempt to prevent this. He might get away with it if his rod has an open runner but realistically mono is the best option for the castable alvey reels.
I did it on a bream sized alvey reel when I first got my kayak, had this idea it would be good because then it wouldn't matter if I got it wet.
The slow retrieve rate drove me nuts, and you would not believe the wind knots, not my finest idea.
It's still sitting in the shed somewhere.......
I tried it fairly early on in the introduction of braid here. Put 30lb spiderwire on a 650. Had maybe 6 casts before switching rods and removing it once I got home. It didnt cut, probably becasue I had no hookups, it burned as it ran over my finger. Even with the open runner you still have pressure on your finger and it was friction burning my finger and leaving some of the dye there also.
I'm not going to list goods and bads simply because the more I have seen of it the more I think braid could become very dangerous in the surf on an Alvey. Especially when mono is cheaper and will do the job well.
Thanks for those response guys , i had a feeling it was not a good idea.
I hope my mate has a read ,,,.
I dont think i convinced him when i afvised against it.
Been using 6kg strength braid on my Alvey 6500BCVRR reel, attached to my surf rod, now for over 5 years. I'm right handed and I tape some fingers of my left hand with "elastoplast' tape or similar when using this reel. Braid on an Alvey will definitely cut your fingers if you're on a good fish or when just guiding line back onto the reel so the protection is essential. But, I find with the braid I can cast further and easier than when using the mono and the you get great 'feel' for bites and very importantly, particularly in rough water, you can tell straight away when the bait has been lost. Also, I cannot recall any birds-nests occurring when casting with it. It does take some getting used to but I cannot see myself going back to mono for this type of fishing.
You can get fly fishing finger gloves to use as well. I stiched on a small bit of leather and it works a treat.
Been using braid on my alvey for 8 years now without any issues.