What braid do you use?

[Mike Delisser]

All braids have their strengths and weaknesses weather it be price, durability, thickness ect. For the type of fishing I do I've found that Platypus Platinum is the best overall for me. And it's a Qld owned company.

[Tangles]

Ive found the Platypus braid great as well Mike. Also using that Bionic braid as well whichi think Pltypus make… recently tried Schneider braid which has been very good on the 80lb gear.

[GM-Bluewater]

Sunline all the way!! Super PE on the lighter stuff and Sunline Monster Battle in the 80lbs.

[Dignity]

I have used whiplash which is great for diameter thinness although hard to find these days, daiwa tournament braid, the 85lb I have on the 15kg rig is silky smooth and as thin as 40lb braid. I currently am trying powerpro as it is nice and thin and seems to be good at casting particularly wih 1/2 once jig heads. I did buy some 30lb bionic recently (yes it is platypus) but returned it as it was thicker than my 50 lb whiplash and very limp, tangled every second cast with light jig heads. I understand in discussions with Platypus that the bionic 30lb has a breaking strain of 42 lb , they were kind enough to refund me my money on return of the goods. I haven't had any problems with knots but found that care does need to be taken using them, if I tie them at home I will dab some superglue on the knots and have not found this to effect the strength, offshore I just add a few more turns. I have recently been a convert to th FG knot which is a little awkward to tie at first but works wonderfully well especially during a cast when it needs to go through the runners/tip.

I even used the Mojika brand but found it rather thick for its strength, braid keeps changing all the time and there are some real crappy ones out there as well.

[theoldlegend]

For whiting bream and flathead, I use the cheapest crap I can get when you're talking about 8lb stuff, but I guess the heavier stuff needs a bit of research, such as, is it 8 strand or 4 strand?

I still believe a lot of this "name" brand braid is terribly overpriced as it could be made in the same factory and then marketed under different name brands when it's coming off the same spool.

Many years ago, we'd conduct audits of the old cannery at Northgate when it was known as the COD of fruit marketing or something or other, and we'd see different labels used on different occasions. One day it might have been labelled as Golden Circle, the next day it was Edgell and so on. Same stuff, but different labels.

I reckon this braid is the same.

TOL

[Prowl n Wolf]

For the past 18 months or so I have been using YGK CASTMAN/JIGGING braid on outfits for 30 pound and over. Very smooth and supple. Trusty old fins for the lighter gear.
Cheers,
Tony.

[CATchin'Em]

Ahhh the old braid. Platypus is the only australian manufacturer of braid. There is a limited number of factories that make braided lines. There is a website I have posted before but I can't remember off the top of my head with lots of great info and braid tests. I have my braid made for me to a specification straight from the manufacturer. But I will be giving the new platypus braid a go next as it seems reasonable. As long as it is 8 strand and a quality spectra fibre I have never had a problem with it. That being said most cheap braids are 4 strand and poor quality fibre and I find those extremely lacking. Ihave never had any braid break below said breaking strain, actually quite the opposite they all seem to be at least double. I have had huge problems with fluorocarbon leaders and sunline is the only one I trust. But I use schneider Klear line as leader cause it is awesome as I can't afford sunline.

[Dignity]

Paulus is the site where you can get the info on braid

[bushwacker]

30 and 50lb Fins and Bionic are my weapons of choice, but if your not worried about diameter but want awesome abrasion resistance 30lb gold fireline is the toughest shit available in my opinion.

[mitc69]

30lb all the way =D for inshore, 100lb+ a must for off shore

dont know about u guys but i find braid bad for trolling.....

[evobda2]

Heres my current setups with braid:

- 1-3kg (bream etc) i have Sunline Rockfish 8lb.. very very thin. Nice bright orange. Previously had 6lb Nitlon pe which was very good too. Probably liked it a touch better than the rockfish.
- 2-4kg (bream, flatties etc) had 8lb Nitlon Pe but currently nothing on that reel at present..
- 4-7kg (snapper etc) think it is that Zulu 15 or 20lb braid. Cheap braid and not as nice as the jap braids but to be honest it does the job and haven't had any problems whatsoever.
- 5-10kg (barra etc) i have it spooled with the Daiwa boat braid 40lb from my bulk buy. Mainly used for Barra etc so use for a bit more abrasion resistance.
- 7-12kg (casting small kings, tuna, mack) i have Daiwa accudepth 40lb. Note the breaking strain is just over 30lb so i treat it as such. Very thin round braid casts a mile.
- 15-24kg (jig/troll/cast) i have a bulk buy of Daiwa boat braid 40lb (breaks at 46lb). 1800m cost me $220au shipped from the states. Seems an honest reasonably thin good quality braid @ $37 per 300m is a bargain!

Fluro Leaders i have Nitlon up to 10lb, and then Yozuri up to 80lb.

For me the whole way the industry markets braid is a shambles. Saying a braid is 30lb which then actually breaks at 50lb but is as thick as a tree trunk isn't very indicative of the product. Just call it 50lb and list the diameter!

It should be based on true breaking strain (with small production variations taken into account of course) vs diameter. Then its up to you to take into account the other factors whether you choose thin line which helps with casting or deep sea etc or thicker for abrasion resistance, smoothness etc etc then obviously ow much will fit on your reel. Andthen adjust your reels drag to suit.

[Floating Rib]

Not being a fanatic about Diameters and also not happy to pay the dollars asked here for braid i use a lot of Cabelas own brand from the states(ripcord its called), its a little thicker but has nice feel for a bite and has never let me down with unexplained breaks or knots letting go, ive used spiderwire in lower strains for Barra and had no problems, recently spooled up some Suffix Ghost in 6lb for flicking lures for flatties it wind knots all the time and im about to trash it, will be checking the recomendations above for a replacement.

[odes20]

Power pro super slick 8 is my choice in the 10 - 50 lb range , smooth, casts beautifully and seems to retain consistant strength. I use 20 lb on all barra gear, and it a treat.
Above 50 i use daiwa Samurai , incredibly smooth, but doesnt like wind and overruns are hard to sort, but i guess a lot are like that

[quobbarockhopper]

xp tufline is super cheap on ebay... shimreels sells it on there for literally 1/3rd of retail over here