Best Braids & Leaders

[Maddez]

I am big fan of bass fishing at the moment however I'm having a lot of issues with my 6lb Fireline, mainly with casting. Furthermore, I've been taking the cheap option for leader and it keeps snapping. I was after a moderately detailed list of 5 quality braids and fluorocarbon leaders, preferably attainable in Australia. Either just state and comment on a line, or rank the lines in order of efficiency across all aspects. I've heard a lot of good things about Fins braid, but there are so many types on the market today, I'm not sure what to get. I'm looking at some pretty light gear, say 4-6lb braid with 8-10lb leader on a spin combo, chasing bass. All help would be much appreciated. Also, any comments on braid colours and where to buy lines for good prices would be great (:

Thanks.

[dassa]

I'm a big fan of FINS but have also started using sunline pe braidhave a smaller diamiter then fins,fireline and some of the cheaper briads but is great for casting lighter lures and plastics with light jig heads.Now leaders comes down to what you feel comfortable with me like like the black magic is suple but with a though out case.good luck thats my 2 cents worth

cheers dassa

[Dell]

Any of these braids in no particular order will do you well

Sunline pe egi (pink stuff)

sunline super pe (BEST VALUE FOR MONEY in my opinion)

sunline castaway

any of the toray stuff

varivas avani sea bass (highly reccomend this if you can find it!!!)

as for leaders i'm a big fan of the sunline V hard. I've also used yamatoyo harris fighter and sunline fc rock for great success.

[regulated]

Sunline always gets good reports for braid. I have Fins and Rovex on my large overheads and it seems nice. I have power pro on my plastics rod and I don't like it at all. It is getting a lot of wind knots which is very annoying.

I have tried black magic fluro and rovex/penn 10x leader. Both seem to be ok but I haven't noticed too much difference with catching more fish with fluro. The cheaper mono leader seems to be holding its own. Fluro may really work well in fresh water but, not sure. So far it you have the right bait or lure the line doesn't seem to matter.

[51MPL]

Im running Sunline Castaway and even though its 10lb its damn thin, i use it as an all-rounder for my bream/trev/flattie/river species fishing and hasn't let me down yet.

[J-DOG115]

hey mate

i use sunline super PE 6lb and have nothing bad to say about it, had it on my first reel and was great, when i up graded my reel i tried 4lb finns and ended up respooling it with the super PE as its much thinner and feels and casts nicer

as for leader i use sunline fc rock in both 4 and 8lb and use 10lb black magic both really good and nver let me down

cheers

joel

[Milan]

I use fins braid as well 4lb on my 1000 and and 6lb on my 2500 reel.. As far as leaders go I use berkley Vanish Flurocarbon in 6lb but haven't really experimented with other leaders as i'm pretty happy with it.

[Surfingant]

Don't give up on the Fireline just yet. Try the 4lb and under, it is much more usable.

[Maddez]

Thanks for your suggestions guys, it sounds like Sunline is the brand to try out. Where can I find a good selection of it in tackle stores? Anywhere you know of in Brisbane. Even better, Ipswich?

[fisherjack1394]

Fins braid is good stuff. landed me most of my fish over the years. and nif you really wanted to spend the money I would either get Berkley Trilene wich is a mono and you get 330 years of it for fairly cheap, really strog stuff. the other one is Black Magic Leaders tough trace, really good stuff and will not break easily

[buih87]

yeah, what this guy said:P

[jeff f]

maddez they have a pretty good range of good braids and fluro leaders at charltons tackle at redbank

go in and see the guys, explain your problem,they'll put you right, they know thier stuff

[Damien2Rad]

I use Sunline Castaway PE on my heartland 2000 in 10lb, Daiwa TD Sensor on my Certate 2000 in 6lb and Daiwa Tournament Accu Depth on my Heartland 4000 in 20lb.

Leader is almost exclusively Sunline Rock FC in 10,12,20 and 30. No real reason for that.

I've used Fireline in 10lb once and will never be using it again. It was there for one trip and replaced with Super PE.

[sunnydays]

Hey Mate!

I've found with braid that the line weight is confusing, so I started to use diameter, or PE rating to choose my braids. This way I can fill a spool without too much discrepency.

After all, I guess that you want a light (4-6lb) mainline for it's thin diameter, right?

Here is a list of PE ratings in relation to width in mm.

PE No..mm

0.6...0.128

0.8...0.148

1.0...0.165

1.2...0.185

1.5...0.205

1.7...0.218

2.0...0.235

2.5...0.260

3.0...0.285

3.5...0.310

4.0...0.330

5.0...0.370

6.0...0.405

7.0...0.435

8.0...0.470

10.0...0.520

12.0...0.570

14.0...0.620

16.0...0.660

18.0...0.700

20.0...0.740

22.0...0.780

24.0...0.810

28.0...0.870

Have a look around at what different braids of different weighting say there PE rating is. You might be surprised!

For instance, 4Lb fireline fused original is 0.13mm, approximately PE 0.7

6Lb Sunline super PE is PE 0.6, about 0.128mm

In just a quick look at these two braids you can see that Sunline super PE has an extra 2Lb or so of suggested braiking strain in the same diameter as Fireline fused.

But wait, this is going to blow your mind.... Toray Radius in PE 0.6 has a suggested braiking strain of 10Lb!

Does this make it a better braid?

Can you trust the Lb ratings of each brand?

I don't know! maybve someone else can shed light on this dillema!

Anyway, to answer your question, here are some braids and leaders for "some pretty light gear" that I've found worth the money. Most can be bought online at Motackle, Ray&Annes, or Tacklewarehouse.

Braid under PE 0.8:

Sunline Super PE 6-8 pound - value for money -$30

Toray Radius 10Lb - this is a favourite and has couloured depth meters. also comes in 200m spool! ~$65

Toray Saltine Light fish 4Lb - Super thin braid! PE 0.3 $50 - good for 1000 size reels i reckon

Sunline Rockfish 6-10lb - another super thin braid, only 120m spool and costs $80, but it's awseome!

A few i haven't tried but would like to are, Sunline castaway, Line systems frog PE, and Bass hard.

Leaders: I have not experimented with many leaders...

Sunline FC rock is pretty good and value for mooney

Toray forget what it's called

and Uniteka

Hope this helps!

Justin

[Shane69]

Try using berkly nano fill. I got 6lb on my 2500 td sol. I love it. Great for casting and its pretty strong. Pick up most my fish on it.

Takes a while to get used to it though

[Maddez]

Thanks guys, I think I'll buy some 6lb Sunline Super PE for my sedona 2500 for bass. Eventually when I get a new 1-3kg bream rod I'll try something different, not sure yet. There are certainly plenty of options.

Thanks for that info Sunnydays, ill keep an eye out for it.

[Baptism]

I use nanofil for my spinning gear, casts a mile

for casting I'd suggest using fireline exceed its got a good balance for casting

[51MPL]

I'm pretty sure castaway is PE #6 and 10lb

[Dell]

I'm pretty sure castaway is PE #6 and 10lb

The braid is also IGFA rated so it does break at 10lbs and not over. So you can claim records on this line. Alot of braids are not IGFA rated and break well above the breaking strain stated on the spool.

[Plugbar]

There is a good website by paulus who tests braids ,mono ,fluro ,leader. He lists on his website there actual breaking strains , diameters etc and is a very good site with lots of info on line.

[Cheyne_jones]

I only use Unitika light jigging for anything up to 14lb, then I go up to the power jigging for heavier stuff. It is the best line I have used and wont touch anything else now simply because I know what I am getting when I spool up with it, nothing worse than having a shiny new reel spooled with something that throws knots or has bad knot strength, can ruin a day real fast.

As far as leaders go, for me I just use 8lb shogun ice blue for pretty much everything. Its a mono which is great for surface and I do trow alot of surface. Its cheap as chips and works fine for all sub surface applications aswell IMO.

[pancakes_and_haggis]

Try using berkly nano fill. I got 6lb on my 2500 td sol. I love it. Great for casting and its pretty strong. Pick up most my fish on it.

Takes a while to get used to it though

hey, each to their own and im sure that shanes picked up real decent fish on nano fill but personally, ive just finished pulling a whole spool of that shit off, its currently sat in a heap on the garage floor collecting saliva everytime i decide to walk past it and flob at it, constant reel knots, cast knots, its real hard, its got memory like a piece of wire! hummm, each to their own!

[Jords]

Try using berkly nano fill. I got 6lb on my 2500 td sol. I love it. Great for casting and its pretty strong. Pick up most my fish on it.

Takes a while to get used to it though

hey, each to their own and im sure that shanes picked up real decent fish on nano fill but personally, ive just finished pulling a whole spool of that stuff off, its currently sat in a heap on the garage floor collecting saliva everytime i decide to walk past it and flob at it, constant reel knots, cast knots, its real hard, its got memory like a piece of wire! hummm, each to their own!

I thought this too (didn't have wind knot problems though) but found it very stiff, waxy and wiry. After half a dozen sessions though found it had softened right up. maybe take the treble off a slug, go down to the park and pelt it around for half an hour to loosen up the line?

[Perky]

An upgrade to your line will do you wonders mate. Get a "true" braided line and you won't be disappointed, they are smoother, softer, rounder and last a heap longer then fused lines.

I have had my braid on my rod for almost 2 years and it looks as good as the day i bought it, no fade, wind knots, stiffness and casts like a dream...aside from the occasional guide wrap (mostly my error) i can't fault it.

As long as you stick with a company that specialises in making lines you will probably find something decent. Brands like Sunline, Yamatoyo and Toray are a good place to start but there are plenty out there. Same goes for leaders.

[blairv]

Big fan of Power pro braid and Blck Magic Leader.

I brought a heap of Power Pro in the US and it has never done me wrong.

Black Magic is great for a leader - very tough and reasonably priced.

[Maddez]

Whats the web address? Thankss.

There is a good website by paulus who tests braids ,mono ,fluro ,leader. He lists on his website there actual breaking strains , diameters etc and is a very good site with lots of info on line.

[ryanyoung]

This is a fantastic topic, and Sunnydays, that is some top shelf info there. Firstly, I reckon it all depends on where you are fishing for the bass. I used to fish 4lb for them, with not too many dramas, however now I am fishing heavier structure, so have upped to 15lb, and sometimes this isn't enough. Just a thought.

As for braided lines, I have two that I usually go for, being Powerpro and Spiderwire. I have never had wind knots or dramas with either, and they last a fair while. As for leader, I generally go for Rock or Black magic.

Ryan.

[Damien2Rad]

I've been using Daiwa TD Sensor 6lb. I love it, it does everything right... except minor wind knots. Castaway in something under 10 would treat if they made it.

Also have Fins on my overheads. Seems fine so far. I bought it in 1200yd spools, pretty good value.

[RUSSIAN]

I find that Fins braid and Power Pro are great quality stuff! Especially off ebay as your getting quality for less. As for fluro leader, FC Rock and Berkely Sensai is alright I find. All fisher men have their opinions though....

Good luck anyway :cheer:

Anthony