Which Line?

[waddington]

Another vote for maxima here. I do use thin braid for my bass plug fishing. I find it handy to gain distance with light lures and the lack of stretch seems to help get a good hook hold in the bony mouth of the bass. Never tried braid with salmon or sea trout as I have always been concerned that the lack of stretch would tend to pull the hook out of soft mouthed fresh run fish. I would be interested to know whether anyone has actually found this to the case.
Best Wishes
Waddington

[al44]

Maxima is excellent, but I've used Berkley Trilene for several years and found it to be just as good.

[ibm59]

rennie said:

If you are going to try some of the new lower diameter monos. or such like keep to the same diameter as say 18lb Maxima and benefit from the greater breaking stain. Pedro

If you do the same with braid you shouldn't have any of the probs, ie bedding in , that you mentioned.
I use braid on a multiplier all the time when lure fishing for pike.
Nae bother at a'.
A nylon shock leader deals pretty well with athletic fish on a short line. As does a reasonably through actioned rod.

[buntinbee]

Alun1,
When braid had been out for a few years I decided to give it a go and tried several different brands over around a 3 year period. I found it to be less reliable than good monofilament lines such as maxima or trilene. I also found it to be a poor line for hooking fish when fishing the slower baits such as the devon minnow, in one three day period I hooked and lost or missed good takes from 17 salmon. My father hooked less fish, but landed every one while using mono. We were both fishing the same type of devon at around the same pace and depth. On reflection, I am fairly sure that the total lack of stretch or give in the braid was the main reason. The salmon would take the bait and turn to go back to its lie and the bait would either pull right out of its mouth or find a very insecure hold in the skin before the fish had fully turned.
I think if you were spinning the faster fished rapala or flying C on braid the results might be different as the fish is more likely to chase and engulf this type of bait.
The main advantage I found with braid was that you could get a better cast due to the lower diameter, however if you are going to be fishing the Annan, your casting distance is not likely to be an issue, so I would stick with a good monofilament as several people have suggested.
With regard to spinning reels, I fished exclusively with shimano for almost 20 years and found the reels precision instruments with beautifully smooth gearing and drag. The last two models that I have owned have not retained that smoothness for more than a couple of seasons though. Both of these reels were from the expensive end of the range. I also found Shimano’s after sales service absolutely crap. At one point I was told by the service manager that ‘Ah you see that is really a carp type of reel you have bought, it is only meant to be cast and retrieved a couple of times a day’ This was after complaining that the gearing had developed a bit of play after one season’s use.
I am currently using a Diawa reel from the upper end of their market, so I will have to wait and see how it measures up.
Things were a lot simpler when you had the Mitchel 300 or an Abu Cardinal to choose from!

[al44]

Which is exactly the reason why I use Mitchell 300 and Cardinal 77 reels.

[speycaster]

me to i had my mitchells reburbished by reel parts , sout hampton you can keep your shimano,s for who the standard has dropped alamingly

[ibm59]

buntinbee said:

A On reflection, I am fairly sure that the total lack of stretch or give in the braid was the main reason. The salmon would take the bait and turn to go back to its lie and the bait would either pull right out of its mouth or find a very insecure hold in the skin before the fish had fully turned.

Precisely the reason why you need a relatively through actioned rod when fishing with braid.
And a softish rod's far more enjoyable when playing a fish anyway.
For example. River Garnock , October 2000.
1st day. 11 fish moved , 9 hooked & 2 landed.
2nd day. 6 fish moved , 5 hooked & 4 landed.
Guess what action of rod I was using on the second day.
ps. 1 fish killed.

[buntinbee]

IBM,

What type of bait were you using?
By the way, the rod I was using during the period when I failed to land any salmon out of 17 takes was a fairly soft action - exactly the same rod as my father used to land all the fish which took his bait.

[ibm59]

buntinbee said:

IBM,

What type of bait were you using?
By the way, the rod I was using during the period when I failed to land any salmon out of 17 takes was a fairly soft action - exactly the same rod as my father used to land all the fish which took his bait.

Rapalas , Lanes Irish minnows and various sizes of Mepps .
All fished across and downstream with minimal retrieve.
I also use braid on the very rare occasions that I worm nowadays and have found it a revelation in bite detection.
But don't forget the 3/4 ' of normal nylon at the business end for spinning or worming.
Hey, maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones that find that braid suits their fishing style.
Horses for courses , mate.
Ps. I use a stradic 5000 and havn't encountered any probs and rod 2 was a 9' Gord Burton Hellraiser.

[BonhillAngler]

i use 14lb berkley iron silk and an abu ambassadeur 5000 multiplier, iron silk casts smoothly and ties great knots

[speycaster]

ive had probs with iron silk feels abrasive to me and kinks

[BonhillAngler]

i havent found that yet but i will be sure to watch for that happening, dnt wana be playing a fish of a lifetime n my line going lol