What is the attraction to low test braid?

[Further North]

Another topic I saw here this AM got me thinking: Having tried low test braid (Let's call it anything under 30# for the sake of discussion) and not liking it much, I am wondering what it is people use it for, and why.

 

I don't want to poison the well with why I don't care for it, I'm more interested in the positive reasons for using braid under 30#.

 

I figure maybe I'm missing something?

[Drew03cmc]

I love 20# braid on my casting reels and 15# on my spinning gear. It handles amazing.

[Further North]

Thanks Andy...by "handles amazing", what does it do that 30# doesn't do?

[Drew03cmc]

Well, when I use heavier braid, I don't like the feeling that I could be overloading my M and MH casting rods that I use on the creeks. 

[Further North]

Overloading in terms of using a lure/bait that's too heavy, or having a line on that has the potential to snap the rod if you hook the bottom (or a huge fish)?

[NHBull]

My first experience with braid was 10 lb on a spinning rod and loved it.

I then tried 10 answer 20 on a casting set up.

Was then given a 30 lb to use and it felt like rope and I sacrificed casting distance.

Truth be told, I seldom am in the weeds and mostly on flats and droppoffs.

 

Last Fall I went for strippers and was bringing in 35 inch strippers on 10 lb Braid had great luck.

 

I believe the biggest bass on my lake this year was just over 6 lbs.

 

I have Never had an issue with it digging in......so simply stated, it is my comfort zone and I can always bump it up if needed.

 

Side note, I have yet to use FC leader bigger than 15, and often times tie directly.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

[Further North]

1 minute ago, NHBull said:

Hope this helps

It does, thanks.

[A-Jay]

For revolving spool tackle, 30lb braid is the low end line for me as well. 

Except for a very few sort of specialize presentations, any benefit of using casting gear with less can be improved upon by going with an even smaller diameter braid and utilizing spinning tackle.  

 

Additionally, as the design & technology improves, we are seeing new braids now that test out even higher and are somewhat thinner than what we may be accustomed to at say, the 30lb standard. 

 

So this may change things again to where 30lb may not be the line in the sand much longer.

 

A-Jay

[HookRz]

Even low test braid is amazingly strong, and the thin diameter cuts through the water better for Finesse presentations. Try fishing a light hair jig Ned, 1/16 oz tube deep or in current with 20# braid and you'll have a have a five foot bow  in your line. Less affected by wind too. I often use 6# braid with a 10-12# leader. The leader always breaks befor the braid. The only braid I run is 6-10# for Finesse, and 50-65# for Bubba fishing. 

[Darren.]

I could flip the table and ask why use 30# and up? 

 

Of course there are reasons, and techniques like flipping

in thick cover, etc. But like @NHBull, those aren't things

I do much, if any of. I've never seen the need for 60-80#

line, but plenty use 'em. In the end we use what we feel

comfortable/confident with.

 

10 and 15# braid are my staples on spinning gear, and 20

is on my casting gear (and always with a leader) For one,

line management is better on spinning, for which I use 1000

size reels. I can fit more on them than if I used 30. And yes,

I've used 30 and 40# braid in years past, just prefer thinner

lines....

 

As for 20 on casting, yes, it is light, and there can be issues

with dig-in, but in my use, I'm keenly aware of that fact

and always take off line if I've fought a big bass, or pulled

in a log. I'm truly amazed at how strong 10, 15, and 20#

braid is. Stronger than we think, I'd wager.

[Lost..]

1 hour ago, NHBull said:

My first experience with braid was 10 lb on a spinning rod and loved it.

I then tried 10 answer 20 on a casting set up.

Was then given a 30 lb to use and it felt like rope and I sacrificed casting distance.

Truth be told, I seldom am in the weeds and mostly on flats and droppoffs.

 

Last Fall I went for strippers and was bringing in 35 inch strippers on 10 lb Braid had great luck.

 

I believe the biggest bass on my lake this year was just over 6 lbs.

 

I have Never had an issue with it digging in......so simply stated, it is my comfort zone and I can always bump it up if needed.

 

Side note, I have yet to use FC leader bigger than 15, and often times tie directly.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

What were you using for bait? Dollar bills? 

[Further North]

1 hour ago, Darren. said:

I could flip the table and ask why use 30# and up? 

That'd be a great question for another topic

 

I've got a bunch of reasons, but I'm more interested in learning why folks use lighter braid in case I need to adjust some tactics. 

 

Your info was good, thanks!

3 minutes ago, djektd said:

 

What were you using for bait? Dollar bills? 

...probably on sinning tackle...

[Scott F]

Except for musky fishing, I never use anything higher than 20lb on my baitcaster and nothing more than 10 on spinning gear. 

For spinning tackle, 10lb casts my light lures much better, and when I get snagged, I can break if off. Just yesterday, my boat partner got a snag, upstream on the river with 20lb line and couldn't break it off. 

On casting gear, I never used anything stronger than 17lb mono. When I switched to braided line I went with 20lb and never saw any need to go higher. I've never had the line dig in and didn't know that was a problem for anyone until I read about it here. I don't "punch" or fish heavy cover being mostly a Smallmouth guy. I never understood why people would go heavier to match the line diameter of mono and lose one of braids best properties of being thin for its break strength.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

What's the attraction to any particular line? The appropriate blend of manageability, strength, abrasion resistance, visibility and bait presentation for current conditions. All in the eyes of the user of course. 

[Drew03cmc]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

Overloading in terms of using a lure/bait that's too heavy, or having a line on that has the potential to snap the rod if you hook the bottom (or a huge fish)?

Umm, honestly, I could use 30/8 PP, but with swim jigs and lipless baits, I prefer the smaller diameter for casting. I don't like using the heavier lines. I will on a MH, but prefer my 20/6 big time. I have some casting reels with smaller capacities and I love that I can fit half a pony spool of PP 20/6 on them. I also prefer leaders of 8 or 10 YZH on bc and 6 YZH on spinning. 

[Further North]

OK...great stuff, thank you!

 

...some questions:

 

1. Does 10# braid (same brand) really cast further than 30# braid?
   1. This might be a subset of, "How far do we really need to cast?"*
2. Do we really need more line on the spool...or does more unused line just get trashed when we replace it?
3. Does "digging in" still happen with the newer, rounder braid?
4. What is the benefit to being able to break off lighter line?**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I catch a lot of fish (largemouth, smallies, pike and musky) on fly gear where 70 ft. is a long cast.

**I'd rather get the lure back.

[Team9nine]

Won't use braid for baitcasting outside of frogging, but for spinning, I use 3#, 5# and 8# braid almost exclusively. The reason is simple. If you believe that lighter diameter line gives your bait better action, along with the other benefits that come with decreased diameter (drag, visibility, etc.), why would you negate those benefits by using any larger size line than necessary? 

[rippin-lips]

2 hours ago, Darren. said:

 I'm truly amazed at how strong 10, 15, and 20#

braid is. Stronger than we think, I'd wager.

I got snagged on the river kayak fishing. I was using #10 braid and a 3/32 ned rig. I wrapped it around my hand assuming that it would either break or the hook would bend/break. I ended up in the water haha. 

[Scott F]

51 minutes ago, Further North said:

OK...great stuff, thank you!

 

...some questions:

 

1. Does 10# braid (same brand) really cast further than 30# braid?
   1. This might be a subset of, "How far do we really need to cast?"*
2. Do we really need more line on the spool...or does more unused line just get trashed when we replace it?
3. Does "digging in" still happen with the newer, rounder braid?
4. What is the benefit to being able to break off lighter line?**

 

*I catch a lot of fish (largemouth, smallies, pike and musky) on fly gear where 70 ft. is a long cast.

**I'd rather get the lure back.

10lb braid casts my lures much farther. 8lb casts farther than 10. For my style of fishing, long casts are important. For your style, maybe not so much. 

If I put more line on the spool, as it wears down, I can take it off and reverse it. 

I do like getting lures back but there are times when it's more dangerous or just not possible to pull the hooks out. 

I know I do not fish the same way as many members here do so what works for me may not apply to the way you fish. 

[IndianaFinesse]

Two big reasons, longer casts and better control of the bait (which means better action and depth control). 

[badgerboyng]

I use 10lb white braid on my spinning gear because it gives me greater sensitivity, allows me to cast further, reduces line twist greatly on spinning gear (bye bye wind knots!), and because the thin white braid floats enough for me to see when the line twitches (very important for most finesse techniques) but not thick enough to where it's floating so much that there's a huge bow in the line. As for breaking the line on a bad snag, I'd rather lose the lure than break a rod from trying to free a snag with stronger line or dealing with cut up hands from stronger braid digging into me while freeing a snag. Sure you can bend out hooks with stronger line, but with finesse fishing, I'm not usually losing anything expensive... Maybe a tube jig or senko. Not the end of the world. And as others have said already, don't underestimate the strength of 10lb braid, it can easily bring in the fish of a lifetime in open water. 

[NHBull]

7 hours ago, djektd said:

 

What were you using for bait? Dollar bills? 

Everything up to 2 ounces and yes, on baitcasters.

Spinning gear 10 lb

Caster with CB. 10 lb

Caster with everything else 20 lb.....including 2 ounce surface and swimmers

 

Edit...those concerned about digging in should consider smackdown..

[Further North]

39 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Edit...those concerned about digging in should consider smackdown..

Agree.

 

I also have very little, if any issues with Sufix 832.

[LxVE Bassin]

2 hours ago, NHBull said:

Edit...those concerned about digging in should consider smackdown..

 

That stuff is way too high! 

[Further North]

12 minutes ago, LxVE Bassin said:

 

That stuff is way too high! 

You mean too expensive?

 

It is what it is, and like most things...you get what you pay for.