Braid, Baitcasters, And Snapping Line On the Cast

[iceintheveins]

I like throwing my hard jerkbaits on braid because it's so responsive. However I was using only 6 pound diameter braid, against my better judgment, and broke off several megabass vision 110s due to line digging in and the shock of the mid cast stop breaking off my jerkbaits, which as you know is expensive. So I switched to fluorocarbon.

 

My question is, can I safely throw jerkbaits on a baitcaster with braid that has 10 to 12 pound test diameter with less fear of digging in and losing my expensive jerkbaits? Or should I stick to fluoro to be safe?

[r83srock]

I was just thinking about this. I had random break offs with 30lb power pro for years. Mostly dig in and a hard cast. I switched to 40lb and I don’t get near the dig ins or breaks, and it’s not much thicker. Have you considered a spinning reel with light braid?

[NHBull]

I throw JB’ with braid on a BC with 30#, very light drag 

.....in rocky areas, I add a leader for abrasion.
and a Ronin spinning rod with 10# braid to leader

[Dens228]

I've thrown jerkbaits on a baitcaster with 30 pound PP and Sufix for years.  No issues at all.  No line dig. 

[MickD]

There is a problem I've encountered with braid that I've not seen discussed before, and it varies with the brand.  At times it seems that the braid get wet and heavy so that it sort of "throws itself" off the spool on an aggressive cast and hits the frame of the reel (the cross bars).  When this happens it stops instantly and usually causes a minor back lash.  The cure for me has been to cast less aggressively.  

 

I never use anything lighter than 40# braid on a BC now, used to use 30 but found the heavier stuff casts better and is not fragile.  I see no reason to use braid below about 30, and think it's pretty predictable that braid in the area of 20 or less would fail if the scenario above occurred.

 

Oops, just noticed the post said "diameter" after the pound test meaning the breaking strength was in some cases in the 30 pound test range or higher.  I wouldn't expect this to break in the scenario above, but maybe you are a more aggressive caster than I.  I would try backing off a little on the technique to get a more progressive loading of the rod.  Might help.

[Bankc]

Something's not right.  First, what kind of braid are you using?  I find that the 8 strand varieties don't dig in as much as the 4 strand.  Secondly, are you fishing around lots of hard surfaces?  Are you sure the line isn't getting nicked?  Third, where are they snapping?  Is it as the knot?  Or it is in the just near the bottom?  It its several feet away from the lure?

 

30lb braid should require about 30lbs of force to snap.  If you're experiencing 30lbs of sudden force, enough to snap the line like in the scenario you're describing, you'd likely damage your rod before the line broke.  Imagine trying to set the hook on a 30lb weight in your garage.  So I'm thinking there's something else going on that's weakening the line so that it can break below it's rating.  Obviously, if it's getting nicked on jagged surfaces, then switching to fluoro would be a good idea.  At least a long fluoro leader, anyway.   If it's the knot coming undone, then try a different knot.  Braid can be picky about which knots to use, and how to tie them.

 

I've snapped a few lures off during the cast.  I've even snapped a rod on a cast.  None of them were caused by the line being dug into the spool.  With the lures, it was always the line being nicked or the knot coming undone.  With the rod, it was a bad rod from the factory.  It broke the first time I really tried to bomb a cast.  I'm not saying that the line being dug into the spool can't cause a snap.  It sure can!  I'm just saying that ordinarily, it shouldn't cause a line to snap, as I've had numerous (way more than I should) times where the line was dug into the spool and I got a nasty backlash while trying to bomb a cast, and it's never resulted in losing a lure.  Sure it's possible.  But it's not the norm.  It shouldn't happen repeatedly.  

[Alex from GA]

IMO line breaking during a cast is caused by repeatedly casting and not retying, especially heavy lures.

[iceintheveins]

I never have this happen with spinning gear, and I throw my light jerkbaits on 15 pound power pro. It's only when I started using 20 pound power pro on a baitcaster and have had problems with it digging in. It doesn't break at any knot, usually the fluorocarbon leader( which I always check for abrasion) or the braid itself. So since I use even lighter braid with zero issues on spinning gear, I know it has to be the line digging in, because that's what's happening as I get a very sudden stop and backlash.