Berkley Big Game Braid

[GTN-NY]

I haven’t heard anyone take about Berkley Big Game Braided line yet. I found 20 and 30lb at Walmart today. 
Is it any good? Any comments about it?

[GaryH]

Can't help ya there. I've never tried, curious to see what people think. I use Suffix 832

[NYWayfarer]

I see BG braid on Walmart and Amazon but not on Berkley’s website. Is it new? I would give it a try.

 

The Big Game mono belongs in the fishing hall of fame.

[GTN-NY]

Big Game mono is my favorite line for 12lb up to 20lb. 
So I bought a spool for my first braid to try. 
$16 for 330yrds

[FishTank]

It looks like the old Berkley Pro Braid just rebranded as Big Game.  Weird. 

 

If memory serves me right, I tried the Pro Braid about 10 years ago and didn't care for it much and it didn't last very long.  It seemed like a cheaper version of Fireline.  

[jbrew73]

Hall of fame for cheap mediocre line.  Lol. 

[GTN-NY]

1 hour ago, jbrew73 said:

Hall of fame for cheap mediocre line.  Lol. 

Figures. Oh well I’ll play with it for now

[redmeansdistortion]

14 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

 

The Big Game mono belongs in the fishing hall of fame.

I use that stuff for salmon and steelhead, never once let me down.  It's super stretchy, but that's fine when you have a torpedo at the end of the line.

[GTN-NY]

Ok how do you keep braid on a spinning reel tight?

10 casts and it’s all loose and coming off in a ball. 

[roadwarrior]

Some brands are stiff.  Are you using 10 lb test?

Another idea: Remove the spool with the line spooled and soak it for a

few minutes in warm water.

[GTN-NY]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Some brands are stiff.  Are you using 10 lb test?

Another idea: Remove the spool with the line spooled and soak it for a

few minutes in warm water.

It’s the line pictured above. 20lb with avg diameter of .010. Is that to heavy for spinning?

[jimmyjoe]

1 minute ago, GTN said:

It’s the line pictured above. 20lb with avg diameter of .010. Is that to heavy for spinning?

 

   1) It depends what size spinning reel spool you're talking about. If I were to use .010" braid, I'd want a spool diameter of at least 50mm. And let me be specific here; that's an absolute minimum of 50mm. In other words, 55mm doesn't hurt. As I said, that's my opinion.

   2) It also depends on your casting distance. Some boatmen are satisfied with 50 feet. I'm a shorecaster. I want as great a distance as I can possibly get.

   One other thing: are you using a lure with an intermittent retrieve? If so, you'll have problems with both monofilament and braid, but less with mono and more with braid. The lay of braid (and the twist of braid) on spinning reels is much better with a steady retrieve.

   Good luck!         jj

 

  

[GTN-NY]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   1) It depends what size spinning reel spool you're talking about. If I were to use .010" braid, I'd want a spool diameter of at least 50mm. And let me be specific here; that's an absolute minimum of 50mm. In other words, 55mm doesn't hurt. As I said, that's my opinion.

   2) It also depends on your casting distance. Some boatmen are satisfied with 50 feet. I'm a shorecaster. I want as great a distance as I can possibly get.

   One other thing: are you using a lure with an intermittent retrieve? If so, you'll have problems with both monofilament and braid, but less with mono and more with braid. The lay of braid (and the twist of braid) on spinning reels is much better with a steady retrieve.

   Good luck!         jj

 

  

I don’t know the mm of the spool but it is a Shimano 4000 series. 
I was using a dropshot 

[roadwarrior]

4000 is BIG!  The line diameter is fine so fishing a drop shot should be no problem.

Try soaking the line and we'll see if that resolves the issue. One more question: Did

you use enough backing to fill the spool?

 

[GTN-NY]

14 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

4000 is BIG!  The line diameter is fine so fishing a drop shot should be no problem.

Try soaking the line and we'll see if that resolves the issue. One more question: Did

you use enough backing to fill the spool?

 

I used mono then enough braid to make three to four long casts

[roadwarrior]

Sounds like you did everything right.  Maybe someone else will have a suggestion.

[jbrew73]

Use it and it will break in. 

[jimmyjoe]

2 hours ago, GTN said:

I don’t know the mm of the spool but it is a Shimano 4000 series. 

 

   That should be about perfect for 10 mil line.

 

2 hours ago, GTN said:

I was using a dropshot 

 

   That may have something to do with it. Very little line tension on the retrieve. Not sure.

   Like @roadwarrior said, it sounds like you did everything right. Lots of fishermen on here use braid for dropshot, although maybe not 10 mil thickness. The greater diameter might change the characteristics enough compared to what other people are using that you're getting weird results.

   Try another braid (lower diameter) and see what happens. If the other braid is a lot better, then you know that it's the thickness.

   If not, then I have no idea.     ???    jj

  

[Boomstick]

If it's as good of a value as Big Game mono, this stuff should be pretty good! 

[GTN-NY]

So I solved the problem of loose line. 
It was putting to much line to the front of the spool. I put a couple washers behind the spool and it leveled out the line and it seems tighter now

[jimmyjoe]

  

3 hours ago, GTN said:

So I solved the problem of loose line. 
It was putting to much line to the front of the spool. I put a couple washers behind the spool and it leveled out the line and it seems tighter now

 

    Q: "Where was it, Jim?"

    A:  "It was right there in front of my face, and I didn't even see it."

 

   ?????        jj

[crypt]

just bought a spool myself Sunday.haven't had a chance to try it yet. gonna flip and pitch this weekend with it.let ya know how it does.

[mrpao]

On 11/7/2020 at 7:48 PM, FishTank said:

It looks like the old Berkley Pro Braid just rebranded as Big Game.  Weird. 

 

If memory serves me right, I tried the Pro Braid about 10 years ago and didn't care for it much and it didn't last very long.  It seemed like a cheaper version of Fireline.  

Berkley seems to have a habit of renaming old products to give it a new life.

An example is Berkley big cat line is a rebadged berkley big game mono. Also I believe berkley nanofil is the same as spiderwire fusion from many years ago. It was just that fusion wasn't available in lower pounds weights. I still have a few spools of old spiderwire fusion and they look and fill the same.

I guess that's Berkley's way to come out with new products without doing R&D. Just renaming old stuff and the people will buy it up.

[jimmyjoe]

19 minutes ago, mrpao said:

I guess that's Berkley's way to come out with new products without doing R&D. Just renaming old stuff and the people will buy it up.

 

   Some will, and some won't. I'm VERY selective in my use of Berkley products. I might be wrong, but I think most other people feel the same way.     jj

[MN Fisher]

Just now, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Some will, and some won't. I'm VERY selective in my use of Berkley products. I might be wrong, but I think most other people feel the same way.     jj

Other than their plastics, I am too - but it is kind of funny.

I use Stren Mono

I have Mitchell and Pflueger reels

Lots of people toot about Abu

Fenwick is also a fave

 

All owned by Pure Fishing.

 

Why is one brand of the parent corp so 'reviled' while the others are cheered?