Best casting braid?

[Jig Man]

I need to put some braid on a Gloomis Bronzeback 6’9” ml rod with a Shimano 70 on it.  I am having shoulder trouble and need to fish Neds with a bait caster for a while.  I normally use this setup for small to medium swimbaits with fluorocarbon line.  I think I need braid for the feel of Ned bites and better casting.   This setup doesn’t work well with baits under 1/8 oz.  I fish a lot of timber and rocks so 15# is my go to.

[ike8120]

For distance you will need at least an 8 carrier, for heavy cover at least a 4 carrier. Think of it this way 4 carrier as off road tire and 8 carrier as a street or highway tire.  I been using the KK brand of braid. Their best one is the Hammer braid

[bulldog1935]

I've tried 832, YGK, Duel X-wire, Yamatoyo, and Varivas.  

For baitcaster, tighter weave and harder coating casts better.  

Out of those, best baitcast and abrasion-resistance is Varivas, and YGK Upgrade and Jigman

(Not YGK Castman, which is softer coating for longer spinning cast). 

Harder coatings yet on Varivas Seabass Si-X and YGK WXP1/ Shimzu, but the price goes way up.    

I'm with @FishTank and prefer the distance markings, but @Jig Man the same line is offered in high-vis green. 

Japan X-braid is all made by Izanas, and is the best in the world - they have a spec. committee for it (JAFTMA).

[Jig Man]

I am on information overload.  I want a hi vis far casting braid.  I’ve been a Power Pro hi vis or white user for 20+ years.

[casts_by_fly]

5 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I am on information overload.  I want a hi vis far casting braid.  I’ve been a Power Pro hi vis or white user for 20+ years.

yellow 832 is probably going to be your best bet then. You can’t miss it on the water. I fish 10# on my bfs rod for what you describe. I also fish 30# and 50# on casting and used to fish the 10# on a spinning rod until I swapped to 131 (which doesn’t come in high vis).

[FishTank]

37 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

I've tried 832, YGK, Duel X-wire, Yamatoyo, and Varivas.  

For baitcaster, tighter weave and harder coating casts better.  

Out of those, best baitcast and abrasion-resistance is Varivas, and YGK Upgrade and Jigman

(Not YGK Castman, which is softer coating for longer spinning cast). 

Harder coatings yet on Varivas Seabass Si-X and YGK WXP1/ Shimzu, but the price goes way up.    

 

I will second this.

 

This past few year I have been using YGK lines and love them so far. You have to get use to ordering by line diameter and not pound rating.  For what you described,  I like YGK Zone Cover. I use PE #3 for small jigs. It's equivalent to 10lb mono or 12lb FC in diameter. For neds I would step down to PE #2.5 or even #2.  I would also use a leader, especially around timber and rocks.

 

 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

22 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I am on information overload.  I want a hi vis far casting braid.  I’ve been a Power Pro hi vis or white user for 20+ years.

I am the undisputed distance champion at our Lake Texoma striper-fest.  I cast Power-Pro.  Curado DC reel.   I beat the spinning reels.  

 

I took the win in Brazil on the amazon river as well.  casting off the back of the mother ship one evening after drinks.  

 

for me it is about the bigger braids.  going smaller, things can occasionally get exciting.  

[Dwight Hottle]

Suffix 131 is the longest casting braid I have found. It is much better than Suffix 832. It is more round, doesn't dig in on the spool & is not susceptible to wind knots.  

[Bandersnatch]

Cortland silent braid 

[bulldog1935]

Gee, I was doubling guides' weightless spinning cast using Ambassadeur weightless in the early '80s.  

They didn't get mad until they slung-off their shrimp trying to beat my cast.  

I was making a forward-spiral centrifugal cast, which never jerks the bait - they didn't understand how that cast could load the rod, and were trying to instruct me.  

Don't worry, I made them look good back at the dock.  Their job was to get me to the fish.  

[casts_by_fly]

7 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Suffix 131 is the longest casting braid I have found. It is much better than Suffix 832. It is more round, doesn't dig in on the spool & is not susceptible to wind knots.  

I don’t see a high vis option though. I agree with your assessment after you turned me onto it last year and that would be my choice also (high vis aside). 

[redmeansdistortion]

On 1/1/2025 at 12:25 PM, FishTank said:

 

I will second this.

 

This past few year I have been using YGK lines and love them so far. You have to get use to ordering by line diameter and not pound rating.  For what you described,  I like YGK Zone Cover. I use PE #3 for small jigs. It's equivalent to 10lb mono or 12lb FC in diameter. For neds I would step down to PE #2.5 or even #2.  I would also use a leader, especially around timber and rocks.

 

 

 

And I will third it.  YGK really is fantastic line and very well made.  Yeah, you're looking at $25 for a 200m spool or $35 for 300m, but you get what you pay for.  Before I used YGK I used Berkley X9, Power Pro, 832, and J Braid.  Each of them were ok lines, but had their issues.  J Braid was great on spinners, baitcasters not so much.  832 is downright lamp cord.  I feel they underrate their line to give it the illusion that "it's strong for its rating".  Power Pro is ok, but it's a very rough line.  Much more so than other 4 carriers I've tried.  In thin diameter it likes to dig in.  Berkley X9 is good on casting reels, not so much on spinning.  Other than that, Berkley too is way off on their measurements.  They say the 6lb is 0.08mm, and to the eye it's marginally thicker than #0.8 (0.148mm) YGK.  I only use USM lines if I'm in a pinch these days.

[Smirak]

Color aside, I just spooled some Daiwa XBraid Grande and it is very supple. It casts like a dream too…

[casts_by_fly]

On 1/2/2025 at 6:52 PM, redmeansdistortion said:

 832 is downright lamp cord.  I feel they underrate their line to give it the illusion that "it's strong for its rating". 

this isn’t incorrect. It is a little thicker for a given rating and breaks heavier. If you take that into account you’ll be fine. If you’d have used 15# then trying 10# is probably right. For multipurpose general spinning, 10# 832 is a pretty good choice. It handles well (thin enough to be limp and long casting, thick enough to manage on the reel and tie good knots). It’s maybe lighter than I’d want for fishing heavier cover and you can go lighter if you’re fishing no cover. I’ll throw 30 and 50 also (on baitcasters).

[bulldog1935]

and Japan X-braid in the same diameter as 10-lb 832 is 25-lb. breaking strength.  

 

OP's question again, best casting result on his B/C

From direct experience and measuring results, answer is tightest weave with hardest coating - 832 isn't in the mix - just from filling spools, the average diameter is always greater than reported, suggesting the variance in diameter and coating q/c isn't the same as Japan braid.