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Rods and Reels for braid


Guest fish finger
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Guest fish finger

Hi everyone,

I have read quite a few articles on fishing with braid and I am interested in using it because of the no stretch factor and its thin diameter. However do you need rods with a softer through action such as the penn tidecutter, shimano antares or the abu suveron to absorb the lunges of a lively fish?

 

I read that a reel with levelwind helps to spread out the braid on the spool and stop it digging into itself, is this true or not? Also for a 20/30lb outfit can you use a smaller reel than you would otherwise use? What about a shimano charter special 2000 loaded with 30lb whiplash? Or is it better to get a bigger reel for the cranking effect?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Alex

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My ABU Conolon with a Charter Special is my favourite. If you had a TLD 20 on a lighter rod it would be way too big ( in fact when using braid with the TLD20 it is so big you have to fill the reel up with mono as a backing. )

 

I have both the TLD20 and the Charter Special and would choose the Charter Special in preference to the TLD20 in 90 % of situations.

( apart from cod fishing with big baits ).

 

 

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you bring a lot of good issues out here but not all of the logic follows through!

 

For example not all large reels are strong or good for 'cranking' and an all through action isn't necessarily forgiving........

 

What braid does do is get you asking these questions more often!

 

So - Level wind does definitely make for smoother drops, but doesn't handle all braids well on casting.

A soft tip (top section) works better with braid (except for pirking and plugging) than a firm action - pretty much all through the range of lines. At the lower end though this tends to become an all through action anyway.

A strong reel and a good drag system work well with braid - if you can get these in a small reel then even better to match up with some of the lighter (strong) rods now available. Penn's 975LD is a really good example, together with some of the newer small/strong reels coming out, but the Shimano's being discussed and the Penn 25 / 225LD all score in this area.

 

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As Usual there are so many to choose from.

 

You probably realise by now that I am a fan of ABU and Shimano reels, but am more flexible with the choice of rods.

 

A Shimano TLD 15 or 20 lever drag is great as long as you do not want to cast. for casting I prefer the ABU 7000.

 

Neither have a problem with braid. and unless you are wrecking in very deep water the need for a cranking reel is not top priority, take your time and enjoy catching the fish is my advice, rather than just cranking them up.

 

One of the main things on a ROD for braid is to avoid any rod with cheap rollers, the fine braid will at times get between the roller and its mounting and get cut.

Some rods are fitted with special rollers, but quality lined rings are fine.

 

That said I have used my Carbon Kevlar 30lb Northwestern with an afco tip roller for years using braid without any problem, but thats probably due to the expesive and well made roller eye.

 

Once again its down to what you like and how much you want to spend.

why not call a couple of Charter skippers that are sponsored [by Differant manufacturers of course] and ask them.

 

Happy hunting

Charlie

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