Braid for mainline......

[marcus ballam]

Hi People,

At the moment I am fishing a pit for tench. I am fishing two rods, one in the margins, at one on a clear gravel spot at sixty yards. We have fished this spot a couple of times this season and have had real difficulty in hitting bites at range. Using a bolt rig with a sliding stop helps, but we are still missing pick ups. This we have put down to stretch in our monofillament. So we decided to do an experiment....

After using a marker float to find the distance, me and a mate measured the distance out on the bank, and set the line in the reel clips to get the right distance in the dark. With me holding the end of the line, and my mate holding the rod, I asked my mate to strike.

I was shocked to find I could barely feel a thing at my end (oo-er!).....something obviuosly needs to be done.(For those that are interested the rod was a drennan super specialist 1.5ld t.c., and the line was gardner gt 80 in 10lb b.s.)

The obvious solution to this problem is to use braid, but I have never used this as a mainline and would likerecommendations on brands etc.

Abrasion is not really a problem as the pit has no pronounced bars etc, and whilst quite weedy, it is quite soft weed.

Also, has anyone used one of the new drennan tench and bream 1.75 t.c. rods? I think I need an upgrade ( Just don't tell the missus!)

Regards

Marcus

 

[Jon Jagger]

Hi Marcus,

I've used Preston Braidcast and Drennan Sinking Braid. Both are good. You'll need to use a mono shockleader aswell. You will not need to strike. Simply lift into the fish. Imagine the hook is already set and you're just setting it firmly. The main problem with braid is that it does not sink as well as a heavy mono (eg Maxima). Particularly when it is newly spooled. After a few trips it seems to sink more easily.

Another option is to use a line with reduced stretch. For example some of the modern feeder monos have much less stretch, eg 10% (whereas Maxima is said to have 34% stretch).

Good luck

 

[brendan the dictionary man999]

I would think that a 1.75 tc rod is a bit over the top for tench as for the braid why not think about a copolymer line such as gamma ? it sinks well and has little stretch

 

[Ric Elwin]

If you're using a bolt rig (I assume with a heavyish weight), that should be sufficient to prick the fish. On that basis I can't see what difference braid will make.

Are you certain you are missing pick-ups, could they be liners?