Braid Strength
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Heavy Metal - Jig fishing
Forum Description: Anything related to jig fishing here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=98919
Printed Date: 27 Jan 2026 at 1:03pm
Topic: Braid Strength
Posted By: AndreNZ
Subject: Braid Strength
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 12:09am
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Ok heres a serious question. Would be nice to get a factual answer, instead of opinion based. What is the purpose of heavy braided line on gear that doesn’t match it. For examble my 16aN has 40pound braid on it with a breaking strain of 50+pounds, on a reel that can handle 15kg drag (from memory) on a rod that has a max drag of 10kg. So the braid is 35 odd kg too heavy. Or my Dogfight. Before I actually thought about it GOFISH recommended and put on 80pound braid! On a rod with 18kg max drag. Thats just completely insane. Thats almost 100 kg breaking strength of braid. That would pull you off the boat at 40 kg and snap the rod well before you got close to that strength. Even though its being trolled for Marlin, theres no reason Marlin wouldn’t be just the same on 30pound of braid. I understand a heavy leader for snags, teeth marks etc. When the braid is never going to be bottom or rock dragged. I don’t see any point. I also have never snapped braid, even on a 8pound soft bait combo pulling kingfish and large snapper. I would think a suitable setup for my 16aN would be 15 pound braid (probably 25pound braking strength) on the 15kg reel and 10kg rod. Which is still overkill! Any ideas? Btw jigging combos targeting kingfish and large snapper, dogfight for topwater mostly |
Replies:
Posted By: laidbackdood
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 5:43am
I tend to agree with this......You hear comments like....you shouldnt go to Ranfurly banks or three kings with anything less than 80 pound braid but the reality is most people wont stay on the boat with much more than 15kg of drag unless pointing the rod straight down..............to me whats more relevant is possible abrasion on the boat and structure during the fight(at the end of the day any braid and rocks dont mix) and also relevant knot strength and the effects certain knots have on braid....plus the durability of the braid relevant to different thicknesses. ...I read an article on 8 carrier braid the other day and apparently tying bimini twists in it lowers the breaking strain quite a bit..................My general rule is to double the pe line strength for the leader(max) so 80 pound braid max 160 pound mono..........30 pound braid /60 pound mono etc................actually pe6(80 pound) braid has advantages over pe8(80 or 100 pound) = cuts through current quicker...greater capacity on your reel............I place more emphasis on longer leaders because i am a mean prilk and dont want to lose braid and i feel i am less likely to be bust off but thats just my humble opinion. .............I will see if i can find that article with knots and braid.------------- Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens. |
Posted By: kaveman
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 7:23am
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Good questions Andre Agree with you on Trini16A, i would only use 50-60lb at most,knots used in braid can vary greatly, anything from 50-90% depending on what knot used and who ties it. eg So if using 50lb braid and knot ABS(actual breaking strain) is 50% then you only have 25lbs abs so with a reel that has 15kg of drag(32lb), you can pop that braid easily(or knot) You really need to tie knots and actually TEST them to see how good your knot tying skills are and then and only then can you determine what drag numbers to use and have a safety margin. Of course braid diameter is so thin that you could put 500m of 50lb on a reel but you really only need 300m for most jigging/popping situations so the thicker braid is used. Less cost and better abrasion with thicker braid -------------  www.kavemantackle.co.nz
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Posted By: Fishing Addiction
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 8:33am
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I hear where you are coming from. As people have said there is a few variables *knot strength (some will break at half the line strength) *abrasion on braid over time (even just the thumb or side of boat) *reel drag (some lesser drags will get sticky making drag suddenly increase, and the drag increases as you get to the bottom of the spool) *rod ability (a rod tucked under the arm can put a lot more drag on simply as the rod angle is a lot less. The higher you want to lift the rod, the less drag the rod can handle) I personally use a bx400xn for most of my jigging with 300+m pe4 which breaks at 68lb. Knowing my own limitations, and that of the rod, I can happily push my combo to the limit. I run ~ 12kg drag at max so ~ 25lb. If my abs is 68lb then 37%. Leaves plenty of room for any issues At the big fishy places people may run 15-18kg drag meaning a higher breaking strain will be safer |
Posted By: AndreNZ
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 10:18am
| Interesting.. Fishing addiction I just brought the same BX400XN and brought gosen 30pound PE2. Going on a 20pound max drag rod really doesn't allow for more. I'm sure you all checked out this but if not take a look http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/4linetestingbuy.htm |
Posted By: Fishing Addiction
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 1:39pm
| Running 10kg drag with 30lb (13.3kg) line will end in tears. Far too much for that line imo |
Posted By: Elpescador
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 2:12pm
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braid has lower abrasion resistance than mono. Thats why we tend to fish slightly heavier ratings also depends on how many carriers its woven out of (4,6,8) |
Posted By: Muppet
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 2:22pm
Confidence in gear I guess. I run 80lb braid off the yak and fish only 4-5kg of drag but if I need to pull on a fish in weed or something I can do it knowing the line will hold up well. The day will come when you are grateful your line is heavier, that is the way I look at it and maybe that is a factual answer . 
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Posted By: ChrisW
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 8:39pm
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Think of it as light line with a helluva strenght reserve for those odd occasions when needed like snags, reef, boat chine, anchor rope etc. Never disrespect Kingies and listen to what the skipper tells you. ------------- give it death! |
Posted By: AndreNZ
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 9:40pm
Thats the impression people have. When the rod I have is made for PE1.5 to PE3 max 50gram jig rod. PE2 (30lb) is ideal. Made for big fish. You literally cannot use 50gram jigs with the proper action with heavier braid. 9KG rod, 10KG Drag, 13+ KG braid (probably over 15) is perfect. You can go full lock on the drag with confidence and you can use the rod/reel to full potential. From my impression from answers, it seems like the real reason people are going heavier is because of abrasion. Which seems a little silly to me. If the combo is for jigging just keep your fish off the rocks. Using 8lb braid on the soft bait rig and cant even think of once when I snagged the line from a fish caught and have never snapped the braid. As for casting rods, the heavier the braid the lessor the cast and more visible in the water. Just doesn't make sense
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Fishing Addiction wrote:Posted By: Fishing Addiction
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 9:55pm
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When the rod was designed up to 10kg drag that will be with pe3 with breaking strain of 48lbs + I hope you can tie 100% knots every single time and have some luck on your side. I'm actually quite keen now to see how this goes. Good luck 
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Posted By: Bigfishbob
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 9:59pm
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It's just a factor of safety, a lot of people use their thumbs to apply extra drag, and when you don't have the line stressed to its full breaking strain you have some more abrasion resistance. There really aren't anymore hard and fast rules than that. ------------- www.waikatosportfishing.co.nz |
Posted By: Grunta
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 10:05pm
------------- Online... |
Posted By: ELEVAR
Date Posted: 19 Feb 2014 at 10:17pm
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go catch some decent topwater kings on 30lb braid casting 200 lures at them on a 10m reef then let us know why most of us run 60lb plus, I run 100lb on both my top water reels 10k and 14k, thicker braid casts nicer I have found and less wind knots, line life, stronger knots, abrasion blahh blahh, drag will change as spool gets low on a run rod angle, line in water etc... zac |