I know this isn't specifically on rodbuiding, but I've read many posts here that show we have some experienced quality fishermen on board. I'm searching for the stealthiest braid with maximum castability for steelhead. Any suggestions? Is Spiderwire EZ Braid in anyone's armamentarium? Thanks

Daiwa Samurai




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Power Pro. I've had good luck with it on spinning and bait casting reels. My experience with spider product has been disappointing.

armwaretainium what? all i know is go with an 8 strand braid because its smoother or use berkley nanofil it is quieter and does cast farther as i found out this year, and to be stealthier use a longer fluorocarbon leader.

Power pro is horrible stuff. I have used it for many years before but will not buy it anymore. There are way too many mystery breakoffs with power pro even under light drag. My buddy just broke off three times at the rod tip while setting the hook one day last week with 30lb powerpro on snook after I told him about my problems because he also said it was great. I don't remember it always being like that but lately it has gone to crap. I was using 50lb and getting broke off like nothing by small tarpon when 30lb spiderwire ultracast didnt break once. Power pro slick 8 is stronger, casts better but really fluffs up with abrasion and has alot more wind knots then the following. Daiwa Samurai is good stuff for casting and is thin but doesnt have the breaking strength of my two favorites. For its dia it is still very strong although. First on my list is sufix 832 followed by a close second of Spiderwire Ultracast invisibraid. They both cast great, little to no wind knots, good abrasion, and strong. Ultracast has a tendency to fluff up and is a hair thicker then 832. Please trust me and atleast give those two a try before power pro and you wont be dissapointed.

X2 on the 832 suffix. Daiwa samurai braid is great but I don't think it casts as well as 832. The green power pro kinda @#$%& the super slick is good but for casting 832 beats it. Never tried the others sorry

it means "stock of weapons" LOL

The EZ braid looks like Jerry Brown's line, from the color, but I don't know for a fact that it is.
Personally I wouldn't use Ultracast to tie up the garbage! I found it a very loose weave that attracted hook points and I had many mystery break-offs.
When it first came out, I bought 300 yards of 30 pound...I returned it to the manufacturer with a note, thinking that it might just have been a bad batch.
They sent me a new spool...The same problems happened with it!
Right now I am using Nanofil, 832, Power Pro 8, Power Pro Ace (hollow core) and Fireline braid.
They are all good.

Daiwa Samurai braid is great, the new Power Pro Super 8 Slick is a lot better then the regular PP

For 10 yeas i was fishing SPIDERWIRE ULTRACAST 6 lb.,8 lb.,10 lb.and i can tel you is very good braid .For the same lb. test is tinnier conparative with POWER PRO,SUFIX 832 and if you fish with spinning reel you can cast long distance.

In realize now that I miss-spoke this morning. The line I had so many issues with was Spiderwire Ultracast Invisi-Braid, not straight Ultracast.

I doubt that any braid, of a given strength, can be made much thinner than Sufix 832, because the Gore fiber in that product is there to stop the very tight weave, 32 pics per inch, from cutting itself.

I find that it is really interesting that folks have a lot of issues with different sorts of Braid.

But, if those same folks go back and use mono, all of their problems disappear, and the number of fish put in the boat goes up.

Be safe

roger wilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> But, if those same folks go back and use mono, all
> of their problems disappear, and the number of
> fish put in the boat goes up.
>
> Be safe

Now that is amusing.

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Mike,
One of the reasons that I brought it up is "history"

A few years ago, we had a pretty large group of folks going on a Canadian fishing trip.
We all talked over the type of equipment that we would start with, and everyone of us decided to go with one of the many braids on the market.
By the end of the 2nd day, everyone was complaining about the number of bites that they had had, but how few fish that they had actually put in the boat.
So, one by one, every single person switched back to some form of mono over the course of the week, and the folks went back to their regular fish catching ways.

I think that it boils down to "stretch". I believe that a fishing system - needs to have some stretch or give somewhere in the system. But in today's highly sensitive stiff graphite rods and non stretch line in the form of the braids and other "super lines", the stretch is gone.

As a result, a person that is used to the stretch that mono gives him can often have a huge problem when he first switches over to a non stretch line.

Certainly by doing some equipment changing by going to a softer rod and possibly changing drag and a few other things, the person will be able to regain his former fish catching ability. But, based on this as well as many other samples that I have seen in the last few years - braid is NOT the perfect line for every application or perhaps not even for most applications.

However, the best of success to the folks that do use the super lines with success and may they catch many more.

Be safe

I believe the OP had asked about the best braid for stealth and castability.

In that train of thought I prefer my Dyneema pure, 8 strand and 32 weaves per inch.

The Suffix 832 is nice but the jury is still out for me on the Gore strand. It is supposed to add abrasion resistance but in my personal experience and that of a Tackle Tour review the 100% Dyneema actually holds up better over the long term.

Spectra? No Thanks! Even the PP Slick is wove to loose. You eventually get coil build up above your terminal tackle.



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Riley Rods-Hard Core Grips to Go!-----Carbon Fiber - Composite Grip Store-----Capt Mike's Blog-----No Excuses Fishing Charters

Not sure on the PP slick but PP is made with dyneema. There are only 2 super braid fibers 1 is spectra the other is dyneema both have good and bad points and one line is not a catch all for every type of fishing, mono still has a place also. To limit yourself to one type of line is like limiting yourself to one type of rod. There are no bad premium lines on the market it is personal preference just as rods are.

Powerpro is Spectra.




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Dyneema is a high-tech woven synthetic fiber made by DSM, and is used in many brands of braided fishing line, including Raptor, Spiderwire, Sufix and Power Pro. Dyneema is soft and supple, has no memory, floats on water, and has virtually no stretch. It is also slippery, which can make tying knots a challenge. Certain knots hold better than others. There are hundreds of fishing knots for every type of connection. The palomar knot is the best knot for joining Dyneema line to an object with a loop, such as a hook or swivel.

Read more: [www.ehow.com]

Here is a good read for the OP.

Braid is an awesome invention for us anglers, because its reduced diameter per pound-test makes it possible to increase spool capacities by 40 to 50 percent, while its no-stretch characteristics make it possible to fish deep yet maintain incredible sensitivity and hook-setting power. But there are dozens of brands out there… so how are we supposed to know which is best?

NEWS FLASH: all of those different brands are made from one of two materials, Spectra (made by Honeywell) or Dyneema (made by a company in the Netherlands called DSM), and these materials are so incredibly similar that they’re known in the industry as “sister” lines. Both are made from gel-spun polyethylene. Both offer the same characteristics, and both cost about the same. So, what’s the difference? There really isn’t any. Some lines claim to be rounder then others but that aside, it’s all more or less the same stuff. (Note – don’t confuse braid with “fused” lines, which are heated to fuse some of the fibers together. These lines are more abrasion-resistant then braids, but are also stiff, tough to cast, and tougher to knot.)

In other words, don’t knock yourself out stressing over whether to buy brand X over brand Y because you won’t be able to tell a heck of a lot of difference between them. Choose according to diameter, pound test, and color as you like, of course, but branding is far less important. You don’t believe it? Fine. Spool up two identical rigs with identical sizes and different brands, then fish them for a couple of seasons – which I’ve already done. Real-world experience backs up the research; the best braid is simply the one that’s filling your fishing reel’s spool.

I guess ehow is wrong.


The fiber material is essentially the same but there are proprietorial differences between in the way they are formed, woven and constructed.

Then the brands have even more differences pertaining to strand count, weave/inch and coatings.

You are right about real world experience. I put in well over 200 days on the water per year. I can't even get a full season out of PowerPro. I'm keeping 20+ rods spooled and in use and buy my line in 1500yd spools.
In the long run the higher priced Samurai and 832 ends up being more cost effective for me than PP and other lower priced brands.



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