Have you ever broken braid on a fish?

[Circlehook]

I don't mean a knot, or user error of some sort, but have you ever had the force of a fish snap your braid?

I have used 50lb powerpro, 65lb powerpro and 30lb fireline and have never had it happen. I just got a Saltiga 4500, and now am moving down in diameter to 40lb class, for use in the canal. I am just a little worried about loosing a good fish.


i know I should man up and learn conventional, but for now this is the best I can do..

[Slipknot]

Only once when the fish was in the maw of a gigantic seal.
other than that one other time with a cow on it was my fault the fireline was worn.

a 4500 saltiga can give you all the drag pressure you'll ever need, go higher, not lower for the canal. stay with 50, as far as fireline, the 30 breaks at 50-60 pounds and is too thick for that reel possibly. Try suffix maybe, I hear good things about it.

[scoobe]

Sure it can happen. Why not? No matter what you are using it will eventually degrade from regular wear and tear. Where do you draw the line between 'user error' and natural degradation of the braid?

Just this past weekend I was using my buddy's outfit which had a sinker slide right on the braid (actually a snap swivel used as a sinker slide). I looked at it and said "hey looks kinda frayed." Next cast, snapola! This rig had lasted around 4 trips or so without snapping. I bet if I had hooked a nice sized fish the line would have parted right there. We were actually after sturgeon so I'm sure the line would have broke.

But I guess if you had completely fresh line and perfect knots and such, it's very unlikely the fish could snap your line. Something else would probably give first - busted reel, snapped rod, bent/pulled hook.

[leptar]

Never had an issue where i broke the line directly.
Year 3 coming up flipped the line last year and used it twice .

[stiff tip]

not yet from the beach or the canal ,but fishin from the boat twice .once out by cuddy in the fall w/eels ..fish never stoped on a short line and snap.. and again 3yrs ago fishing nashon island tossed eel into rocks and 10 ft out water exploded ,fish took of to shore and 50lb braid snaped..both fish were big,always....i like braid.

[piemma]

We found out years ago that braid and rocks don't mix. If you are on the sand you are fine. Nick braid once on a rock and it will break the next time you hookup

[clcharette]

Twice last year on boats I were on.

First time 50 lb braid snapped after 20 minute fight with a tuna, my fault, mono leader too short and I'm assuming the tail hit the braid.

Second time 80 lb braid, tuna within 30 feet from the boat, fish makes one last dive and the line snaps like a 22 going off. First mates fault for not setting the drag properly drag was way too tight.

[Travis]

I break my braid religiously(bad experiences casting to tuna)...the smallest flick of a tail hitting your line or the grazing of a rock or buoy is all it seems to take to weaken braid resulting in failure. If I am fishing in the rocks, I will either button down the drags and heave the fish out, or if they are bigger fish, I will use mono.

[Saltheart]

Wear over time and abrasion during the fight. Yes , it happens. I would not go to 40 lb for the canal. Even if its strong enough there is just so little material there that any abrasion will cause a problem. Think of the canal as a line grinder not a line pull tester.

[JLH]

Yes – have lost a few fish to braid breaking off in rocks. One mystery breakoff on a nice fish while out in the boat. It doesn’t take much to nick braid and then its jut a matter of time.

Have also lost fish in the rocks with 20lb mono… sometimes the fish just win!

[MikeToole]

I fish mostly very rocky areas and I would not use anything less than 50# braid. 30# or less and you can expect a lot of break-offs. Once you get to 50# I do not think it is a fragile as many let on. Last season I had one really good night with fish in the mid to high 30s. I could feel my line being rubbed on the rocks by several of the fish but no break-offs. When I got home there were sections of the line that were really frayed bad but it held up and I couldn't break it by hand.

[Sweetwater]

I've never broken braid line, not even in the canal. I always use a leader (appropriate to the braid) and have had leader fail or be cut off (especially in the canal).

I was talking to Scott (Salty Bugger) and we were discussing this at the MSBA show and he and I had talked about the fact that with braided lines, other parts of the tackle seem to be failing more often, lately you hear a lot about split rings straightening out.

With modern tackle being so strong (graphite rods, braided lines, XXX hooks, etc.) people are able to put so much more pressure on the fish than they could years ago...but SOMETHING has to give..and it seems it's the split rings.

All tackle as a weak link somewhere...what's next?

[Saltheart]

Everybody uses a leader with the braid at the canal. If you don't you'll break off in two seconds because the braid has zero stretch so no shock absorbsion. I need at least 3 feet for the smallets amount of stretch and prefer about 6 feet or more for the leader. I use 50 LB Ande pink or 60 LB Ande green. Even with the leader the running line can wear in many places above the leader especially with a fish on.

Good point about how strengthening one item means the next weak link will appear. That is specifically why I don't use a Polamar to tie the jigs on . Instead I use a uni knot (or whatever its called) If something is going to fail , I want it to happen at the jig , not to lose the whole leader which would a big PITA and especially not to break way up in the running line which is almost $20 to fill the reel. .

[fcap60]

Yes. particulary since braid is not very "abbrasive resistant" like Mono. If you fish it around the rocks, it may cut, fray, scratch, nik, etc.; etc; etc. usually those imperfections are hard to detect and the line may fail when you least expect it.

Now, if you are fishing beaches, this may not occur b/c your braid won't be rubbing against rough surfaces.

Just my .02

[Adam_777]

Live lining in the rocks last year.Had a pickup while in free spool .I had my drag set just right.My spool was wizzing fast as it ran like a freight train.My thumb was riding the spool for the countdown.When the time came to set the hook the spool was still humming.Tried slowing it with my thumb and it didn't help.I started to see in the moonlight the shine of mono backing coming through and panicked.I turned the handle on my ABU and pop the line went.The drag was a bit too tight especially against the speed the line was coming off the spool.The line had a nick in it somewhere close to the leader.I got most of the line back and packed it in for the night.Checked the braid the next afternoon and it was beat from the bait swimming into rockpiles.

It's hard to give up braid and it's capacity and strength.If it would play a bit nicer with rocks and stuff that lives and grows on them we'd have nothing to complain about.The braid in my story was 50lb PP less than a season on it.Not spooled from the mystery break off spool.It's been good.

[the point]

In the Canal once with 50lb Power pro.
But i believe the fish brought it into the rocks and cut the braid.
I had hooked bent stright before braid broke.

[ReelinRod]

I am a bait fisherman mostly and use 20 lb Sufix braid for a running line (w/ 65lb-100lb braid casting leader) on my distance spinners fishing from an unobstructed front beach. I don't have any regular problems with the braid breaking except for a few times in a hard break where the line was rubbing on the bar as I am fishing a distance over it.

I have quite a few 30lb+ bass from over 100 yards and a dozen or so Red Drum over 45" from that distance . . . Lord knows the Reds are twice the fighters bass are . . .

You should be find the ratings you are planning on using quite adequate for Striper fishing.

[Squid kids Dad]

Yes...On an Albie over the Vineyard last fall..Although I have a feeling the braid was faulty..The Albie was running straight out to China and snap..The line snapped at the reel so it was not a knot..Pissed me off..I might go back to mono when fishing for Albies...

[Mike P]

Only had it happen once, last season, when I had a 20# class fish about 10 yards in front of me. I was using a reel spool for the first time all season, with braid that had been on it for at least two seasons, so there may have been a frayed or abraded spot that I didn't catch when rigging up.

I have a Saltiga 6000-Z. It holds almost a quarter mile (440 yards) of 50# Big Game braid, which is my #1 choice for spinning reels in the Canal. I am sure that you'd get at least 250 yards of it on a 4500.

[MAKAI]

not yet . . . there's the jinx though

[BassDawg]

only had 30# Fireline break, ONCE!!

it was at DI two years ago, 30 mins into first light,
with my 704Z, 6' of direct tied mono BGame 50#,
working an AH Herring Spook and SMASH!!!

a 30#'er launched herself at Don's plug and swam straight for me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

she buried my line in sum rocks and then hunkered down behind a boulder within 20 yds of my feet and began to wrap herself in the leader,,,,,,,,,,,after a guy in a kayak freed the braid from the rocks~~i didn't want to kill the fish over a plug, and that was before i knew to "free-spool" in those kinds of situations. so the yakker proceeds to try to unwrap her from above her and after one, two, the third unwrappage~~~

SNAPP! yep, sometimes the big gurls win,,,,,,,,,,,,,

that Fireline was only a month old. the yakmahn said she was over 48"!!!
i'll be seeing her soon i HOPE, in ALL the old familiar places.

[JoeBass]

I found this one wharf that holds large Stripers. We were regularly getting broken off. I've now tried 50 lb braid and mono and still get broken off as the stripers run against the crusty pillars. We have much greater success though. We try setting the drag really tight but it's close quarters and really hard to get them out.