Braid vs Wire (from the Sooke reports thread)

[Englishman]

From the Sooke reports thread……..

Uh-oh you have started something now “J” LOL

My response is below.

I don't use wire anymore. But when its working correctly it can give an advantage.. The advantage for me to braid was only its easier to use in the event of snap my changeover is fast. Esaier to tie dont need crimps...That is really only reason I went to it myself. I also found I spend more on it requiring more changeovers through seasons... I do agree with these statement made below on this forum way back ( where are you Trevor?)... Anyway sorry for derail I am sure we can have the ongoing braid v cable debate if its slow in winter! It has been on my mind lately of switching back though.

Quote from Trevor of No Bananas on past thread:

ya wire doesn't work i'm going to switch to.Not lol.

The braid and wire both catch fish the braid is more user friendly for sure.

Lets look at the sooke highliners just for example 1st one comes to mind is Gibby probably won more derbies than anyone on the coast he uses wire and swears by the black box,next would be Dave Kennedy he's won his fair share and uses wire,Karma won many derbs uses wire,
Wolfy he uses wire and has done good getting the odd biggie,Rollie uses wire.I'm not talkin about just catching fish i'm talkin about getting big fish over 35lbs consistantly.I bet if you did a servey 90% of the consistant guys getting big fish are using wire.

In reny i know a couple of the reg guys not guides who used to get a few over 40 every year they switched to braid and get just as many fish but not as many big one's one guy switched back this year and started getting bigger fish rite away.

I'm not saying wires the end all be all but thats just what i've noticed.

I ran braid on one side for about 8 months. Then I got two catastrophic failures on the same day, losing the ball and clip each time. The first break was close to the stop. The second one came about 40 feet up from the ball, long before the stop got out of the water. Never again!

I have since done lots of research on this and had discussions with many on the forum. Braid is definitely more of a "prima donna" product and will fail without warning unless treated exactly right. This has happened to me, R.S. Craven (albeit after 5 years) and to the guy with the Go-Pro camera (see posts last year). This is because:-

1) Any nicks, grooves or imperfections in the pulley will abrade the braid and weaken it.
2) If the pulley is at all stiff and not free running you get braid sliding on plastic which is terrific friction (polymer on polymer). I could always hear an elastic "pinging" like a really tightly stretched elastic band as my braid went over the pulley. Especially first drop of the day when all the gear is dry!!
3) UV will deteriorate the braid over time.
4) You get more blow back with braid because it is not as heavy (dense) as wire.

The only strikes against wire are:-

1) The possible rusting of lower quality SS (which is visible unlike weakened braid) and which can be mitigated by rinsing with freshwater after a trip.
2) If you get a break off on a reef it is more of a hassle to crimp a new clip then tie on a new swivel onto braid.

So now I am a confirmed wire man. Like all the Sooke guides it seems…..

 

[scott craven]

Everything has a life span, when my downrigger braid started breaking it was over 5 years old.
Never had wire last that long.
To each their own, us what you feel confident with.

 

[photocopy]

I vote for wire. Keep the braid on the hali reels.

 

[Seafever]

I vote don't worry about it and concentrate more on your fishing lore and technique......

although Englishman is right about having the pulleys on your downrigger freely moving as possible when using braid....you want to get away from any extra friction on the braid from the pulley....

I posted a few pics last year I think of how I upgraded my pulleys so they move way more freely on angle......

 

[Fishin'Zinn]

I have the new scotty braid on my riggers, it's the light grey type (have not seen it previously til when I got these), and wow it's really good stuff! Thin and takes some abuse thus far! HP's... So many benefits, easier on the hands, Palomar knot is very easy to do and strong, less blowback. Cable is 'fragile' and also had cable jump the spool on every rigger type I have ever had (one way or another, usually someone not paying attention or new), what a nightmare that can be.

Having an Aluminum boat with downriggers and wire had me very skeptical about if I was repelling fish or not... Even had a black box on my cannon rigger last year. Taking that equation out of the situation is a much better feeling. Boat is wired right too, but I seem to be getting more fish already (well, last year was dismal anyway)!

 

[Seafever]

Problem with wire is:- on the days you don't get any fish and others did then you start thinking your voltage is off and you need a black box......that's when the fun starts.....

 

[jriptide]

I switched to braid several years ago and have been very happy. Initially I had some issues with stoppers and damage to the braided line over time from the downrigger clips. To eliminate both those problems I run about 6 feet of braided nylon twine that I put a set of knots in to create permanent stoppers. Since then I rarely have any issues.

As for voltage I have never really gave too much credence to that theory… maybe on a commercial Troller where the lines are clipped very close to the main downrigger line. But given sport fishermen tend to set are gear back at least 12 ft or more from the downrigger line, I would suspect that would eliminate any impacts of line charge.

 

[Lipripper]

Show me a commercial troller that runs braid

Red rover, red rover... I call Malcolm Russel over

 

[seadna]

Show me a commercial troller that runs braid

Red rover, red rover... I call Malcolm Russel over

Show me the braid designed to handle a 30-40# weight and the gurdies designed for braid.

 

[Lipripper]

It would be easy for someone to make a braid that would handle the 50-60lb leads the bow lines run.
Why would you have to redesign the gurdies?

 

[Seafever]

Show me a metal-hull commercial boat that didn't hire Malcolm Russell.......

 

[Rum Buddies]

Show me a commercial troller that runs braid

Show me a commercial troller that uses anchovy as bait...

 

[Lipripper]

Bait is for fat kids, Poppa

 

[wolf]

you can lower voltage on a boat without a black box ... and trust me it doesnt matter much, when I guided up in knights I was smashing big springs thought hhmmmm wonder what the voltage is on the boat??? i checked it and was shocked to see it was almost at .09 volts but still managed to get them..... SSSOOOOOOOO with braid its ZERO but wire it can be anywhere from 4 to 9 whats more important is HOW you fish and presentation last time I looked you get salmon on a hook not the lead attached to a ball...LOL
if your in doubt throw the gear back further from ball

 

[Samnjoe]

you can lower voltage on a boat without a black box ... and trust me it doesnt matter much, when I guided up in knights I was smashing big springs thought hhmmmm wonder what the voltage is on the boat??? i checked it and was shocked to see it was almost at .09 volts but still managed to get them..... SSSOOOOOOOO with braid its ZERO but wire it can be anywhere from 4 to 9 whats more important is HOW you fish and presentation last time I looked you get salmon on a hook not the lead attached to a ball...LOL
if your in doubt throw the gear back further from ball

Knights Inlet!
Had some amazing days on the wall just east of protection point.
We liked the first week of July.

I run braid just because it is so durable and easy to tie.
No kinks.

 

[the fog ducker]

been running 3 riggers all spring summer . my newest 3 rd rigger still has
SS Wire , im in unit 18 at the Nook , anyone wanting to strip the wire off the port side .
Merry Christmas , its all urs , not needed on our sports boats ,
Power Pro 200 all the way , zero issues in 6 years , only issues were caused by human laziness or error . have i broke off ,
fish productivity , ZERO , braid = SMOOOOOOTH..... 200 Braid , LESS blowback
funny hearing friends say , hey , whats wrong with that port rigger going down ? crickidy crackidy ss wire !!!


never go back

fd

 

[Fishalot]

I am thinking of switching to braid, after one season on my new downriggers I can see light rust on wire even though it was flushed with fresh water. I have heard that the pulleys need to be changed if wire has been used, is that true? Also how do you set up the stop beads or do you do something else? Thanks.

 

[scott craven]

Red stopper beads for smaller diameter braid.
some simply tie on a length of Gangion or tuna cord with a knot that acts as a stopper

 

[mhbradley]

The tuna cord is amazing and prevents the loss of cannonballs.

We fish wire in Vancouver and have hit good springs 3 days in a row at HITW.

We fish braid in Victoria and Sooke and seem to do fine as well, though not nearly as good as some of those heavy hitters mentioned above.

Wire is rough sounding when going in or out, but the braid breaks easier from chafing...

To each their own

 

[dmurph]

Braided has specific stoppers, the red ones, I double them up for the high pro riggers. I also put stoppers where my release clips go for stacking rods. As for the pulley wheels just give them a light sanding or file to take out any burrs and smooth them off. When I first bought my newer boat I switched out the steel as in was concerned it didn't seem fishy. I started to catch fish right away with the braid, maybe just coincidence. I switched my riggers to hp last summer rigged with steel, I had days off thrasher last summer with multiple quads on springs and the best fishing I've had. I now just switched back to braid as the steel got to short from various cut offs and loses. Now I wonder again lol, as I have not had any real killer days in awhile. We all just want the boats to be as productive as possible with the time, money and effort we put into the troll. Have to tell myself it's how you run the gear lol. All the top guides on the vancouver side also run steel though.