PE/Braided Lines.

All my life I was brought up and taught how to fish using nylon or mono line, and one day a couple of years ago, I decided to go check out what's new these days in terms of tackle. And I was amazed by how much things had changed since my younger days. No more nylon! Enter PE lines, spectra/dyneema, enter fluorocarbon leaders, braid-friendly SiC guides, new reel technology and a whole host of other things.





So like all things in life, I got caught up with these new found technological advances and started digging in deep... To my wallet of course... I replaced 3-4 of my dad's faithful 15-20 yr old shimano workhorses, with the shiny new shimano reels like the Ultegras and Stradics, I even bought a Stradic CI4 just out of curiosity. I made snap judgements on PE lines and switched most of my reels to braids within a 2-3mth period.

Well I regretted doing all that. I'm not saying I regret switching to PE lines though, I love PE lines, what I'm saying is I regret making such quick judgements and changing things up before really doing some research into it. Before I go on, let me just break it down for a bit.

What is PE line?

PE line is a common term used to refer to braided line or multifilament line. PE stands for Polyethylene and the lines are named as such because the most popular material used for the braids is polyethylene based. There are 2 companies that dominate the material production for PE, and they go by the brands Spectra and Dyneema. I won't go into the technicalities of it all, partly cos its just boring and partly cos I just don't know all of it. All one needs to know about Spectra and Dyneema is that they are the same thing, just from 2 different companies. Spectra or Dyneema fibers are braided together(like rope or thread) to form the line that we've come to know as PE or Braided lines.

Types of PE Line

There is a huge multitude of PE lines in the market these days, but there are basically 2 types: 4x and 8x. This refers to the number of PE fibers that are woven together to form the line. Naturally, the more fibers used, the rounder and tighter the weave is, which also translates into higher prices for 8x lines. There is also the number of weaves per inch and the higher the number, the smoother and rounder the result is as well. So one will notice that high quality PE lines with 8x and a high weave per inch count are the most expensive. Popular braided lines like Tufline, Powerpro and Spiderwire are all mostly 4x braids and are relatively cheap, averaging at ~SGD12-15 per 100m, whereas Japanese lines like YGK have 8x versions, and are significantly more expensive, ~SGD25-60 per 100m depending on the brand.

PE Line Measurements

Most PE lines are measured by PE rating. PE rating is a measurement of line thickness, not line strength and it is a constant measurement. What this means is that no matter the poundage, if a line is rated as PE 2, it will be that thick.

Here is a chart of PE ratings.

PE # Diameter

PE 0.6 ………………………….. 0.128mm
PE 0.8 ………………………….. 0.148mm
PE 1 …………………………….. 0.165mm
PE 1.2 ………………………….. 0.185mm
PE 1.5 ………………………….. 0.205mm
PE 1.7 ………………………….. 0.218mm
PE 2 …………………………….. 0.235mm
PE 2.5 ………………………….. 0.260mm
PE 3 …………………………….. 0.285mm
PE 3.5 ………………………….. 0.310mm
PE 4 …………………………….. 0.330mm
PE 5 …………………………….. 0.370mm
PE 6 …………………………….. 0.405mm
PE 7 …………………………….. 0.435mm
PE 8 …………………………….. 0.470mm
PE 10 …………………………… 0.520mm
PE 12 …………………………… 0.570mm
PE 14 …………………………… 0.620mm
PE 16 …………………………… 0.660mm
PE 18 …………………………… 0.700mm
PE 20 …………………………… 0.740mm
PE 22 …………………………… 0.780mm
PE 24 …………………………… 0.810mm
PE 28 …………………………… 0.870mm

A thing to note about PE rating, the traditional guideline is PE rating x 10 = line lbs. However, newer, more expensive PE lines tend to gravitate more towards PE rating x 15 = line lbs. This is just a guideline tho.

Characteristics of PE Line

There are really only 3 main characteristics that are responsible for the success of braided lines in today's market.

1. Zero or Near Zero stretch.
2. Significantly thinner diameter compared to mono lines of equal breaking strengths.
3. Little or no line memory.

There are a host of other characteristics of course but most of them stem from these 3 main ones.


Pro's and Con's

Here's a very basic list of pros and cons of using PE lines:

Pros:
1. Line has near zero stretch, meaning every inch your rod tip moves = an inch that the hook moves. This results in significantly more control over a fish and much higher sensitivity.
2. Little or no memory. The advantages of this are obvious, so I shall not elaborate.
3. Thin diameter. This results in more line capacity on reels as well as better casting. Thinner lines allow you to cast lighter rigs further with much more ease.
4. Much better lure/jig handling.

Cons:
1. No stretch means the line is not forgiving at all, every tug and run is translated directly to the rod, putting a lot more stress on it, which could have devastating effects if not handled properly.
2. Horrible abrasion resistance. Simple logic, it is easier to cut through many small strands compared to a single thick piece.
3. Thin diameters significantly increase the risk of cutting yourself which handling the line.
4. While allowing the angler to spool more line onto the reel, having much thinner lines and setting the drag to suit the much heavier poundage causes severe dig-in issues, which are more prevalent in baitcasting reels but also cause problems in spinning setups from time to time.
5. Harder to handle than mono lines. PE lines are soft/supple and very thin so naturally they are harder to handle and knot up very easily.


So back to what I was saying. PE lines are great, but they take a little getting used to and with the huge array of braids out there, it takes alot of time and money to find one that really suits you. It took me a good whole year of testing and research to uncover what I know now and all I can say is had I known then what I know now, I would have saved myself a lot of money.

Finally Starting a Fishing Blog

My dad taught me how to fish pretty much as soon as I could hold a fishing rod. He is an amazing fisherman, with knowledge that you can't find in books and patience that I truly envy. I'm 26 now and that would mean I've been fishing for approximately 20 years or just about. With all the advancements in fishing technology these days, many people believe that most of the "old school" fishing techniques and styles are fading away, and yet til this day, I still learn something from my dad whenever we go fishing together.

Picture of my Dad many years ago.

I'm more of a freshwater fisherman, though I was brought up fishing and diving in open waters with my dad. I've caught all sorts of open water fish like marlin, wahoo, sharks, huge grouper, mega GT's, huge tuna and the list goes on, but of all the fishes I have hauled up on a boat, none of them give me the same thrill as landing fishes in a river/lake/pond. I can't explain it really, to me, it just feels different. In the sea, you are at the mercy of the waves and the wind, its salty, sunny, at times dangerous, boating around staring at fish finders and trawling and anchoring off huge rocks etc, overall it is all just very "noisy". By a river on the other hand, it is quiet, peaceful, serene, calm... and then BAM! A fish hits, your reel screams and it gets totally crazy for awhile, then back to quiet calmness. Might not make sense to some but well, that's what it is for me I guess.

Anyway, just over 3.5 years ago, I met Celeste(left), my girlfriend, and in the recent few months, to my joy(and relief haha), she has taken a strong liking to fishing as well. I have been teaching her what I've learned over the years and slowly but surely, she's learning everything a step at a time. And we've been having a blast along the way! So I decided to start a blog, not just to share our fishing adventures, but also to share my comments, reviews and whatsoever about fishing in general.