Coated Braids

[Nige]

Been on really supple hooklinks of late and as such have not re-stocked my tackle box with Coated braids. Which are you all on thewse days and why? I used to use SnakeSkin in the past but wasn't overly keen. What do you reckon to the fox and suffix ones?

[nick]

i use snake-bite and like it alot i have also tried the fox insider and i think it is ok although it is abit thick hope this helps

[Bet]

I use mantis matey,have done for yrs.I tried a freebie of the suffix silt and was impressed ,deff one to try however I would have liked it even more if the coating had a matt finish

[steve hurst]

What about mono?

I have yet to see a hooklink as versatile as Trilene XT. £4 for 100m, tough, reliable and excellent tangle free properties. 10lb and 14lb will cover most situations.

I am not saying these coated braids have no place, but I think many anglers are being hoodwinked into using them by the comics. Everybody seems to be on them at the moment. Ditto for overpriced flourocarbon.

Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by steve hurst

What about mono?

but I think many anglers are being hoodwinked into using them by the comics. Everybody seems to be on them at the moment. Ditto for overpriced flourocarbon.

Just my opinion.

ha ha ha ha pmsl

[IanB]

I use two coated hooklinks. My main one now is kordas flouro coated braid, very stiff, justs needs straightening over the kettles steam, use this on the right bottoms but not deep silt as im worried it will stick up out of the silt like a twig!
In silt i use my old fav suffix stealth skin, green, dont like the brown its yellow!) more supple than kordas but still tangle free, also very fine. this one needs a couple of blobs of drop em to sink it down as it is neutral buoyancy.

[Joephus]

I like them as they are strong and abrasion resistant and tangle proof although i do not claim they are good for every situation.

[Chesh]

been on the stealth for a while now with mixed results until recently, coated braid outfishing the mono by 13 - 1 !!

peeled back a couple of inches by the hook and the swivel is doing me very proud at the moment, and my confidence is back to 100% using it

[Carty]

I use the Suffix stealth skin and the heavy skin for the majority of my fishing these days

The lighter coloured stealth for fishing over sand and the darker coloured heavy for silt and clay

I can't fault either never get any tangles and never had it break I just pin down the stealth skin to make sure it's nailed to the bottom

[WHEEZY]

hi i'v been useing the new black stealth,and all i can say that its brill, the braided part is abit stiffer than normol braid but keep striping it back and it's just the same as snake bite and all the rest

[bigted]

i use snake bite in 25lb alot, i rate it very highly, i'm a coated braid fan, and am always on the look out for new stuff, i'v recently been lookin at the sufix black stealth, it's fine diameter and it's strong, i did some bench tests last week, 15lb black stealth, centurion 2000 snag hook and nash scales,

results:

6in BlackS, stripped back 1in from the hook, loop knot at the swivel.....snapped at 12lb at the knotless knot

6in BlackS, streight through, with supple hair, loop knot at the swivel.....snapped at 21lb at the loop knot

6in BlackS, streight through, with supple hair, palomart at the swivel.....snapped at 26lb at the knot

the latter being the strongest, my conclusion was to strip back a 1in hair, knotless knot with streight through coated, and palomar at the swivel, i then stripped 1 inch of coating about 5 mm from the eye of the hook to give a kicker,

i repeated the tests 3 times on each, there were slight inconsistencies but negligable

but yeah! nice stuff pal!

[Joephus]

Dont do that with any decent set of scales!!!!!

The sudden release of pressure can seriously damage the scales meaning there weights can be off when in normal use. Just something a few lads told me.

Stealth skin is the best in my opnion.

[bigted]

erm....did cross my mind that joe

no it's a good point, it's not a normal way to use em and damge is highly possible, an old set is the order of the day,
nice one joe