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Anyone using superbraids on the downriggers


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I wondered how this would work. I see Canon is advertising Stainless spools so superbraids can be used.

Is it necessary to have a metallic spool? What size superbraid?

I always wonder if that high pitched whine off the cables is a help or not. I bet the superbraids wouldn't whine.

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The superbraids won't whine, that's true. But the problem with braids on your riggers is that they attract fleas like there's no tomorrow. The main reason that Cannon came out with the Stainless spools was so that guys could run heavy mono on their riggers. Mono will stretch and when it gets cold it'll constrict so much that it'll break a non-metallic spool.

I personally like the while of the cables. It sounds like home to me.

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I know a few guys who run it, and they are very sucessful with it. If you can deal with the fleas and having to fling them off you will see less blowack and no hum.

Im thinking about trying it on my corner riggers this year. or at least one to see if there is a huge difference in fish catching.

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I never thought of the fleas. After your responses I was thinking about superbraid thick enough to avoid the flea problem. I did a little research:

30 pound Trilene Big Game seems to resist fleas, it is .56mm diameter.

150 pound downrigger cable is about .6858mm.

150 pound Power Pro braid is .5588mm diameter.

Seems the 150 braid would work to resisit fleas while providing adequate stength and not increasing blowback.

I may have to give it a try.

Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

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The problem isn't necessarily the diameter of the line with the braid. It's the fact that braid is just that...a braid. Mono is much smoother and the little buggers don't stick to it very well after you reach a certain diameter. We use 30# Big Game with good results. But braid isn't as smooth as mono and the fleas stick to it better.

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Out East the fish can get REAL deep in July and August. This is where I have seen it used the most to curb the blow back issue. I want to see if it makes a difference with dampening the hummmmmm that is created from the wire. I honestly didnt have too much of an issue with fleas this year at all. It could be the line Im using, but I think they have hit their peak and are leveling off much lower than they have been.

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We switched over to straight fluorocarbon on our rigger rods last year and it DEFINITELY improved our catch rates off the balls. It is a little pricey to do a whole rod with it, however, we did see some advantages:

1) Fluoro is virtually invisible underwater = more stealthy

2) Less stretch in fluoro, better hook sets

3) Fluoro is more abrasion resistant and lacks the memory of mono. We use adjustable Cannon and Scotty releases and I don't fret too much anymore about abrasion when line comes out of pincher release

The cheaper way to pull this off is to use a small spool of fluoro and tie off to mono backing.

Just my .02

...the countdown is on!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can honestly say that I was probably one of the first to try the braid when first introduced off the riggers. The first we tried years ago was Cabelas Ripcord 120 # It did have a positive impact I felt when we were fishing for targets up until around the middle of July. Once the fleas showed up it totally loaded with the fleas and came a pain in the @#$ Also, at times when we were stacking back then with a Roemer release the braid had such a fine dia. that it slipped on occasion. Thus forcing us to switch to the Offshore. It did cut down on the blow back but I must say that i did miss the hum of the wire. So it does have a place and time I.M.O. After I switched back to wire I never went back to the braid off the riggers. Fleas being the main reason.

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I'm going to give it a try and see if it makes a difference. I figure if it helps turn a few more fish in boat traffic it might be worth it especially come tourney time.

I honestly think the fleas arent as bad as they have been in years past. Like any other evasive species they peak really fast and once they deplete the goods that made them grow so fast they will fall to a manageable level. I havent seen it bad in the last few years and I have fished more these past few years than I did for 5 years prior.

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