Bruno Garcia of the Charente-Maritime fishing federation is interested this week on France Bleu la Rochelle in the choice of materials used by fishermen.
Bruno Garcia: For more than 20 years now, anglers have sworn by the braid. Today they are led to ask themselves some questions. Braid or nylon? The imagination, the proposals of our fishing tackle manufacturers make it more and more difficult to orient your choice. The diversity of products on offer is so wide that many fishermen find it difficult to decide on their purchases. I am thinking in particular of this material called braid, which at its birth had all the virtues to be revolutionary but which, despite many advantages, presented some disappointments a few years later.
Do you mean that it was an irreproachable material but that it became open to criticism?
In irreproachable resistance, but we cannot give it all the qualities. The braid is made up of a multitude of braided micro filaments as its name suggests. It offers resistance to all tests but only in certain situations, for an equal diameter in 20 hundredths a good nylon has about 4 kg of resistance while a braid resists 3 times more, i.e. 10 or 12 KG of resistance. It is the ideal tool given its rigidity to detect the slightest touch, to cut plants, to bring back a tree trunk or to bridle a large fish in the middle of pitfalls, but be careful, nothing can replace the elasticity of the nylon which gives a significant right to error since it acts as a shock absorber in the event of a bad maneuver. A stiff rod with a tip action and a braided line body regularly causes unhooked fish due to the lack of elasticity. Its resistance to abrasion is much lower than that of nylon, the micro filaments are much more vulnerable when rubbing against shells and stones. The teeth of the pike come to an end more easily than a nylon except of course when it is sheathed this braid. And then in the presence of current, the flat-shaped braids cause vibrations that are quite harmful for fishing. There are round shapes which oppose less resistance to the current.
So you’re promoting nylon to us?
I admit that now that we find this nylon called fluorocarbon on the market, which is much more resistant than that of a classic nylon, precisely given its carbon component, I will tend to turn my back on the braid for some techniques.
It is perhaps a more affordable price this braid?
Well, 100 meters of braid costs about 3 times more than 100 meters of classic nylon, it is justified anyway, the life expectancy of a braid is much longer than a nylon. A fluorocarbon will sell for about the same price as a braid.
There are still peaches for which we can recommend the braid?
For my part, I use the braid in main line when I fish for crankbait or soft lure. But I replace the original hook, which is generally very robust, with a quality hook of course, but which will open more easily, this allows me when I am hooked to pull strongly until I open the hook which was trapped. The braid easily allows this kind of exercise and when you know the price of crankbaits which varies from 15 to 30 euros, we quickly recouped the expense of our 100 meters of braid.
So there are fish that should be avoided when fishing with braid?
We will not reason in relation to the fish sought but rather in relation to the place of fishing. If you are fishing in areas cluttered with vegetation, opt for the braid otherwise on open areas and strewn with stones.