TOPIC:

For my planer board rods, if i use braid should i use a flouro leader or can i just tie my snap swivel directly to the braid?

Fluoro leader! Length of leader has many opinions. 20' to 50'. Personally I prefer shorter to impart more action on the drop and lift, but everyone has their confidence in their own presentation. For me its always 20 to 30' of fluoro.

I run braid on my dipseys and as backing for copper and leadcore. I'm interested in giving braid a try on my rigger rods as well.

How well does braid work with the standard Cannon or Offshore pinch pad releases? Or are you running a long enough leader that the leader is always in the release and the braid is further up the line?

badredram wrote:

For my planer board rods, if i use braid should i use a flouro leader or can i just tie my snap swivel directly to the braid?

I found braid would not hold in my pinch pads, too many false releases. On my boards the line runs through the center so when it trips it slides all the way down to the swivel so false releases are a pain. Also the braid was digging into my boards, mono worked alot better

scoffer wrote:

I run braid on my dipseys and as backing for copper and leadcore. I'm interested in giving braid a try on my rigger rods as well.

How well does braid work with the standard Cannon or Offshore pinch pad releases? Or are you running a long enough leader that the leader is always in the release and the braid is further up the line?

I'm going to run braid on my rigger rods this year too, i'm going to put on a couple inch piece of surgical tube before i tie on the swivel. That way I'll hold the tube piece as line goes out, when i reach desired amount out I'll place surgical tube with line running through it into pinch pad release. Pinch pad should hold that alot better than braid alone, should eliminate slippage.

I found braid would not hold in my pinch pads, too many false releases. On my boards the line runs through the center so when it trips it slides all the way down to the swivel so false releases are a pain. Also the braid was digging into my boards, mono worked alot better

I switched out the releases on my Church boards to the lock jaws and upgraded the rear pin to stainless so I could run 30 and 40 lb braid backer and attach directly to it.

I'm going to run braid on my rigger rods this year too, i'm going to put on a couple inch piece of surgical tube before i tie on the swivel. That way I'll hold the tube piece as line goes out, when i reach desired amount out I'll place surgical tube with line running through it into pinch pad release. Pinch pad should hold that alot better than braid alone, should eliminate slippage.

The tubing would probably work, but that sounds like a pain in the ass. Maybe using the heaviest pinch pad style release would yield the equivalent of a medium release on mono line. Or maybe it's time to look at a different style of release, like the Black's release.

I'm not sure how the surgical tube thing would work, but it does sound like a a pain in the butt to set. The answer to using braid on downriggers is #16 rubber bands. Wrap the braid around your fingers twice, then double the band through the two loops. Pull the line on each side of the rubber band tightening the loops of line. the band is now tied on the line. Now, either put the rubber band in the pinch pad or just hook it to your weight somehow. I use bands always as releases so I just have open hooks on my weights to attach the rubber bands. Once you get used to it, it's very simple and easy. Oh, most of the time, the rubber band breaks where the line is "tied" to the braid and occasionally, there's a bump on the line sort of like a knot. Just give the line a firm tug and it will pop free.
I've used just about every type of release imaginable over the years. Pinch pads, Walkers, Roemers, Blacks and variations. I can afford to use any of these but even though I tried them all, I always went back to rubber bands.

I've heard others say they use rubber bands for releases as well, guess I will have to give it a try. Doesn't seem like you'd be able to load up the rod very much in the holder without breaking the rubber band though.

Is this the case, or can you load them up just as much as a standard pinch release?

You can bend the rod tip right down to the water if you wish. I've never tested it but I was told or read once a #16 band has a load strength of 5 pounds. Can't say. What I do know is about 95% of the time there's no rubber band left on the line with mono and 100% of the time with braid which tells me the line actually cuts through the rubber rather than breaking the band somewhere along it's length. I proved this once on a friend's boat. He didn't have any thin bands but he did have some which were about 1/4" wide. I tried it and surprisingly, it worked almost as well as the #16s.