Fishing braids - everything you need to know about using braided line for fishing for carp

The use of braided lines for carp fishing, as a main line, has become a lot more popular in recent years, as carp anglers have recognised the many advantages that they offer in some situations.

Braid is something which some carp anglers are wary of using as a main line, especially if they have no experience of having used it for other species, and initially it can feel strange to use as the contact with the fish is very direct as there is no stretch in the line.

But once you get used to that and the way it feels during a fight, some anglers end up using it wherever it is practical to do so, and the fishery rules allow you to.

Especially as there are now various braids available aimed specifically at carp fishing, and which have differing properties, so whether you are looking for a thin neutral buoyancy braid to use when boating baits out at very long ranges, or want one that will sink very well and can be fished slack at closer range, you will find one that is made for the job.

Different types of braided fishing line

Braids tend to come in three types and the properties of which will vary greatly, due to the materials that have been used and the way in which they are constructed.

You have fused braids, which are incredibly low diameter for their breaking strain and are neutral buoyancy or floating, as they are treated to repel water.

This low diameter means that they cast incredibly well and very smoothly, aided by the fact they are very light through the air as they don't take on extra weight from being immersed in water. These are very popular for lure fishing, and predator anglers have been using these fine braids for years.

The disadvantages though is that they tend to also be very fragile due to being so thin, unless you step up the breaking strain a lot, and for that reason, for carp fishing these are the types of braid that are used for spodding and using a marker rod.

The Korda Spod Braid for instance is 20lb breaking strain but has a diameter of just 0.16mm, and the SLR Braid is even thinner for its breaking strain, and whilst this makes them brilliant for chucking Spombs a very long way, if you were trying to play a fish on them your line would likely part if it touched against any sort of abrasive snag under tension. They can also be more prone to wind knots, which are almost impossible to unpick!

For actually carp fishing with, you really want some sort of woven braid, although these come in different types depending on the material that the fibres are made from and also the way that it has been treated.

Woven, neutral buoyancy braids still tend to be very thin for their diameter, certainly when compared to nylon or fluorocarbon lines, but are also designed to be abrasion resistant and to be strong and able to withstand the sort of punishment that they are likely to go through when landing a carp, including in weedy or snaggy lakes. They also tend to knot very well, and using the correct one will give a very high knot strength relative to the strength braid being used.

The Korda Apex braided main line comes in a 30lb (0.23mm diameter) or 50lb (0.36mm diameter), and is neutral buoyancy and ideal for fishing at very long ranges when using a boat to drop your rigs, as you can fit a lot of it on your spools, but are still using a line that is very tough and won’t easily break.

In some situations, such as when fishing over potential snags on the lake bed such as old tree stumps, the neutral buoyancy helps to stop it from sinking right down to the bottom and getting caught up on them. Although if you are fishing a lake with other boating activities on it then it is a good idea to use backleads to help keep it pinned down well below the surface so you don’t end up catching a sailing boat or similar!

There are also woven braids made from materials that have been designed to take on water once submerged, and where a lot of the focus is on making them sink.

These braids tend to be a thicker diameter to ensure they have that property, with the Korda SUB Braid having a diameter of 0.34mm in 20lb breaking strain, and 0.30mm in 15lb, and being closer to the sort of nylon line diameters we are more used to fishing with.

Braids of this type tend to be incredibly strong and have a high level of abrasion resistance, and also tend to come in lower breaking strains than other types of braid – 20lb is plenty strong enough for any situation you will find yourself in, at home or abroad, with this type of braid and given its thickness relative to fused or woven neutral buoyancy braids.

Why use a braided main line?

The biggest advantage of braid is actually the thing that many anglers are scared about when using it, and that is the complete lack of stretch that it has.

This means that you can feel everything through it and it is transmitted back to you via the rod, and whilst initially that may feel strange as you feel every kick and twist of the carp on the other end, as long as you have a correctly set drag, or the backwind engaged, and give the fish line when you need to, especially under the rod tip, then it won’t cause any more hook pulls than any other types of line, and has the advantage of meaning you can feel exactly what is going on – if the fish finds weed or a snag you can feel it immediately and react.

It also gives very good bite indication, whether fishing at very long range with something like Apex, or fishing slacker lines with Sub Braid, any movement on the other end is transmitted back to your bobbins.

Arguably the biggest advantage though is when it comes to enabling you to feel exactly what your rig has landed on, whether casting and feeling the lead down, or dropping a rig from the boat, and is exactly why we use braided line for plumbing.

The type of braids that we use as reel lines for actually fishing with also tend to be incredibly tough and abrasion resistant, and due to their low diameter, if a fish does go into a weed bed, the braid will cut through the weed much more easily than monofilament nylon lines will do, leaving you in more direct contact with the carp and giving you a better chance of landing it.

The low diameter also means that you can fit much more braid, in a sensible breaking strain, on your reel spools than you could do if using an equivalent mono, and that is a big advantage when fishing at extreme ranges with boats, such as on big European lakes.

Unlike nylon lines, braid is much less susceptible to line twist, as it has pretty much no memory, and if you do get twist in it, it is easy to remove simply by walking it out down the bank or around distance sticks, and then winding it back in through your fingers, and with nothing on the other end of it, which removes any twist.

This, and the fact that it doesn’t deteriorate when exposed to sunlight, means that a braided reel line will last much longer than mono will, and you can have the same braid on your reels for a number of years without needing to keep on changing it, unless it becomes damaged or you lose enough of it that you need to re-spool. Braid is generally more durable and lasts longer than monofilament, making it more cost-effective in the long run.

So overall, braided main line has a lot going for it in terms of the advantages that it offers over other types of fishing line.

Are there any disadvantages to using fishing braids?

One of the biggest things that puts anglers off of trying braid is when they see the price of it, as relative to nylon it is much more expensive, but once you’ve filled your reels with it the braid should last for a long time without needing to be regularly changed, and so is more cost effective than it might initially seem when buying it to fill all your reels.

We’ve already mentioned that some anglers don’t initially like the feeling of braid when playing fish, but this isn’t a disadvantage, just something that you will get used to.

When it comes to casting, braided carp fishing lines don’t cast particularly well – with the exception of the fused ultra-low diameter spod braids – and especially so when using a sinking braid, as that tends to be fairly thick as well as being heavy once it has taken on water.

Unless you’re fishing at very long range though, even sinking braids like Sub Braid will still cast far enough to be used in a lot of situations.

Whilst braid is abrasion resistant and very good at cutting through things such as weed and lilies, it isn’t so good when it comes into contact with any wood work in the water, such as sunken trees, as it tends to cut into it and can become snagged more easily than a nylon line might do – and this is why long mono leaders are often used on waters where you’re boating rigs out and where there are lots of tree stumps or similar present.

The other real disadvantage with braid, although not down to the braid itself, is that quite a few fisheries ban its use as a fishing line and only allow it for spodding and markering.

The reason behind that is often they’re worried about inexperienced anglers using it with rigs that aren’t safe, or in a way where the carp could become damaged – if a fish becomes tethered on braid there is less chance of it breaking free. The thin diameter of the braid can also be much more prone to splitting fins or lifting scales during the fight, if something isn’t used at the rig end of it to prevent this from happening, and is why it should always be used with some sort of leader or rig tubing.

Floating versus sinking braided main line - which is the best braid

As already mentioned, when it comes to different types for carp fishing, the main choice is between a sinking braid and a neutral buoyancy braid.

The more buoyant braids, such as Apex, are designed more for boat fishing, where you are fishing at range and need plenty of it on the spool, as well as having something that won’t twist badly and won’t end up getting caught around the rod when you are coming back to the bank with an open bail arm – unlike nylon, braid won’t all start springing off of the spool or wrapping around your rod tip. It is also much easier to straighten the line when using braid, if you do get any sort of bow in it and haven’t come back to the bank in your boat in exactly a straight line, and especially so when using a bigger lead, and without fear of dragging your lead back, as long as you tighten it carefully.

Plus will give you the bite indication you need at that sort of range, as well as being very durable when playing fish on those types of wilder lakes that can be full of snags.

In most situations where you are casting, a sinking braid like Sub Braid is the obvious choice, as it has all the abrasion and zero stretch advantages, but will also sink well and follow the contours of the lakebed, when fishing it slack or semi-slack.

This is the type of braid that many of our Team Korda anglers, such as Tom Stokes, use for a lot of their UK fishing for big carp on weedy waters.

Do I need different tackle to fish with braided line?

In terms of the fishing tackle you need to fish with braid, it is no different to when you are using nylon main line.

The only difference being that you need to use some sort of leader, even a short fused or leadcore one is sufficient as it will be long enough that the fish doesn’t come into contact with the braid, or using a long enough piece of rig tubing to protect the carp.

Your rods and reels can be exactly the same as you would normally use and there is no need to change them.

The only exception to that might be when using a heavy, thinner braid such as Apex for all of your fishing, as under a lot of tension this can be very abrasive on your rod rings, and some of the lower profile coated guides can eventually start to wear, which is why the 10ft Kaizen Green rods, designed primarily for boat fishing situations, come with the option of ceramic insert guides, which are much harder wearing when being used with braid – although are heavier, but when dropping rigs rather than casting this doesn’t really matter.

Should I use a leader or tubing with braid?

If you are using braided line it is essential not to use it straight through to your rig, and to use something that will off the carp more protection and so that its body won’t come into contact with the braid.

Because braid is so thin and tough, it could easily split fins or the tail, or lift scales during the fight, if it is against the fish.

So, you should always use some sort of leader or rig tubing, long enough that the braid won’t touch against the carp when you are playing it.

A metre of rig tubing will do the job perfectly and is the ideal solution if leaders are banned on the lake you are fishing.

Or where leaders are allowed a metre long fused leader, such as those in the Dark Matter range, or one of our Kable leadcore leaders, works perfectly and protects the fish.

You can also use a longer leader of something like IQ2 fluorocarbon, or Kamo Kontour if you require a heavier breaking strain fluorocarbon leader, if you want everything close to your rig to be even less obtrusive. Braid is often used in combination with a fluorocarbon or monofilament leader to enhance performance, by hiding the section nearest your rig, or in some cases actually adding a bit of a cushion via a nylon leader. Just make sure your leader knots don't turn your set up into a fixed rig and that a carp can always get rid of the lead, should your main line part.

If you are fishing on big public lakes in France, then usually a longer length of XT Snag Leader in 50lb or 60lb is a great choice as a leader, as not only does it protect the fish, but also offers a lot of abrasion resistance where you need it, plus won’t easily cut into any wood work, giving you the best possible chance of landing the fish.

It is a good idea for your leader to be at least as long as the depth of water in front of you, so that if you do get a fish snagged and need to try and get it out with your hand – such as if it goes around a stump, you are able to get hold of the thick mono rather than risking cutting your hand by pulling hard on a thin braid.