Boating New Zealand — December 2017

112 Boating New Zealand

• Some PE lines
  break at up
  to twice their
  nominal breaking
  strain.


• Most commonly
  used knots
  weaken PE lines
  by at least a third.


• Modern braid-
  ready reels can
  exert high drag
  pressures: a small
  3000 size reel
  might deliver 8kg.


• Top-quality reels
  use carbon matrix
  drag washers/
  discs for superior
  performance and
  power.


• Drag systems are
  either ‘wet’ or ‘dry’.
  Wet drags are
  lubricated with oil
  or grease.

PE LINES AND

REEL DRAGS

HOW HARD?

Sport fishers can exert an eye-watering level of drag pressure

with today’s high-tech fishing tackle and there is always the

temptation to pull on the gear as hard as you can. But anglers

need to take care. Modern fishing rods designed for PE lines are

wonderful, but they can be broken.

Pulling too hard, lifting a rod too high (point loading) or

changing the rod’s fulcrum point, either by gripping a loaded

rod above the foregrip or bracing it against the side of the boat,

can result in spectacular rod failures and lost fish.

Heavy tackle fishing can also place considerable physical

strain on the angler, with back, hand and arm injuries not

uncommon. Wearing gloves is sensible, not only to protect the

fingers from the unforgiving nature of taut PE line, but also to

maintain your grip on rod and reel (harnesses are seldom used

with PE line), which a strong fish or a lurching boat can easily

jerk out of the hands since there is no ‘give’ in the line. PE lines

are also extremely difficult to break when snagged – I’ve seen

large vessels effectively anchored by a single PE 8 jigging outfit

snagged on the bottom.

With the lighter tackle used for inshore fishing, fighting fish

is less physically demanding, although fights are often longer.

PE braid affords the advantage of effectively upping the line

class without the usual penalties of weight, bulk and increased

ABOVE RIGHT Modern rods,

like this micro-jigging rod, are

designed for braided PE lines.

ABOVE LEFT Heavy tackle

fishing for large, strong fish

like this yellowfin tuna can be

physically demanding.

BELOW Take care gripping the

rod above the foregrip.