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The benefits to using a braided mainline

Will Raison discusses the benefits to using braid on your reels...

by Tony Grigorjevs |

Published on5th March 2026 at 12.35pm

Braided mainline has become a lot more popular in recent years, especially among those fishing the feeder on natural waters.

There is a range of benefits to using it on your reel instead of mono, especially when it comes to targeting shy-biting coarse species such as skimmers and roach, as braid will magnify any indications at the business end. While ever more anglers are now going down this route, many still aren’t fully utilising the properties of the material once they get on the bank. Follow these simple tips from a true superstar and you’ll realise that braid is even more effective than you first thought.

Use it for baiting up

A lot of anglers use a separate rod to bait up with large feeders, and it’s essential that you use braid when doing this. It has zero stretch, allowing the line to hit the clip and stop exactly where you want it to. Monofilament has quite a bit of stretch in it, and this can lead to you hitting the clip and the feeder going beyond the intended zone without even realising it.

Read your swim

While you’ll see many of the ‘proper’ bites you receive when using mono, tiny line bites are another matter. Braid enables you to spot every subtle brushing of a fish up against the line, showing up as a little knock on the tip. Spotting these can transform your thinking, as seeing nothing may lead to the assumption that the peg is devoid of fish.

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You will see everything when using a braided mainline

Prevent losses

Using light hooklengths can be important to get bites, but when they’re combined with a mainline that doesn’t stretch, you could get snapped on the take from a bigger bream. A clever trick when fishing at a distance of up to 45m is to use a pre-tied Powergum link connected to the mainline at one end and the hooklength at the other. The link will absorb any last-minute lunges by hooked fish.

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Powergum will help absorb lunges

Diameter is key

One of the many beauties of braid is how low the diameter is in relation to its breaking strain. A low-diameter mainline is essential when trying to cast to the distances associated with feeder fishing, as it creates a lot less resistance, allowing it to fly through the rings with ease. Use either 0.10mm or 0.12mm braid and you’ll easily hit the spot every time.

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The low diameter is perfect for long casts

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