Newtech Power Cable
by Dave Golding

Since he joined our tenacious tackle-testing Team, rightly or wrongly we've branded Dave Golding as being a bit of a braid buff — among many other braids, he's been using Newtech Power Cable for several years now, so we asked him to write a summary of his findings and opinions; here's what he has to say:-

Big Fan of Braids
It's true that I am a big fan of braids and have been for years but I'm also a bit fickle with my favours because I also like to chop and change my lines as soon as others come on the market as I like to try everything if I can afford it.

That said, I've been using Newtech Power Cable on-and-off since it first became available, mainly in its higher Breaking Strains (e.g. 50 lb) because I've found that in its lower BSs, Power Cable can't really compete with most of my other braids, and I'll explain why in a moment.

I use Power Cable mainly for my bass and other sea fishing although I have also used it a lot for my freshwater piking with large lures. I have to say though, that for jerkbaits and the like, I use another braid with power in it, Power Pro !

What's it like?!
So what is Power Cable like? Well, it's not everyone's cup-of-tea I have to say, and it's not my first braid of choice for most of my lure fishing — in fact it's not even in my "Top Three" mainly because it's more expensive than many other braids, costing around 17p per metre of the 50 lb BS bought as a 300 yd spool, well above what I normally like to pay. It's also quite a bit thicker BS for BS compared with other moe tightly woven braids. It's not easy to measure the diameter of soft loosely woven braids like Power Cable, but I reckon that the 50 lb BS that I use has a diameter of between 0.5 and 0.6 mm (0.02 to 0.025 inches).

Soft & Supple
It's a grey braid that's very soft and supple though, and this appeals to some anglers. This suppleness makes it easy to tie and tighten knots — use a Grinner or Palomar. It also makes wet-casting quite easy, so it's not all Bad News. As a result, this loosely woven braid also has a bit more stretch than tightly woven braids, but nothing that you'd really notice in everyday use except perhaps when I'm sea-fishing with a lot of line out.

Abrasion Resisitance ?
I also suspect, though I can't prove it, that its greater thickness gives it a tad more abrasion resistance BS for BS than thinner, tighter braids — apparently thin braids are notoriously poor when it comes to abrasion resistance, compared with their nylon mono counterparts. For myself, I have to say that I've never noticed any major problems in this area with any of my braids, not these days anyway with modern SpectraŽ and DyneemaŽ braids — oh, by the way, Power Cable is made from SpectraŽ.

Using Power Cable
So when do I use Power Cable? Well, whenever I'm going sea fishing especially bassing, or when I'm going to use biggish pike lures when its thicker diameter doesn't really matter. As I said, I use a different braid, Power Pro, for jerkbait fishing because it's very good and it's even better now that it's come down in price !

SUMMARY
To help me summarise my experiences of NewtechPower Cable braid, Nick has given me one of his table form things to fill-in, so here goes .........

By the way, I should explain my *-rating system in the table ...............

* = Poor; ** = Well below Average; *** = Below Average;
**** = Average; ***** = Above Average; ****** = Good;
******* = Very Good

So there you have it ! If a soft, supple, loosely-woven braid is what you're looking for, and you're not too fussed about its diameter being a bit thicker than some other braids of the same BS, or about paying a bit over the odds, then you'll get along just fine with Newtech Power Cable — as I've said, I use it for most of my sea fishing and for piking with large lures — it's just that I don't rate the lower Breaking Strains ...but to be fair, you should try some and make up your own mind about them.
Tight Lines, Dave Golding.

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