SPIDERWIRE's THE "Dog's Bolls" BRAID
claims Mike Bolton

Being a bit of a lure junkie myself, I'd be the first to admit that you've got to watch your pennies and pounds pretty carefully or they'll run away with you if you're not careful when you're buying lures and lines. But every now and again I come across something just that little bit extra special and I have to treat myself and that's what's happened ever since I discovered SpiderWire Spectra® Braid !

Highly Rated Line
I've been reading some of the other articles and reviews which mention other braids and fusion lines etc., but no-one seems to rate SpiderWire braid quite as highly as me.

First off I should say that the rivers that I fish aren't very big and so I don't usually fish with very big lures compared with some — this means that I don't use BS lines much above 30 lb, more often 20 lb. or even less.

For Special Occasions
Secondly, Spiderwire braid isn't cheap by any means so I don't use it for my everyday fishing — for that I still use what I call my "cooking" braids, the cheapest ones that I can get that are any good. It's just that sometimes I need something that bit extra special to tackle a particularly wary old specimen that I've managed to spot in a certain swim e.g. a mega-chub that's very easily spooked with my normal lure fishing tackle.

Stalking for Specimens
I do a lot of stalking on my rivers because they're often very clear and it's about the only way you can get to find any half-decent fish sometimes. The main species that I go after are chub and trout as there don't seem to be many perch where I fish but I always use a good length of 15 lb trace wire because I'm always bumping into one pike or another along my stretch of river — nothing massive, just nice! "A fish is a fish" is what I say, and I just like my fishing to be fun, nothing too heavy or serious.

The Dog's Bolls Braid !
If you fish smallish non-spooking lures like I do, and you have to have the dog's bolls presentation, you've got to use some "dog's bolls" braid like Spiderwire because for example 20 lb Spiderwire has a diameter of less than 0.3 mm ! The downside of this ultra-thin Spiderwire is that you have to be extra careful with it as far as snagging goes because it's so thin that it's fairly easily damaged if you're not very careful and sometimes you can't help it.

Spiderwire's been around for a good few years and was one of the first decent braids made from Spectra® fibres — it's never been cheap but it's always been the business, the dog's bolls. It costs up to £30 for 100 metres although I usually manage to get some for a lot less. When I do find a cheap source, and they're not all that easy to find, I go a bit mad and buy up a whole load and squirrel it away for a rainy day, hence my remarks about being a junkie and spending too much cash sometimes.

Another thing that hasn't helped as far as getting Spiderwire is concerned is that I think it was first sold by JWA in the States, then Mitchell bought the rights to it and now I've heard that Berkley have bought Mitchell. No wonder I've had problems getting new spools of it ! I have been getting my supplies from the States recently but that's only OK when you don't get done for Import Duty and VAT!

Plug 'n' Praise
To finish my plug 'n' praise for Spiderwire Braid I would say that for my kind of fishing it is the DBs, ace for fooling spooky old chub after you've stalked them for ages. It's strong, it's thin but it's expensive and like most braids it's got pretty poor resistance to abrasive stuff like gravel and sharp snags. But when it comes to catching big old wily specimen chub and other specimens that are not easily fooled and are always on the lookout for anglers with lines like mooring rope, then Spiderwire's worth its weight in gold, so I'm always on the look-out for it! Do yourself a favour and try some if you get the chance and compare it with Herculine and Whiplash etc., and make up your own mind. Tight Lines!
Mike Bolton

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