BERKLEY WHIPLASH SUPER-BRAID LINE

Steve Adams, a Senior Laboratory Technologist and all-round angler, gives the low-down on Berkley's micro-Dyneema HPPE Whiplash super-braid.

The world-wide Pure Fishing Group (Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Red Wolf & Mitchell) have certainly got a firm grip on the market for these high-pressure, gel-spun, high performance polyethylene braided and fusion lines based on the Spectra™ and Dyneema™ brands!

First they introduced Fireline Fusion and Gorilla Braid — next came Whiplash braid, to be followed in quick succession (through their acquisition of Mitchell) by one of the original Big-Daddy Braids of them all, SpiderWire!

I've used all of them for my fishing and tested most of them in our Labs, and a good few other braids, fusion and monofilaments lines too, so I'd like to think that I'm in a pretty good position to give a fair and accurate assessment of Whiplash compared with some of the other leading braids.

As well as running it through our standard lab tests (diameter, elongation, wet knot strength and so on) I've been giving it a good hammering by using it for my all-round coarse fishing and especially with lures, and I have to say that it's been excellent.

For my fishing and our Lab Tests, I've been using 20 lb and 30 lb B.S. Whiplash and for its B.S., its diameter is very comparable with most other braids that I've used: to give you an idea of how thin it is, the 30 lb B.S. is a mere 0.3 mm in diameter — and for everyone familiar with braids, you'll know that this gives extra casting distance, accuracy and confidence.

I also like its tangle-free casting and good wet knot strength (75 - 85% of unknotted claimed B.S., using 5-turn Grinner) with low diameter, and that reminds me ...... knots are very critical with these braids — use a Palomar, Grinner or Berkley's very own Trilene knot and you'll be OK. I also especially like the lack of stretch of braids because that gives you extra feel and contact with fish even at a distance and for smaller venues and lighter lures.

Most anglers know that these braids have poor wet abraison resistance compared with modern, tougher and higher-diameter nylon or copolymer monofils and it pays to keep this in mind when you're fishing venues with lots of abrasive snags. There's no easy way round this short-coming of braids and if you're really worried about abrasion, do what I do and use a tough mono for those venues in question.

As soon as I began to spool-up my reels with Whiplash, I could feel and see that it had the potential to be one of the top super-braids. The tight semi-flat weave didn't stop it from winding on to the spool very nicely. I've used it for a couple of seasons now and have caught a fair number of species, in salt and fresh water, with no problems at all.

Tackle Tip: Non-Slip Spool
By the way, I've read about quite a few anglers having problems with braids slipping on their spools, especially polished alloy ones, and so I thought I'd pass on a couple of tips about how to prevent this. You can of course use some backing line and with low diameter braids this is often needed but personally I don't like the idea of having any more knots than necessary and you can also get bedding-in with some backing lines.

Instead I combine two very simple techniques to avoid my braids slipping on my spools. Firstly I wrap a turn or two of insulation tape around the centre of the bare spool and then I use a slip-knot (the correct way round!) to pull the braid tight on to the tap — the result? No spool-slip! And as soon as I began to spool-up my reels with Whiplash, I could feel and see that it had the potential to be one of the top super-braids.

Now, of course this leading-edge line technology and the extra benefits that braids undoubtedly bring to your fishing, comes at a higher cost than normal monofils. Personally, except for very snaggy situations, I could never go back to monos, despite the higher cost of braids — expect to pay around £30 for a 300 metre spool of 30 lb B.S. Whiplash braid.

Overall, my initial impressions of Whiplash are that it's potentially a "Dogs Whatsits" braid but only my longer-term tests will tell — in the meantime my tip to you would definitely be to give it a try. At least you'll know that you're in good company, whatever your results!
Truly tight lines!
Steve Adams.

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