Blacks and line fraying?

[f1sh-0n]

It was my first time using blacks this weekend and I really like them. And the price is reasonable compared to other releases. I usually use the roemers on salmon and chamberlains on smaller fish. I do like the chamberlains but I think the wire they use is a bit flimsy and i personally don't think you can tighten them enough for fall kings. Anyway I noticed my line fraying where I was attaching my blacks to the line. I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem. I am thinking I may have had them too tight. I have always gone with the theory that you can never over tighten releases when fishing fall kings but maybe they were just too tight. I use 20lb Trilene XT.

[LongLine]

f1 - I'm guessing what your seeing is line stretch. It's caused by line tension. XT doesn't like to stretch so it frays.

Either by your rod being over loaded or the the speed that your trolling against the weight of the hardware your using. i.e. if you have a 6 ft rod with it's tip touching the water and you have the release tension "cranked" down, it stretches the line something fierce on the rod side of the release. It'll get worse the deeper you cannonball is. If your pulling a flasher fly at 3.5, it will also stretch the line but on the other side of the release.

Some guys swear they have to have the rod tip touching the water but if your rod holder is at 45 deg or higher from the water and your ball is 100 ft down, it doesn't make any difference to your hooking ratio whether your rod tip is touching the water or if it's 3 ft off the water.

I only use 3-4 line twists, not the recomended 5-6. I also use 8'6 rods with 12# co-poly line and don't have that issue.

One other thing on mono - and I'm not bashing anyone here: When you spool up your reel, if you ever notice a white powder on your fingers that have guided the line, don't use that line. It's the plasticizer coming out & the line is becoming very weak. (Remember to store your line out of direct sunlight-UV weakens mono)

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Outcast189]

i have used them, didn't care for them, but didn't have any line fraying. i switched to big jon releases and love them, will never look back.

chris

[f1sh-0n]

Longline, you are probably right about the strecthing and I am thinking it was probably happenning when i was releasing the clipped to check my line. I really had to yank hard to get them to release. Maybe I had them cranked down too much.

[LongLine]

F1 - You should not have to really yank on them to release them. The way I have mine set is to firmly lift/jerk the tip, probably 2 ft, & they'll release. IMO, sharp and proper sized hooks do more for hook-ups than cranked down releases.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[f1sh-0n]

When i worked on a charter boat I was always told to crank down the releases. It makes sense that you would get a better hook set if the release is tighter wouldn't it? Anyway I probably had over done it. As I really had to yank to get them to release. Althought the salmon had no problem releasing them.

[LongLine]

Charters generally know their gear & what it can withstand. I think, but i might be wrong, that I use lighter down lines than most guys. I also have 3 defined edges on most of my hooks.

Of course you have to realize that what works for one guy may not work for another and that is part of the challenge of fishing. i.e. finding out what works for you.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Captain Carl Bish]

From my limited experience on the lake, I have found that Blacks and Big Game work great together. When I want to run a lighter line on my "tight" Blacks I use a half hitched rubber band set into the release. My recommendation would be to save some money and switch from XT to big game, if you don't like the increase in diameter simply go with the next lighter pound test, what you are after with the big game is the abrasion resistance.