Kryston Jackal

Kryston are the originators of the coated braid, with the launch of SnakeSkin, SnakeBite, Mantis, etc all being massive hits with the angler in the know. Coated braids are like "Marmite" to anglers - they either love them or hate them. I must be honest and say that I am in the latter group (due to not really being keen on them and preferring to make my own combilinks up) so when I was asked to review the new Jackal hooklink material from Kryston, I screwed my face up and started cursing under my breath!

Jackal has been developed almost from scratch compared to some other coated braids, in that everything has been rethought over compared to materials of old. This is not to say that Jackal will make the other coated braids useless - as every hooklink in a manufacturers range has been developed to do a certain job - but it will do all the jobs that a coated braid should do correctly.

The inner braided material is constructed from Spectra fibres which is one of the strongest known man-made filaments being ten times stronger than Steel for the sam diameters! Spectra fibres are also resilient to sharp edge damage, making it the perfect material for fishing over snags, but requires a very good and sharp pair of scissors to cut through cleanly. Spectra fibres are also lightweight and naturally float in water. This can be neutralised by rubbing some Heavy Metal or Drop'Em into the fibres to sink it to deck.
The inner braid is also supple as well which is due partly to the thin diameter of the braided fibres. As the braided fibres are so thin for the given breaking strains, I would always go for the highest breaking strain as I could get away with to minimise any cheesewire effect to the fishes mouth. This is not a criticism of Jackal or and hooklink in particular, but a general observation that a lot of anglers overlook and helps to alleviate part of the problem that can cause "parrot mouths" and preserve our stocks. Pound for pound, Jackal is the thinnest of any of the coated braids I have seen.

The other important area to look at with coated braids is the outer coating. I am pleased to say that Kryston have basically got the coating used on Jackal virtually perfect. The coating is not overly thick but is resiliant without being too stiff. The coating is far from the suppleness of some rival coated braids in the same way it is not as stiff as some of the others which require steaming to get perfectly straight. If the coating is at the extreme lengths of the spectrum either way, they become difficult to tie without the coating splitting as the knot tightens down on itself. With Jackal, the coating can be tightened down all the way when moistened without breaking and the knot then relying on the inner braid to take the pressure (as well as creating a supple hinge at the knot).

I have tied the normal knots in Jackal and found that the breaking strain is hardly affected at all. The best knots during the testing were the ones that Kryston recommend on the leaflet supplied with the material, although if you have a preferred knot, the breaking strain is reduced but not by a lot due to the tenacity of the Spectra fibres, compared to some other similar materials

Both the coating and the inner braid have been tinted with the dye used to create the colours that the material is sold in. Jackal is available in Silt, Gravel and Weed colourations and in breaking strains of 20 and 30lb in each colouration.

Final Thoughts

I am not going to lie and say that Jackal has completely changed my mind on the way I feel about coated braids, but I will be giving it a good go in situations where it could be beneficial for me to use one. Due to the diameter of the inner Spectra braid, I will be using it in the 30lb breaking strain version for reasons mentioned at the start of this review, but I can see the 20lb version being perfect for smaller species such as Tench or Bream in snag free environments. Jackal is definately up there with the best of the rest - if not at the very top - that I have looked at or used and is the most versatile with regards to the stiffness. Again Dave Chilton has come up with the goods & should be applauded.

For more information on any of the Kryston product range, please click the image below.