Ultima Power Braid Line

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I am a staunch advocate of using a braided mainline for the majority of my angling, but there are several factors that are imporant to me in whether or not it stays on the reels or ends up as expensive backing line or hooklink material.

When Ultima sent up to UKMA some of their Power Braid to review, I was adament to the rest of the team that I put it through its paces as I can compare it the many others I have used - both successfully and not so successfully.

For the majority of my angling, I prefer to use a sinking braid, but the problem with sinking braids is that they tend to be of a higher diameter than floating or neutral bouyancy materials which means that they don't cast as well as thinner diameters. Also sinking braids are constructed from heavier materials which cause the line to drop quickly in the air, as well as in the water, which also can restrict casting distance.

With these thoughts in mind, Ultima have set about to develop what they feel to be the perfect sinking braid in Power Braid.

The first thing that you notice upon looking at the braid is that the profile of the braided fibres is round. Most sinking or neutral braids are flat which is where they get the lowr diameter from. With a sinking braid, a true round profile allows water to be taken into to the material aiding the sinking process. A round profile also allows for a better line lay as with flat braids on a fixed spool reel twist due to the nature that the line is placed on the spool, leaving the line lay slightly uneven. With a round braid the twist is still present but the linelay is uniform allowing the coils to leave the spool smoother. Power Braid sits on the spools of my reels as well as any monofilament that I have used. Unlike most of the other sinking braids available, Ultima have somehow managed to obtain seriously low diameters for the breaking strains compared to the competition. The 18lb Power Braid that we were sent has a diameter of 0.18mm which was taken from the calibrated digital micrometer that I use for all line tests! even after being left to soak in water overnight, the expansion of the braided fibres was less than 0.01mm from the dry diameter.

As previously mentioned, because sinking braids are constructed of heavier materials, casting potential is slightly restricted through physics, but Power Braid casts very well in comparison to other sinking braids that I have used. My normal sinking braid is known not to be a great casting line and 100 yards is obtainable with it, but that is with a very hard cast and a large lead. Power Braid casts extremely well and could be mistaken for being a neutral bouyancy braid because of this. 100 yards with Power Braid is easily reached with a standard overhead chuck.

Where Power Braid really comes into its own is how fast the material sinks. I must admit that I was a little scepticle of the claims that Power Briad sinks "almost twice as fast as other braids", but after using the line, I can confirm that Power Braid does sink a fair bit faster than the other sinking braid that I was previously using! This makes Power Braid perfect for slack lining and setting your traps with the least amount of fuss whilst waiting for the braid to sink properly along the contours of the venue.

Power Braid, like most braids, has as close to zero stretch as is possible. There is very little stretch along a 20 metre length of Power Braid that even the slightest of movements will be shown on the indicators. This makes Power Braid perfect for use with boats where baits are taken out several hundred yards and control of fish from the bank is made so much easier.

Abrasion resistance is also very good indeed and I have used it over the summer on weedy waters with no problems of the braid fluffing up after being reeled back through medium density weed beds.

The weed green colouration of the braid blends in nicely on almost every substrate that I have placed it over, and once in the water could easily be mistaken as a strand of weed - and we all know that fish are not scared of weed.

One word of warning I will point out is that with other sinking braids I never bothered to use a casting glove or finger stall unless I was fishing long range with heavy weights, but with Power Braid it is very important that some sort of protection is used on you casting finger during the cast else you may end up losing the end of your finger at the worst case scenario, and at the very least end up with a painful cut to your finger. It is also important that due to the lower diameters that it is used with either tubing or a leader of some sort so that any potential of lifting scales off a fish during the fight is lowered as much as possible.

Ultima have produced Power Braid in several breaking strains ranging from 15lb (016mm diameter) through to 30lb (0.25mm diameter), all of which are available on 250 or 500 metre spools. Expect to pay in the region of £30 for a 250 metre spool or £60 for the 500 metre size.

Final Thoughts

Overall I have used most of the popularsinking braided reel lines available and stuck with the one that suited me the most. After trying the Ultima Power Braid, I am converted. I will be removing the old braid that I used and will be respooling up with this line exclusively for all my sinking braid requirements. I have also started to use Power Braid as a hooklink material due to the way it sinks, meaning that I don;t have to mess about running the material through putty to get it pinned to the deck.

The price of Power Braid may seem high at first look, but when you think that you could get up to 4 or 5 years worth of use out of the material (I aways rotate the braid every season by simply reeling it onto a new spool so the unused length is on top) because it does not deteriorate in UV light like monofilament lines, as well as not suffering from line twist like stiffer materials. I have never got less than 2 years out of a spool of braid in the past and even at this length of time, £15 per rod per season is good value for money in anyones book!

Power Braid is seriously good stuff and solves almost all the negatives that sinking braids have suffered from in the past. Top marks Ultima!

For more information on the Pure Power or on any of the other products in the Ultima range, please click the image below to go to the Ultima website.