This is the best braid I have used.... until the next best comes along!!
Owner – Kizuna Broad PE X8 Braid
I get into a bit of a quandary when it comes to braid. For my “normal boat fishing” I am quite prepared to use older types of braid, four strand, a bit thicker than the more modern stuff but perfectly adequate for the job in hand – Bait fishing while drifting or at anchor.
When it comes to my lure fishing I am as demanding an angler than most about my braid and I’ll use the best I can get in order to help improve my chances. Firstly, I am not of the school of thought that you can use heavy braid as it has a smaller diameter than mono. No, when it comes to lure fishing I am only looking for the thinnest, strongest braid I can get; braid that “handles” and performs well. Bass angling in my area of the coast has me settled on 20lb breaking strain in the thinnest form I can get. Believe me I would use 5lb breaking strain if I thought I could but it just does not offer the pulling power needed to pull through weedy snags. I have tried heavier I have tried lighter – 20lb is my go to.
As much and even more as any item in your fishing armoury, braid has evolved over the years and recent years have seen an acceleration of technology in weaving and fibre. Apart from the weaved braid we have seen the extruded polyethylene line like Nanofil promise much but becoming sort of a marmite type offering – People seem to love it or hate it!
When “Super Braids” hit the market I was at the front of the que saying “take my money”. I could see the advantage of having the thinnest line for a given breaking strain. It was at this stage where tightly woven 8-strand became the mecca for lure anglers. My first encounter was Strikpro Strikewire. What line! I also was using Suffix 832. I tried a few others but other than using Maxima recently I was happy with my line and therefore saw little need to change.
I was shown some Owner Kizuna Broad PE X8 at a trade show. At first touch I felt it was an extruded line like Nanofil or Gliss until I took a closer look and of course read the blurb. Here was an 8-strand from Japan that utilises the most modern weaving techniques. It is incredibly smooth and supple. My first thought was: “this is going to be a bitch to knot!”
I had to wait a few months to get the line spooled up on a Daiwa Prorex 2500 that I used for a lot of my bass fishing. I wasn’t so fussed in spooling on my heavier lure set up as this is used “outside” in deeper waters where the thinner profile does not bother me that much. I spooled up and because I did a bit of guessing I ended up just about over filling the spool. I suffered a horrible wind knot (and I don’t get many) on my first outing and I lost the offending overspool! If I had my doubts on that session they were soon dispelled. What a magnificent line! Beautiful to cast. It has a feathery fall through the air even when wet. It probably punches above its weight for the stated diameter I have been breaking more at the leader than at the braid. As for being a bitch to knot? I use a Yucatan Knot for my leader. I tend to use more wraps than before on the Kizuna and I make sure to wet the knot before cinching it down slowly at first. I’m not having any problems, in fact it is lovely to knot with. I won’t even go into the ALB weaving process, you can read that on the back of the box!!
In conversation within some of my fishing mates I have been boring them to death extolling the virtues of “my find”. One by one they have tried it out (maybe just to get rid of me harping on). I have never had such a reaction. They are all hooked!! Andy Davies, one of the best bass anglers I know, has been blown away. He has gradually spooled all his reels with Kizuna for both his salt and freshwater fishing. I took the plunge and spooled my heavier outfit.
Now, this line is not going to compete with the cheaper braids out there, 8-strand or not. It is Owner brand so therefore it has a quality name to live up to. The Owner hooks we all know are rated with the best! It will set you back somewhere in the mid-twenties in Euro for a 150 yard (135m) spool of 9.2kg (20lb) breaking strain. If it was just me, I’d be saying it could be just one guys impression. When everybody who has it loves it – Well, there’s a bit more to it other than hype.
I have now been using this braid for almost two seasons. This could be termed a long term review!! I felt there was little point in writing until I had really put it through its paces.
Notes: Owner Kizuna is made from IZANAS. Now before you wonder further IZANAS is the new trade name for Dyneema which is the trade name for Extremely High Strength Hi-Modulus Polyethylene – Which we call braid when it is woven into fishing line. They do say it has some improvements the more interesting being better abrasion resistance than before.
Yes, I know you can buy braid a lot cheaper from China. Yes, most of it is fine it may not be the thinnest but it works fine. A mate of mine was on the boat with me. We are drifting with bait when he got a great take. Bang! Bang! Bang!… and gone. His braid parted mid-water for no apparent reason. I don’t get fishing as often as I’d like. I am not taking a chance with my braid. This Kizuna is quality stuff.
