Braid Has Come Of Age
Thinking Anglers’ new SBX braided main line combines a previous unlikely braid pairing of ox-like strength with ice skater finesse
Carp anglers who fished with braided main lines were once a rare breed, reliant on just a handful of American or Japanese brands to enable them to spool up. Now, though, braid fishing is much more mainstream and you only have to look at the number of UK-based carp brands offering woven main lines as evidence for this leap in popularity.
Thinking Anglers have now entered the fray with SBX and it’s the epitome of a modern braid designed for carp angling rather than hauling bass from the Florida Everglades. It has a tightly woven round profile and a blend of fast-sinking fibres. Thinking Anglers say it also casts well and is much more user-friendly than braids of old, which were prone to tangles and wind knots. Crucially, TA have got the colouration spot-on thanks to a green braided base interspersed with black sections to break up its outline and provide camouflage across various aquatic environments. And our early tests suggest that colour won’t ‘wash out’ in quite the same way that older braids used to do in years gone by.
SBX is only available in a single breaking strain, which in our eyes is a good thing. Anglers familiar with mono diameters and breaking strains can sometimes be confused by choice when it comes to braid, so Thinking Anglers have taken out the guesswork and given us a one-size-fits-all 40lb braid. It’s available in 300m or 600m spools; the latter coming with markers at 200m, 300m and 400m.
