Quick Guide: Top 5 Braided Lines for GT Fishing

Just getting into GT fishing? Wondering what GT fishing braid to load onto your new reels? Here are our top 5 recommendations.

Another pricey part of but essential part of your fishing system, attaching fish of a lifetime to the angler. Save money somewhere else, not on your fishing line.

These are our top 5 recommended braided fishing line for topwater GT fishing or any topwater big game fishing for that matter.

We’ve discussed the leaders, which is another important part of the fishing system, but now let’s focus on your main line.

When it comes to Giant Trevally, you need to invest in the best braided line you can afford, so you can fish with utmost confidence.

You don’t want to have any second thoughts when putting pressure on a monster GT running towards the reef.

Below we’ve listed our top 5 GT braided fishing lines that you should consider getting for your next GT expedition.

Nowadays, when everything is available online and shipping internationally is common, we are spoilt for options.

Let’s check out our top 5 GT fishing lines:

1. Tasline Elite White

The top choice for serious GT anglers this side of the world. Tasline Elite is made in New Zealand, from the finest Spectra sourced from the USA.

This braid is very soft and smooth to the touch, that you’d be forgiven to think that this is not braided fishing line.

This smoothness and suppleness are achieved by not applying any coatings, keeping the braided line pure.

It is so smooth to the touch that we can cast with this line without gloves! (Please, use gloves.)

Tasline perfected and uses their own heat treatment process to bond the fibers together.

With such a smooth and soft line, there is less friction on the guides and spool lip, leading to longer casts.

And most importantly, they can withstand the daily use and abuse of charter fishing.

We have Tasline loaded onto all our topwater and jigging charter equipment.

Exposed to the harsh saltwater environment of saltwater charter fishing daily, they are Vanuatu tried and tested.

2. Varivas Avani GT Max Power Plus

This is an extremely GT fishing braid, especially for our friends in South East Asia.

As with all things related to fishing that is made in Japan, you know that you have a quality product when you buy Varivas.

The VARIVAS Avani GT Max power plus was designed specifically for GT.

With visibility, durability, and impact strength prioritized, as needed for the extreme pressures this type of fishing encounters.

This line will feel very stiff and “plasticky” at the beginning due to the layers of coatings applied to the line during the manufacturing process.

Your gloves, especially your casting finger will get a beating. But after a few break-in sessions, it’ll feel a lot better in use.

This coating helps resist ‘fluffing’ for longer and keeps the line smoother for longer, allowing for slick travel through the guides for longer casts.

A lot of our mates who go GT fishing around the world swear by them and use Varivas GT Max Power Plus exclusively on their reel arsenals.

The high-vis orange color helps a lot when fishing in rough fishing conditions, allowing you to track where your lure is at all times.

3. Varivas Avani Casting PE Max Power

The cheaper alternative to the GT Max Power, this  Avani series PE braided line is still placed high among big fish anglers.

Similar to other Varivas braided lines, this has a super fluorine coating, which helps smoothen the line and reduce friction, allowing for longer casts.

It employs Varivas’ Max Power material, which they claim has more than 50% additional strength than ordinary Dyneema or Spectra.

And like all Japanese PE lines, it has a very thin diameter for its breaking strain.

Again, another very high-quality braid worthy of being loaded onto your Shimano Stella’s and Saltiga’s.

4. Shimano Ocea 8 Premium PE

The standard “you can never go wrong” choice is once again from the Shimano stable of fishing products.

The Shimano Ocea 8 PE line is a Japanese made braid that Shimano says has a 25% greater strength compared to their older EX8 braids.

Can’t really vouch for this “increase in strength”, but it performs well on the water.

The Ocea 8 Premium PE has a coating that Shimano calls “Heat Sink coating”, making the line slicker for casting distance.

This coating makes the line feel stiff out of the box and requires some breaking in before you can enjoy the casting sensation.

They only come in ‘metered’ colors, that change every 10m.

Potentially, to save on production costs, making this more of a multi-purpose line suitable to topwater and jigging.

The color of your line won’t matter to the fish. But it may be a concern for our obsessive-compulsive friends who love color matching.

5. Jerry Brown LINE ONE Solid

An oldie but a goodie. Jerry Brown has been a staple in the big game fishing world since the early 2000’s when braided line was just starting to get popular.

Jerry Brown Line One Solid braid is manufactured in the USA using the highest quality spectra available.

Without any recent innovations in its design and manufacturing, it has fallen back in terms of diameter to strength ratio.

But it is still super supple and smooth, allowing for an enjoyable casting experience.

Similar to Tasline Elite, it doesn’t have a coating, so there is no break-in period required. Load up and cast hard from the get-go.

Jerry Brown Line One has stood the test of time and still performs well to this day.

Another no brainer choice in our opinion.

Verdict

Investing in high-quality braided line for GT fishing is a no brainer. The amount of pressure, stress, abuse, and friction your line will be put under is extreme.

But with the 5 braid choices above, it may seem daunting to select one to load onto your reels. Which should you choose?

In the ideal world, I’d recommend that you try all of them, then find out which one you prefer.

Tasline and Jerry Brown are extremely nice to the touch, smooth and supple. But they have no protective coatings, so they wear out faster and are prone to ‘fluffing’.

The Japanese braids have ‘scientifically designed’ coatings to help to extend their lifespans but make the lines stiff and hard to use at the start.

All 5 options are good, and there is no wrong choice.

Nowadays, when everything is available online and shipping internationally is common, we are spoilt for options and it is just a matter of which to add to our carts.

Which among the 5 will you choose?

If you are looking for a true sport fishing company that offers you more than just a Vanuatu fishing adventure, look no further than Ocean Blue Fishing.

We’ve currently got a $2000 Rediscover Adventure Promotion going on. You’ll get a $2000 voucher to use on your next booking with us! If you are keen, check out the promo here

Call us now at (AU) 1300 564 616 or at (INTL) +61 436 020322 or you may also contact us through our website at www.oceanbluefishing.com/enquire

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John Cruz
An avid angler first, and try hard writer second, John's extensive guiding experience throughout Asia and Papua New Guinea has allowed him to absorb a vast amount of fishing knowledge. The knowledge that he wants to share without the bull that surrounds our passion and sport.

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