Berkley x9 Braid Fishing Line

Unbelievably smooth and castable, pluse ultra low visability under water.One of my 3 go to choices for my reels. No unfavorable issues, which means no headaches and more fishing.lets face it, braid is braid except for smoothness, tight weaves which create good spooling, and castability. Other than that braid strength, sensitivity, no stretch, and durability is almost the same for braids across the board.. Priced resonable for the quality. Crystal (white) almost invisable underwater. sometimes knot tying with white is a little more of a challange, but not a factor to me

I've been fishing with braids for years, and there's MANY brands out there now, almost too many to choose from. And now the latest entrants are the 8 strand and 9 strand.The advantages of braid are apparent, the one thing I like best about braids is the NO stretching, it REALLY makes a huge difference on hook setting and feeling those pesky nibblers. In fact, if I fish with mono or Fluro on a reel, it's almost like I can't imagine how I didn't notice the stretch on those over the years. Hook setting is instant and the castability with Braid is second to none.This X9 braid is very nice and casts very well, it's also nice cause it doesn't flatten out over time. Is that a huge issue? Probably not, but the round shape retention could possibly affect castability and distance over time, so I like to think it matters in the end. Good product and has upheld to saltwater conditions so far.NOW, you also have inherent challenges with braid, especially on spinning reels. You can, over time, develop wind knots, which is basically like a small tangle which turns into a tangle, in line, when you're casting. You'll feel it when it happens, as it abruptly goes through your eyelets and lets you know you have one. Hold up your rod to the sky and reel in, you'll find it. You may have to splice or remove a head section of line if it happens. SOMETIMES you can just pull on the knot, from both sides, and it'll clear itself, other times they don't and you have to cut them out. If you do cut them out, roll up the extra line and keep it with you, don't leave it outdoors or on the beach, not good for wildlife or critters that could get tangled in it.One way to avoid wind knots is to not load the spinning reel up to the very limit of the edge, leave about 3mm's behind the spool face. Also, when you get to the water, do a few casts, gradually in distance, and get the line wet, that helps too..Another challenge is the ability of the line to cut you. If you're using 40 pound or more it's not as bad, but if you're using 8, 10, 20 or 30 pounds, pulling hard enough and you could cut yourself so be careful on that.FWIW I also use braids (heavy braids) for fly line backing too. I mean, why not? You get a 75 or 90 pound braid and it's inexpensive, much MUCH stronger than Dacron and comes in longer lengths, it doesn't rot and it's cheaper..

I've tried them all and Berkeley makes the best braid. X9 is their premium product and it is a great value for the money. Strength and casting distance is incredibly important to me and I'm never disappointed with x9. I gave some to a fishing buddy for Christmas and he says it added 20% to his casting distance!

I got the 20lb test breaking point 37lbs. In lo vis green; I am surprised how flexible and how it it feels. It is not stiff line it’s soft and pliable better for casting. I used it on a spinning reel and it seems it will work great I did a couple of short casts and it flies off. Really nice quality now I can’t tell if it will bleed the color or if it will fray. So for that reason it gets 4 stars. I been using the other older lines I had from other brands. I hope this one becomes my new favorite. Good quality fairly thin for the strength. It’s real easy to make knots with this line. It’s not cheap but less expensive than some other brands.

The Berkeley X9 is fantastic braid for larger fish. It's 9 strands of braided line so it's a bit thicker but that's probably the only downside to this braided line. There is a bit of stretch to the line but no kinking at all. I also had no need to work the line enough so it would sit right on the spool of my reel. The other thing I noticed is that it didn't burn out my eyelets on my non braided fishing poles like normal braid does. But the biggest deal for me was that it was incredibly strong. Another positive is, I got about 10- 20 yards more out of my cast. I recommend this product. It's definitely worth the value.

Top notch braided line.9 strain , better for me.

Best of all its a little stiff which prevents wind knots. filled up a spinning reel and put on a half oz jig and casted as hard as i can and no wind knots. With the last brand, i had to take alot of line off the spool or it would knot up alot.

I used this line on my Daiwa Coastal SV TW baitcaster to replace Spiderwire Invisibraid and Daiwa J-Braid x8. The color is great in the hi-vis, however it does rub off. It doesn't feel as round as the aforementioned braids, despite being 8 strands with a single core. It does cast and retrieve quietly however and doesn't seem to leave any waxy residue like PP V2 superslick. It does feel more abrasive than 8-strand J braid. My main complaint is that it swells with water more than the aforementioned lines, which if you over fill your spool or fill it to max capacity, the line with swell and interfere with the frame of the reel. I did not have these issues with Spiderwire, Daiwa, or Powerpro V2 super slick. Overall it casts well but it does have some serious downsides to consider. I love the color, but I'll probably stick to Daiwa x8.Pros:Cast smoothVery manageable and limpNo waxy resideCons:Absorbs a LOT of waterBleeds colorPricey compared to other braids of similar caliberVS Spiderwire Invisibraid-Spiderwire has thick diameter, is waxy, but very tough line, doesn't cast that greatVs Daiwa X8-Daiwa is similar diameter, casts and handles similar, Daiwa frays easierVs PP V2-PP V2 is more wirey, has a waxy coating, strong line for its rating, digs into itself on spool pretty easy, expensvie