One of the most talked about releases in recent braid releases is the new 40G braid from Fins. Not only is it a big deal when a braid giant like Fins releases something new, it’s an even bigger deal when the product is truly revolutionary. I managed to sit down at the show with Fins founder and CEO Dave Burch who designed and produced Fins, the new 40G and many other well-known lines that are on the market today.
Dave explained that the main difference between Fins and any other line on the market is the fact that 40G has a coloured core that is then braided by another 8 strands over the top. This means that the line never loses colour, it doesn’t fade and it actually gets brighter when it’s wet.
On top of this it’s extremely thin in diametre for its breaking strain and it’s soft and smooth. Maybe the most amazing feature of this line, which Dave was able to demonstrate, was its ability to pull itself out of wind knots. Dave grabbed the line and twisted it all over itself until it looked like an absolute mess, he then just pulled on the line and the knotted mess just came undone. It really is quite amazing. If you try and do that with any other braided line the knot will just get tighter or it will snap.
My first test when putting 40G to use in the field was to see how it would knot with fluorocarbon and mono lines. I tied uni-to-uni, improved albright and FG knots and they all knotted perfectly and remained that way in use. I was using the 15lb 40G, which has a very thin diameter of .006 and an average breaking strain of 11.8kg when knotted. Refreshingly each packet of 40g states all the exact facts about the line including its mono equivalent in diametre (in this case 2lb), its dimatere in mm and inches and its average breaking strain which they list at well above its stated breaking strain. So to clarify this; if you use the 15lb line and your join knot is fairly average, the line will break at 15lb of pressure. If your knots are the best that the knot can be, you’re breaking strain will increase. This gives you a good idea of how much pressure you can put on the line.
40G is quiet and smooth through the runners and it casts beautifully. It’s extremely sensitive and the green colour when wet is bright enough to visually detect finicky bites. 40G is the perfect balance between a high-end braid and a fused line. It offers the ease of use a wiry fused line with the feel and performance of an expensive Japanese braid. This the perfect line for the beginner or the experienced angler.
