Excuse my dyslexic typos btw.

The Bullet Proof PE Braid line is breaking mid line and not on the knots. Two possibility’s, one is that this is a faulty batch of braid and they are unaware, or two, they are knowingly selling a product that is not as described. 

Digging into the links posted above yielded this - http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32&p=52&sid=656a4331f080ea9b0f13549666934...

 

Claims that self testing braid is pretty much impossible and will under test by 50% (I realise yours is breaking under 50% but just using it as an example). Seems to know what he is talking about but at the same time there is a table of lines that have massively overtested, something that in my experience just doesn't happen. Have been a member of a number of fishing clubs over the years and have never heard of a record catch being invalidated or shunted into the next highest class because it overtested, so who really knows lol.

 

The line manufacturers and the big fishing bodies (GFAA, IGFA etc) all test on an Instron machine which costs many thousands of dollars so unless a rec fisherman has access to one it's not really going to be an apples to apples comparison anyway.

 

130 popping at 40 mid-line is obviously a worry but there could be numerous logical reasons for it, one of which is obviously a faulty batch. Drag setting at 30% should render most manufacturing defects redundant anyway, although 130/40 is definitely sailing a bit close to the breeze! Obviously up to you how you wanted to proceed but I wouldn't automatically assume something underhanded is going on, maybe return the line minus 4 or 5 metres and submit that to the IGFA and see what they find?

If it breaks mid line then there are weak spots in the line, ie it is faulty, not a rating issue. The knot will always be weaker than line, as long as line is uniform without local imperfections.

 

That is leaving aside of course any in use abrasion on the line, which is a weakness of braid.

 

 

Not too bad on a 3kg chinese power pro copy!

 

55cm Mangrove Jack...

 

Well done, that's a monster Jack! Where'd you catch him, and how much did he weigh?

Thank you!  Yeah, I was pretty chuffed. We guesstimated around 3kgs, but not having any scales, and being fishos...well?

It was returned to the water shortly after the photo session, to swim away unharmed.

 

Anyway, it was caught in a Gold Coast lake last November, (I'm sworn to secrecy, on pain of death), on a live mullet, and as stated, on 3kg chinese braid - and was my 1st Jack.

 

Don't know what I'm going to do to top that!

I don't think 3kg is too much of a stretch, and good on you for releasing him after taking your photo. I was going to ask if you used live bait or a popper but you already answered my question. If I was chasing big Jacks, I might be inclined towards trying Hinze Dam myself. 😉

Yep. Heard good reports from Hinze - trouble is, I fly up - so no boat. Everything has to be landbased.

Still, with Jacks like him, metre+ giant herring, hooked and dropped, dart and whiting in the surf, 50metres from where we stay, life's not too shabby!

Still at the missus to retire up there somewhere!

 

S'funny - the guy who introduced me to his secret honey hole, told me they'd only fire on live bait, but I went back 3-4 times after, and flogged the water to foam, with every popper, stickbait, minnow and soft plastic - to no avail. Not even a follow!

While the Gold Coast definitely has a lot going for it, if it's fishing you're interested in, you could do a lot worse than retiring anywhere between say Coffs Harbour and the Qld/NSW border area. That gives you virtually 400km of some of the best unspoiled beaches, estuaries, rivers & lakes from which to choose.

You should spend a few days touring up up the Pacific with your missus and stopping overnight at places like Brunswick Heads, Nambucca Heads, Macksville, Maclean, Urunga, and literally scores of other wonderful towns and villages which are much cheaper than the Gold Coast, and your biggest problem will be trying to choose where you want to live. 😉

You could spend the rest of your life there and never fish the same place twice. Talk about heaven!