There are countless brands of braided lines on our market. Like anything, some are good and others are junk. I fish an average of about 200 days a year and go fishing to actually catch fish, rather than simply enjoy the scenery, so the quality of my tackle is paramount.

Sunline braids have been my braid of choice for a few years and I’m yet to encounter any sort of problems with their lines. There are however, a few different types of Sunline braids to suit a variety of situations and budgets. So let’s take a closer look.

Castaway was the first Sunline braid I tried; I spooled up one reel with 10lb Castaway and another with 16lb. The first two things that were obvious were the ultra fine diameter of the line and the extra casting distance that could be achieved with it.

The only minor glitch I encountered was the first few knots I tied failed. That was easily overcome by simply taking my time to make sure I had tied the knots securely.

Once that was out of the way I continued to use the Castaway PE and I still use it now. The 12lb Castaway is now my main bass fishing line.

The Castaway is a high-grade, 8-strand braid made from a combination of dyneema and high specific gravity polyester. It’s IGFA rated, which means it will break at just on or slightly under the nominated breaking strain. I put the 10lb Castaway through some testing with digital scales and almost every time it broke right on 4.5kg, which is about 10lb.

Castaway is a premium quality PE braid which may be at the more expensive end of the spectrum, but quite simply, you get what you pay for.

I prefer to use Rock Fish PE braid for bream, as it’s bright orange colour helps me keep track of any subtle movements in the line when fishing with soft plastics.

The ultra-fine diameter translates to excellent casting distance, which is a great advantage when using surface lures in shallow water. Being so fine, this brain is also less affected by wind or current which means there is a more direct feel with the lure.

The only problem I ever have with this line is it’s so fine sometimes my eyes have trouble tying knots in low light, but perhaps that’s more a case of me needing glasses!

Rock Fish PE is another high-grade dyneema, but it’s 4-strand rather than 8 like the Castaway and it’s the thinnest braid in the Sunline range. Over time it doesn’t fade or deteriorate much at all and seems to be quite abrasion resistant, considering how fine it is.

Super PE is available in bright green or white, but I prefer the green colour for visibility when I go rock or beach fishing. This is a more conservatively priced line, however, after using it for all manner of rock, beach, offshore and estuary fishing I’ve never had even the slightest problem with it.

I’ve had the Super PE brain spooled on a Saltiga Surf rod which I’ve used for beach fishing over the past two years and the line still retains its original green colour and shows no sign of deterioration thanks to the special surface finish Sunline use which reduces fading and increases line smoothness.

The Super PE is also a favourite when spinning for tailor and salmon or when rock fishing for blackfish and drummer. In the estuary I have it on a couple of different reels which are mainly used for flathead, jewfish or squid. I like using Super PE and would recommend it to anyone for a wide variety of applications.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the specialist jigging line, PE Jigger 8HG, which as the name suggests, is an 8-strand, high-grade PE line. This line has a special, ultra-smooth outer surface which translates to a faster sink rate with jigs so they get down to the strike zone in no time.

The PE Jigger 8HG is also colour coded, to help you know how much line is out. There is a white mark every 1m, then a change of colour every 20m, so if the fish are sitting at 60m, it’s easy enough to tell when the right amount of line is out.

As a side note, I’ve tried this line for lure casting from the beach and its ultra smooth surface also gives excellent casting distance.

Two other Sunline options for jigging are the PE Jigger HG Light Special and the Deep One Super PE, both of which I’m yet to try, although judging by the quality and performance of the other braids, I’m sure they would be good.

Another line that has sinking properties is the PE Egi Sinking which is ideal for deepwater lure presentations. It comes in a bright pink, which may be highly visible to us, but is much less visible to fish as it sinks through the water column.

The Egi sinking is another high-grade, 8-strand braid.

The HG or high-grade PE lines are 20% thinner for the same breaking strain than standard PE such as the Super PE.

As a matter of interest, the knots I use are a 15-18-turn Albright (without doubling the mainline) for the majority of my rock, beach, estuary and bass fishing. However, when jigging or lure casting for kings, bonito or other larger fish I use a modified PR knot with extra half hitches.

Overall, I’ve found the range of Sunline braids very impressive and would certainly recommend giving them a go for whatever style of fishing you do.