Is It A 4, Is It An 8, No It's SuperBraid, by Yo-Zuri

Total Score: 7.58 - GOOD

Introduction: There was a time when Yo-Zuri Hybrid was the only line I fished. While there have been other line products to come and go for the manufacturer, that copoly is surprisingly still around. Then again maybe not so surprisingly since it is a good product. On a recent search for some new lines to try, I decided to check in with Yo-Zuri and was happy to find a new-to-me braid product so I bought a couple of spools to check out. Introducing Yo-Zuri's SuperBraid fishing line.

Background: Yo-Zuri debuted their SuperBraid about four or five years ago. It is made from the polyethylene product Izanas, same material found in Daiwa's JBraid Grand. Yo-Zuri takes an interesting approach with this line making it with only 4 strands for the 10 to 40 pound test while the 50 to 80 pound test are made with 8 strands. Usually a manufacturer will stick with just one strand count through an entire product. If the strand counts change, we usually see two different product lines.

Introducing Yo-Zuri SuperBraid

Impressions: Intrigued by this strategy, I purchased a spool of the 4 strand 40 and 8 strand 50 to see if there were any tangible differences. Running a length of each line between the fingers, one after the other, there is definitely a difference in texture. As expected, the 4 strand 40 has a rougher texture than the 50. The 50 is actually quite smooth, typical of the 8 strand composition. Both lines feature a very subtle waxy coating that does not seem to affect the line's body or limpness too much. Checking out their diameters with a micrometer, I got an average of 0.306mm for the 40 pound and 0.334 for the 50. The average for each was taken by measuring 5 different spots over the length of 5 feet of line.

Yozuri SuperBraid is available in 10lb - 80lb test

Real World Tests: I spooled the 40lb SuperBraid on my Shimano Bantam MGL and mounted it on my Kistler Helium He3-H-711 as a non-traditional crankbait combo towing a Rapala BX Big Brat through weed beds, and chose my 13 Fishing Concept Z SLD as home for the 50lb first on board an Edge Rods Black Widow 807-1 swimbait stick then on board my Kistler Zbone ZB3LMH73 for some bladed/swim jig action with Megabass of America's Uoze Swimmer tipped with an XZone Pro Series Swammer paddletail.

It almost looks like a laser coming off my Concept Z SLD

Casting: Both the 40 and 50 pound test Yo-Zuri SuperBraids cast and handle nicely. That coating over the line is not excessive, so there is none of that break-in period waiting for the line to become more manageable. In fact, I really liked how the 50 handled on my Concept Z SLD. So much so, that I ended up switching rods one day because the swimbait bite wasn't happening and I wanted to see how the line handled under pressure of a fish.

I fished the 8 strand 50 on my Concept Z SLD and the 4 strand 40 on my Bantam MGL

Abrasion: This is where Yo-Zuri SuperBraid does not align with the way I fish. We all know that braided lines, in general, are not suited for fishing in environments where there are truly hard, abrasive surfaces. The strategy with braid when it comes to resisting abrasion is to either go with a thicker than normal line essentially resisting the abrasion by using more material, or tie on a leader of fluorocarbon or nylon mono.

8 strand on top, 4 strand on bottom

The ability to dish out the abrasion and cut its way out of weedy environments is becoming the metric by which braid is measured lately. In this instance, 4 strands are generally better at this than 8 strands because of their more coarse texture. Except some of that original definition of abrasion tends to hold true here. Usually, if you're fishing in weedy environments, you'll choose a thicker braid with that coarse texture.

Bunched up in my hand and dropped on the surface of our work bench, SuperBraid is somewhat stiff off the spool

By only offering their 4 strand version of SuperBraid in 40 pound test and below, Yo-Zuri kind of takes away this strategy. The 40 pound is just barely thick enough for me to comfortably fish a bladed/swimming jig, paddletail, or squarebill crank through the weeds, but I wouldn't be comfortable flipping or pitching with it. For that, I'd go with 50 pound or above which isn't a problem, but then I don't get the advantage of that more coarse texture to more easily cut its way out of the weeds. This isn't a huge issue for me, but it is a bit odd and counter intuitive.

The 4 strand is rough in texture but not terribly noisy through the guides

Noise: The noise factor through the guides with this line is pretty good. The 50 pound was relatively quiet and the 40 was more quiet than I expected given its texture. In all three instances, however, I was using fishing rods wrapped with guides that had some type of ceramic insert. None of these rods had bare metal guides where that grinding sound of the braid is really enhanced. Just the same, if I did not notice any sound while fishing, it's a good thing, and I didn't notice much coming from either strength of Yo-Zuri SuperBraid.

Verifying the strand counts

Price varies depending on strength, but averages to $0.10 per yard on their 150 yard filler spools

Ratings:

Pluses and Minuses:

Not quite super, but definitely very, very good