Gosen Roots PEx8 braid review - £23.99 for a 150m spool

If you have never heard of Gosen braids then I will forgive you your sins, but in fact I believe it’s only been Ben Field at the Art of Fishing who has been the sole “pusher” of these fine lines in the UK for a good while now. Ben knows his Japanese brands especially, and when he says to me that I need to check this stuff out, I take note. I have a bit of experience of a pink coloured Gosen 8-strand braid from a few years ago now, but recently I have been putting this bright green coloured Gosen Roots PEx8 braid in the PE#1.2/25lb version through its paces…………….

I don’t have literally hundreds of hours of experience with this Roots PEx8 braid like I do say Sufix 131, Sufix 832, or more recently Berkley Sick X8, but I reckon I know a proper braid when it’s on my reel (in this case the interesting new Tailwalk Speaky 3500S XGX spinning reel, about the same size as a Shimano 4000/C5000, my ideal reel handle/knob as well). I have fished with this Roots PEx8 braid a fair few times now, so whilst I can’t yet tell you that it’s a truly brilliant mainline, my initial impressions are that this is a very serious, modern braid for a really good price. It’s one of those ultra-smooth, very thin braids which literally purrs off your reel and flies through your guides so quietly and efficiently. Because it’s so thin I’d be tempted to say sod it and go up to the PE#1.5/30lb, just because I can’t see how I would be losing out whilst giving myself a smidgen more abrasion resistance. My feeling is that you could spend a good bit more money and end up with a mainline which doesn’t feel or perform any better than this Roots PEx8 braid.

If I was fishing purely into the gnarliest ground going then I’d be drawn more to something like Berkley Sick X8 or Sufix 832, but for a lot of lure anglers plying their trade over a good mix of terrain I’d be very tempted by how much performance I feel I am getting with this Roots PEx8 braid. There are a lot of really good braids out there these days, and this one feels like it might well be right up there - at a price which I think is pretty damn good. Sufix 131 stands alone for me with how it feels like one complete line when I am running it through my fingers if that makes any sense at all, but it’s bloody expensive and I quite understand that a lot of anglers are never going to pay that much for a single spool of braid.

So I accept that it’s not remotely scientific, but when I run this Roots PEx8 braid through my fingers it feels lovely. It works perfectly with my FG leader knot to whatever fluorocarbon leader I choose to use, and I haven’t had any unexpected breakages when I have “eased” a couple of lures out of potential snags. I fish a lot these days with the white coloured 36lb Berkley Sick X8 braid - to me it’s more like say a 25lb 8-strand mainline, the figures don’t quite tell the whole story - and I seriously trust the stuff. But without a doubt it drags a tiny bit more if I am fishing more sideways on to waves rolling in for example, whereas with this thin as you like Roots PEx8 braid I get none of that. I only know about Gosen braids because Ben at the Art of Fishing is so knowledgeable and kindly keeps me up to date, and I find this Gosen Roots PEx8 braid to be a very interesting mix of serious performance at a very sensible price. I am also very interested to learn more about a brand new 16-strand Gosen braid which I believe is due into the UK very soon. Keep an eye out on the Art of Fishing website for the Gosen Answer Casting PEx16. It won’t be cheap, but help!

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