Just in case anyone is looking for a new Fishing Line.....

[manlystanley]

I just wanted to share my experiences with Fishing Line. I know everyone has there own special brand they use. Further, there is: Mono, Braid, Floro side wars as well. I have tried them all. I spent years looking at all kinds of line. I have, at times: Trashed all the line on my reels, just to put on a new line that I liked even less.

What I have settled on is: Berkley Trilene Big Game. I know: High memory, lots of stretch, etc. But, it's cheap (just like me), easy to find and lasts a long time. For me, braid is just a pain, I hate tying the extra uni-to-uni knot or the slim-beauty to put on a mono/Floro leader. So, just in case anyone is looking for a new line, you might want to give my cheap-o brand a try.

Everyone: Please feel free to off your opinions, and feedback. Also, maybe some newer people would find this interesting.

Best Regards,
Stan

[mchottie]

After pullage (and losting) several large fish, i've switched to braid on everything. Cost-friendly, I prefer spiderwire, but you're right, for every mono/braid/fluoro argument there's always the spider-braid/powerpro-braid argument as well.I picked up a few of the Sufix 832 yellow at the recommendation of Capt LTJ, but have not yet spooled them up. I did recently purchase some spiderwire "easybraid" and had several breakoffs of 15lb on two different reels. Cheaper is not always better, or maybe I got a bad batch of the 15lb, I normally only use 20lb but casting farther with smaller diameter line was my goal. I'm not as advanced as most, I tie straight braid onto every lure/rig I use, no leaders.

[BassMoore]

my favorite is P Line Fluroclear.

It has a fluro coating on it but its a mono. The stretch is relatively low. with less viability in the water .

I use this on every rod for every type of fishing.

The casting distance is really really nice and its a quality price

[Romo]

Sufix 832 all the way! I will use cabelas, seaguar or yo-zuri flouro leader attached by a uni-to-uni which you can eventually tie in your sleep if you do it long enough. You get the best of both worlds - the zero stretch/memory of the braid plus the abrasion resistance/alleged invisibility of the flouro. I only use mono on my trout setups these days, but I did use mono on all my catfish setups back in the day when I was fishing around rocks and heavy wood cover for big fish. Braid sucks there.

[silasvirus82]

For spinning reels I think the only way to go is braid. It doesn't develop the annoying coiling effect that mono will over a short period of time, you can put more on at a higher lb rating than needed for abrasion resistance, and in my experience it lasts longer.

Baitcasters I'm on the fence about, but ideally you can have multiple setups with different types of line to suit the style of fishing you're planning. For trolling I prefer braid with a flouro leader, but for bottom bouncing/jigging I like straight mono.

Finally for large diameter conventional reels I again feel braid is the only way to go, and I run a pretty long mono top shot. You can just get so much more line on there which is important fighting that fish of a lifetime, but also important because if you loose a bunch of line for whatever reason, you still have a plenty on the spool to carry on.

[Mark]

I'm reading a book at the moment called Trout Madness by Robert Travers. It was first published in 1960. In it Travers describes 30 years of his life chasing trout in Michigan's UP. He has a chapter called "Sinning against Spinning" in which he describes a then new convention in reels from Europe, the spinning reel. He mentions that it uses "hair-like monofilament nylon line".

It made me think of where fishing line will be 60 to 70 years from today. Have we come full-circle with braid? I used a variation of braid on level wind reels in the 1960s when I was a kid. I then switched to mono on my Mitchell 300 reel. Maybe someday mono will once again rise to the top.

I was a late and reluctant convert to braid but I really like it. For overall sensitivity in bite detection, I think it's hard to beat.

[silasvirus82]

For overall sensitivity in bite detection, I think it's hard to beat.

I somewhat agree that braid is better than mono concerning sensitivity, but I believe the quality and type of rod you're fishing have a greater impact. I mentioned before that I use mono for jigging, which would be the right time to focus on sensitivity, but having tried both on the same setup I can barely tell the difference. What I like about mono on a baitcaster is that it actually casts better, and it has greater abrasion resistance than braid if you come across some structure. Using a fast action rod with mono is my preferred setup, but a medium action rod with braid probably has similar characteristics. Good thing there are lots of options out there!

[ronaultmtd]

After pullage (and losting) several large fish, i've switched to braid on everything. Cost-friendly, I prefer spiderwire, but you're right, for every mono/braid/fluoro argument there's always the spider-braid/powerpro-braid argument as well.I picked up a few of the Sufix 832 yellow at the recommendation of Capt LTJ, but have not yet spooled them up. I did recently purchase some spiderwire "easybraid" and had several breakoffs of 15lb on two different reels. Cheaper is not always better, or maybe I got a bad batch of the 15lb, I normally only use 20lb but casting farther with smaller diameter line was my goal. I'm not as advanced as most, I tie straight braid onto every lure/rig I use, no leaders.

The easiest knot to tie floro/braid on is the Alberto knot...really easy to tie, very slim knot, strong...or go with the Crazy Alberto...one extra step...and I love braid- especially on open faced spinning tackle- line twist with mono is a PIA...doesn't happen with braid...and braid will last at least an entire season of fishing without needed to be replaced...in fact the more I use braid the better it seems to perform...I replaced most of all my lines this spring- some braid was three years old on reels that didn't get fished hard... for the every trip reels, I replace line about every year to 18 months...

[Mark]

Speaking of braid, does anyone reverse the line on their reels?

I rarely use more than the first 30 to 40 yards on my reels. That portion noticeably fades in color from the line under it and it does fray a bit with use. I was wondering if it would be advisable to reverse it to expose the unused portion in lieu of buying new line.

That's a technique fly rodders used to do with their double taper and level lines to extend the lives of their lines.

[willf650]

My favorite line thus far is super slick 8 from proline. I've made a permanent switch to braid and have actually bought a quite a few reels specifically designed for it.

My 3 newest setups are smaller offshore reels with big drag numbers made to be spooled with braid and locked down. I have some size 25 Finors that are capable of 41# of drag and my newest setup is a Avet MXL raptor capable of 30# of drag. I bought them for tuna and didn't want a cumbersome 30 or 50 wide reel. Using braid with these reels still gives me the line capacity required even when using a mono top shot for some stretch.

I also love braided line when it comes to spinning reels for the lack of line twist it exhibits. When bass fishing I can feel every twitch of my bait. I also have a couple higher end salt water specific reels in the 4000-4500 size that are stomping out big drag numbers too. They are also designed from the get go for going after larger fish with braided line and smaller reels.

When flounder fishing drifting on reefs and wrecks braided line lets me make contact with the bottom with lighter weights and bucktails and lets me feel bites in 50-100 feet of water.

The only downfall I see if price and if your trolling at 6 knts for tuna the lack of stretch. A mono topshot will take care of that.

I've been starting to use the FG knot for all my leaders and topshots. I'm never going back to mono or even flouro carbon except for a leader.

[willf650]

Speaking of braid, does anyone reverse the line on their reels?

I rarely use more than the first 30 to 40 yards on my reels. That portion noticeably fades in color from the line under it and it does fray a bit with use. I was wondering if it would be advisable to reverse it to expose the unused portion in lieu of buying new line.

That's a technique fly rodders used to do with their double taper and level lines to extend the lives of their lines.

I have flipped my line a couple times on reels. I have also pulled the braid off and backed the spool with mono when I loose some line and its starting to affect my casting. I only back the spool on my bass reels where I know I won't get spooled.

[ronaultmtd]

Why so much drag? I am no expert but even back in the day shark fishing, I never used more than 20# of drag even on a Penn International 50W...20 pounds of drag at the reel equals about 125 pounds of effort on a 5'6" Rawhide blank custom stand up tuna rod...try lifting 125# for 12 hours fighting a 800 pound Tiger shark...that tows a 24 foot boat 8 miles...

[Mark]

I have flipped my line a couple times on reels. I have also pulled the braid off and backed the spool with mono when I loose some line and its starting to affect my casting. I only back the spool on my bass reels where I know I won't get spooled.

Thank you.

[J.A. Veil]

I have flipped my line a couple times on reels. I have also pulled the braid off and backed the spool with mono when I loose some line and its starting to affect my casting. I only back the spool on my bass reels where I know I won't get spooled.

I know that many fishermen and tackle shops put a layer of mono on the spools as backing then attach braid on top. My experience is that the knot used to connect the two lines can often interfere with a long cast (it grabs the outgoing line and keeps it from its full length). About a decade ago, I stopped using any backing. I attach braid directly to my spinning reel spool and fill the spool about 80-90% of the distance to the edge of the lip on the spool (filling all the way to the lip often leads to wind knots). In order to keep the line bundle from sliding around the metal spool (that happened to me once), I apply a strip of masking tape to the bare spool, the wrap the braid directly on top of the tape.

Over time, the outer portion of the line gets broken or cut off to remove wind knots. At some point, there is no longer enough line on the spool to make a full cast. This week I did an innovative line reuse on three reels. I had 1000 series, 2500 series, and 3000 series reels that had reached the point of not having enough line. I removed the line from the 1000, tied the end of the line from the 2500 reel onto the bare 1000 spool, and wound the line onto the 1000 spool. I then moved the line from the 3000 to the 2500. I did use fresh braid to spool the 3000, but was able to get additional life out of the line on the other reels. The old weathered end is tied to the spool, leaving the fresher line at the outer end.

[willf650]

Just in case anyone is looking for a new Fishing Line.....

Why so much drag? I am no expert but even back in the day shark fishing, I never used more than 20# of drag even on a Penn International 50W...20 pounds of drag at the reel equals about 125 pounds of effort on a 5'6" Rawhide blank custom stand up tuna rod...try lifting 125# for 12 hours fighting a 800 pound Tiger shark...that tows a 24 foot boat 8 miles...

It's not so much about max drag. It's more about being able to run a solid 20-25# of drag with no fade. I have locked it up before when a fish is boat side and is tiring out. I haven't caught a 800# shark before but have caught a bunch around 300# and fought them for over an hour at 20+#.

I have some reels on paper say they do 20# but I've to palm the spool at times to get anywhere. I say they don't produce anywhere what they say or the drags are toast. The higher rated reels don't have this issue.


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