Your Favorite Fishing Line

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:48 am

What fishing line (brand & pound test) is best for general purpose casting & trolling of plugs & cranks. I use a St Croix Premier 7' MH-Fast 1 pc. rod with a Pflueger Trion 66 reel
John D.

Post by **Will Schultz** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:20 am

There are a number of companies that produce a good quality superline, PowerPro, Stren, Cortland. The brand is less important than choosing the right line for the job. I know, the fishing world is stuck on lb test and not diameter but when dealing with superlines it is best to choose on diameter. You'll want to choose a line with a diameter equivalent to 17-20 lb monofilament, with most superlines this will give you 80-100 lb test. No, it's not that we need 80-100 lb line to catch a muskie but the properties of a superbraid make this necessary. What makes superline so great is that they have very little stretch, this is also a drawback when you get a backlash during mid cast. Lighter superlines 30-65 lb will break easily on a backlash because there is no stretch to absorb the shock. This can also happen on a fish close to the boat with minimal line between you and the fish.

Choose the right line the first time around and it will last for a long time.

jasonvkop · Post by **jasonvkop** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:04 pm

there are a lot of good lines out there but personally i like 80-100 pound spiderwire stealth. Whateve line you do go with though i would suggest looking in the stores on ebay. I buy my stealth on 1000 yard spools to save money.

Duke · Post by **Duke** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:36 pm

My favorite is also Spiderwire Strealth in 80 or 100 lb., but again all mentioned major brands make good lines at comparable costs. Even though the braided lines have a higher cost than monofilament, they are extremely durable and long lasting, and you should fill most of your spool with a mono backing to further reduce the investment.

Post by **Will Schultz** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:21 pm

Duke wrote:Even though the braided lines have a higher cost than monofilament, they are extremely durable and long lasting, and you should fill most of your spool with a mono backing to further reduce the investment.

Good point! Mono backing should take up most of the space on the reel. For most casting and trolling applications 100 yards is more than enough. It sure makes the price easier on the wallet as Duke mentioned, particularly when spooling 5-10 reels.

Cost saving features of superlines:
Durability:
Spectra/Dyneema fibers are not harmed by UV and they don't soak up water. Which means their durability is often determined by the quality of your rod guides, line guide on the reel and how much you fish. I get about 200 hours from each spooling and when you use it twice you can make that 400 hours.

Use it twice:
Because you'll only use the first 100 feet or so, you'll be left with almost 200 feet of unused line underneath (if you spool 100 yards). Once the line shows wear, simply reverse it on the spool after adding a little more backing to make up for line that you've cut off each time you re-tie. If you fish an average number of days/year for a muskie angler (20) you can expect 4-5 years of use from that one spool of line. With mono you would have re-spooled at least once each year and maybe twice.

LeMay · Post by **LeMay** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:05 am

OK Will and Kingfisher. I wanted to set up two poles from running Deeptherats and other big lures. What would be a good linr to run these on. And do you think 300 lb mono leades wook good?

Thanks LeMay OUT

Post by **Will Schultz** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:25 am

This depends on your use of these big baits. If it's strictly open water fishing and minimal bottom contact then you don't need to change much. However, if bottom crunching is going to be in your future then I would have a different set up. If I was going to set up an all around rod for big baits it would have 150 lb. PowerPro and 200 lb 4' flouro leaders. If you're contacting bottom, especially rocks, I would run a wire leader or at least 4" of bucktail wire attached to the tow eye of the bait. After banging rocks the diving lip of the bait becomes like a serrated knife and will chew through flouro when fighting a fish.

LeMay · Post by **LeMay** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:40 am

I've got two rods set up for open water with 50 lb big game mono line and 6 ft 80 lb leaders on them for the open water trolling. And it work fine for the 10 inch muskie snax's this last fall. But this year I want ot lean a few more deep water spots and dragg the bottom. I see that some of the guys up in Canada run wire on sum stuff. Is that more for running rocky shelfs?

Thanks LeMay OUT

Post by **Will Schultz** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:21 pm

LeMay wrote:I see that some of the guys up in Canada run wire on sum stuff. Is that more for running rocky shelfs?

Thanks LeMay OUT

No, wireline is for depth control. If you want to drive the big baits into the 35-40' range you'll need to run wire.

LeMay · Post by **LeMay** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 1:08 pm

So where do they find that kind of wire? And are their running it to with a down rigger? I see some boats fishing out of NY running down riggers with smaller lures but I don't think they are dragging the lures on the bottem..

Leaders for this.

I was looking the single strand wire 330# .033 dia, Would I need solid 'O' rings? What lb rings would I need? I've not seen any lb numbers on the 'O' ring. no. 7 spilt ring be big enuff? I'm also looking for some large ball bearing swivles should go with 300 lb one's?

I see that they make a Rock Cruncher trolling leader 48" long but its only 105 lb single strand. Also Tyger Laeder wire is made for deep sea fishing on rock and coral and with a nylon coating on it for tyeing knots with but all I be able to find is up to 90 lb test. Do you know any one who has tryed this stuff?

Thanks LeMay OUT

Post by **Will Schultz** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 1:39 pm

Here's some info and a good story - http://www.toothycritters.com/wired_for_muskie.html

Superlines can give similar results if you fished a smaller diameter. I believe that the tradeoff with wire line is not that great and therefore not needed in most/many instances. Wire line requires a different rod and because the wire has even less stretch than a superline it will eat up a cheap reel.

For a rock leader it is just important that it's wire, anything over 100# should be fine. Remember though, you need to have a shock absorber built into the set up or you'll ruin gear and straighten hooks.

LeMay · Post by **LeMay** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:19 pm

Thanks Will That was good now I see a little better. I'm going to keep check this out.

Thanks LeMay OUT

TimD · Post by **TimD** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:56 pm

I started out using Cortland spectrom years ago. Then came power pro. I liked it ok. I then swithed to Tuffline. I am now using spiderwire stealth in 80lb. and really like it. I'm sure there will be more advances with line technology in the next 5 years. Personally, I like to try out different equipment whether it be line, rods, reels, etc.. in order to make an educated decision.

Kingfisher · Post by **Kingfisher** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:58 pm

Lines, Will about covered it all on the deepthreats. I run 60 lb mono and 130 lb Florocarbon. If I want to get deeper I use 100 lb Power pro with the same leaders . If rock bashing I go to the 175 lb 49 strand shark braid wire leaders. I dont run them into structure much so my rig pretty much stays 60 and 130. The rods are 6 ounce rated Tiger rods 7 foot. The reels are the new 30 dx Convectors by Okuma. Big cranking handles and that low gear ratio for easier retrieves. Mike

Chasin50 · Post by **Chasin50** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:29 pm

I use 40 lb Big Game mono for trolling open water, and most other applications with a 6' hard mono or Fluor leader.

For casting, I am switching all of my reels from PowerPro over to Spiderwire Stealth as the PowerPro wears. I really like the Stealth Spiderwire.