Fishing line

[bigbill]

I feel like I been sleeping for a decade. I went to look at lurenet online to find my excaliber silver thread copolymere line discontinued. WOW I used this line forever.

i guess braided line and fluorocarbon line has taken over? Times are a changing I guess, is everyone using braid now?

[Russ E]

braid for flipping and pitching wood.

braid for carloina rig mainline.

maxima ultragreen or trilene xt on all other bait casters.

trilene xl on spinning tackle.

 

still old school I guess.

tried flouro this summer, but lost too many nice fish, so I went back to mono.

[JustinJ]

Trilene xl spinning reel. Power pro for punching and frogging. Big game for everything else

[OCdockskipper]

Berkley Nanofil with P-Line Fluorocarbon leaders on all spinning gear.

Trilene XL on casting rods for crankbaits, topwaters & presentations where I want some stretch.

Power Pro braid on casting rods for flipping, frogs or other no stretch presentations

Trilene Big Game for Umbrella rigs or large swimbaits.

[Hulkster]

I'm totally old school and now use Sufix Siege 10 pound test mono on both my spinning rigs (3000 size reels) and my baitcasting setup. I love the stuff. Former XL user here but Siege blows it away.

[Russ E]

7 minutes ago, Hulkster said:

I'm totally old school and now use Sufix Siege 10 pound test mono on both my spinning rigs (3000 size reels) and my baitcasting setup. I love the stuff. Former XL user here but Siege blows it away.

never tried suffix mono. 

is it limp like trilene xl?

 

i tried several other monos and flourocarbon on my spinning reels, but could not find one that handles like good old trilene xl.

 

[Hulkster]

in 8 and 10 pound tests I find the Siege to be probably 90% as limp as comparable XL. However it seems to be much stronger and holds up much better.

 

in higher pound 14 pound test the Siege has more memory than say 14 pound XL but you can't break the stuff. its stronger than XL by a lot it seems.

 

so far Siege has the best overall blend of characteristics I have found in a mono.

 

I used to use nothing but XL but switched because I was getting break offs and weak knots after it sat on the reel for a bit. I was looking for something stronger that would hold up better. Tried Big Game, but found it to be too stiff. Tried Sufix Elite, very limp but ran into similar problems as XL - needed to be tougher. Settled on Siege as being the best compromise.

 

 

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

5 hours ago, bigbill said:

I feel like I been sleeping for a decade. I went to look at lurenet online to find my excaliber silver thread copolymere line discontinued. WOW I used this line forever.

i guess braided line and fluorocarbon line has taken over? Times are a changing I guess, is everyone using braid now?

Tons of Silver Thread to be had out there still with very little searching. Berkley Big Game is a great like that is readily available if you try a replacement.

 

[davecon]

I'm going to try describe what I put together.

 

Start with a Hillman snap ring (that's what Lowes calls it). To that attach a split ring about the size of a quarter. Next, to the split ring attach 2 or 4 LARGE quality ball bearing swivels, like would be used in big game fishing. Attach the swivels one to the other kinda like a small chain.

 

Now simply tie your line to the last swivel, snap the Hillman snap to a fence line, nail, etc. Something sturdy. Then open the bail/release the spool and back off 50 to 75 feet. Engage the reel and with slight pressure, enough to put some bend in the rod, walk towards the above described contraption while continuously applying pressure and reeling. The first few feet you will see nothing, but as you get closer to the contraption you will see the ball bearing swivels spinning. Every spin is removing a twist in the line.

 

It may take several tries, but eventually you will do it with absolutely no spinning of the ball bearing swivels. Congratulations - you have removed all the twist from your line and the rod and reel will cast significantly better.

 

I do this prior to every trip and always when putting new line on a reel.

 

Works great with mono and helps lay braid smoothly on the spool even though braid rarely if ever twists.

 

May take a trip to the hardware store/tackle shop and a few bucks but believe me, it works. You can thank me later.

[NorthernBasser]

6 hours ago, JustinJ said:

Trilene xl spinning reel. Power pro for punching and frogging. Big game for everything else

What makes Big Game better than Trilene XL/XT? I haven't tried it yet but see a lot of people here use it.

[Bluebasser86]

22 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

What makes Big Game better than Trilene XL/XT? I haven't tried it yet but see a lot of people here use it.

 Big Game is just a good all around line, it's cheap, readily available, and it comes in bulk spools so you don't have to buy as often. Don't know that it's any better or worse than Trilene, but I know that myself personally have had some bad spools of Trilene, but that's bound to happen with any line if you buy enough spools of it. 

[Darren.]

I've used braid since the early 90s, Spiderwire then.

Used Trilene XL for spinning, or Spiderwire.

 

Fast forward to today and every reel I have is spooled

with Power Pro or Power Pro Super Slick 8 and paired

with a leader of either copoly, or fluorocarbon.

 

For copoly I mainly use Yo Zuri Hybrid, though I've got

and like P-Line Floroclear tho not used much anymore.

 

For fluoro I use Gamma Edge.

[K_Mac]

No, not everyone is using braid or fluorocarbon. I hate braid and don't use it much. I like fluorocarbon for many applications, but many don't. There's many different monofilaments and hybrids available, some already mentioned. Part of the fun of fishing is experimenting with different equipment and tackle in my opinion. Enjoy the process!

[Attila]

Up until 3 years ago I fished straight Stren mono.  I've since made a change to the following;

 

Straight braid - flipping, pitching, frogging, walking style topwater baits

 

Straight fluorocarbon - crankbaits, squarebills, spinnerbaits, finesse rigs

 

Braid with fluorocarbon leader - jerkbaits, popper style topwater baits, senko style baits

 

I experimented with just about every braid and fluorocarbon on the market, and decided that Power Pro Super 8 Slick was the braid that worked best for me and that Seaguar InvizX had virtually the same characteristics as the Stren that I used to fish, including stretch. Line stretch matters a lot to me as I fish my crankbaits, squarebills, and spinnerbaits on glass baitcasting rods.

 

After the change from mono to the above I've noticed a higher hookup percentage, which is never a bad thing.

 

I've recently tried Seaguar Smackdown braid on one of my jerkbait setups and my frogging outfit, and I believe I'll be making the change to Smackdown for all my braid related applications next year.

 

I hope that this information is helpful to you.

 

[OnthePotomac]

I to have moved away from braid, except on the frog rod.  Can you believe I fish my plastic swim baits and Rage Frogs on 20lb mono and love it.

[CroakHunter]

Braid and copoly here. Despise fluoro

[crypt]

braid for flipping,frogs or Carolina rigs. also on all my spinning rods. Big Game on everything else.I keep it simple.

[WRB]

TW carries AN40 Silver Thread in both clear and green $6 a spool.

Tom

[Todd2]

I've tried a bunch of different monos, a few braids, and a few fluorocarbons and I've settled with plain ol Original Stren. It's my favorite by far..Not too limp, not too stiff. Great abrasion resistance and knot strength. I don't need to stretch it, spray it, or anything else. Lasts one season easy,...and it's cheap. Not Big Game cheap...but cheap enough. 8-10 on spinning 14 On baitcasters.

 

[TOXIC]

Just as gear and techniques have been refined and added to, so have line choices and that puts them into a "personal preference" category.  The best thing to do is try a few in each category to see which one fits your fishing style the best because what may be the Bees Knees for someone else.....won't work well for you.  Half the fun is trying out new stuff.

[Muisenex]

I have been running Stren 17lb floro tieing polymer and clinch nots. I have never had an issue. I have been on the cusp of trying braid but I just can't bring myself to steer away from what has been working. Not to mention I don't know much about it. Pros and cons? 

[r83srock]

Nice choice on silver thread. For me it's Trilene Big Game, Trilene XL, and power pro braid for the last 15 years. 

[bigbill]

Fishing from shore the distance we can cast gives us an advantage but it's pros and cons too. The farther we cast the more chances we have of losing bigger bass. I been there over submerged weeds. But in the open water and in channels I have an advantage. Trying to reach the pads off in the distance is sometimes optainable. My PB10 lbs was caught on 8lb silver thread. I set my drags perfect. When I fish near other people no one out casts me. Some come over to see how I do it.

 

I found excaliber silver thread copolymere line an a auction sight. I purchased enough to last me.

[Cak920]

I use suffix elite #10 mono for clear slow moving water. Heavy cover or fast current I use suffix 832 braided super line. I used all braid for a while mostly spiderwire but i didn't catch as many fish I think it's too visible in clear water. When I use a heavier braid I use a fluorocarbon leader now