What exactly happened to spider wire?

[NavyVet1204]

I remember years ago when you couldn’t find spider wire on a shelf anywhere. Period. Being expensive as it was when I was a teenager wade fishing the Tallapoosa river with friends, I was itching to try it but couldn’t justify the price or even find it. Now it’s like a lot of people rag on it or turn their noses up at it. Personally I have found the Spiderwire Stealth braid to be pretty darn good especially at the $12-$14 price point. Now, it seems like nobody but me uses it lol

[Yakalong]

I use it and don't have any problems with it. Just about all my rods with mono on them have spider wire.

[Johnbt]

I'm still using Invisibraid

www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spiderwire_Ultracast_Braided_Line_Invisibraid/descpage-SUBI.html

 

Been using it since it came out ages ago.

[NavyVet1204]

4 minutes ago, Yakalong said:

I use it and don't have any problems with it. Just about all my rods with mono on them have spider wire.

Which version of their mono do you use exactly?

[Yakalong]

 

Found it, EZ Mono in the purple box,

[Deleted account]

41 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

What exactly happened to spider wire?

I'm gonna go with drowned in a spout.... Sorry.

 

Spiderwire was one of those early lines that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, stealth came out to address this, but it doesn't brake in well and is stiffer than most. I hate how it casts. I have a bunch of it and use 65 and 80 for trolling.

[jimmyjoe]

   Manufacturers can be responsive to fishermen's needs in two ways; 1) Cost, or 2) Performance. Spiderwire has given many people the impression that it is responsive to cost concerns, but is not concerned with listening to feedback regarding performance characteristics ..... at least not in a timely fashion.

 

   Whether that is true or not is up in the air. But people's impressions drive the marketplace, and reputations can make or break a company or product.

  

   jj

  

  

[MiceNReets]

Used to love spiderwire.    Stealth was my fav line and then all of a sudden it’s just non stop break offs.   ??‍♂️.  

[NavyVet1204]

36 minutes ago, MiceNReets said:

Used to love spiderwire.    Stealth was my fav line and then all of a sudden it’s just non stop break offs.   ??‍♂️.  

So far my only bad experiences have been bird nests that were bad enough to make you wanna bury your face in a bowl of acid type of bad lol 

[CrankFate]

I searched far and wide to get spiderwire code red for my MGXtreme2, because it’s red red. Works fine for me, but it’s nothing special. The red faded pretty fast, too.

[new2BC4bass]

A fellow member that used to communicate with me tried Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Mono Fishing Line a few years ago and told me he felt it was the best mono he'd ever used.  He was using lighter line on spinning reels.

 

I personally have some 4# coming to try on my lightest finesse baitcast combo that I will be using to learn to cast 1/8 oz. and lower.  Diameter size is the smallest I could find for its size.  Same as Sunline Super Natural at .006 for 4 pound line.

 

Supposedly less stretch, stronger and offering more sensitivity than the norm for mono.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

When I was a kid Spider Wire was the only braid available around here until Fireline came out.  They had the Braid which had red on the package and the Fusion which had yellow.  I had very limited experience with it, just a few casts on a friends rod.  Now the Fusion on the other hand I actually did get few spools of 12lb when it was 50% at Kmart.  I don't remember the Fusion being loud at all, but it was strong.  I horsed in 5 stripers from 18-26lbs on 12lb line with the drag locked down on the Del River.  I broke my rod that day on a fish at the boat, but the line didn't break.  

[ghost123123]

Been using it for about 10 years. I’ve had no issues with it and just purchased 4 spools to replace my old Spiderwire. Haven’t seen any decline in performance or any breakage.

[Boomstick]

I think some of the SpiderWire lines are crap, but not all of them. I had spiderwire on a spinning reel for years without a problem, unfortunately I don't remember what variety I had

[MiceNReets]

1 hour ago, new2BC4bass said:

A fellow member that used to communicate with me tried Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Mono Fishing Line a few years ago and told me he felt it was the best mono he'd ever used.  He was using lighter line on spinning reels.

 

I personally have some 4# coming to try on my lightest finesse baitcast combo that I will be using to learn to cast 1/8 oz. and lower.  Diameter size is the smallest I could find for its size.  Same as Sunline Super Natural at .006 for 4 pound line.

 

Supposedly less stretch, stronger and offering more sensitivity than the norm for mono.

Spiderwire mono line is great 

[GreenPig]

Spiderwire works great for dinosaur neck surgery when the Beast Dachshund rips out it's trachea. I use Spiderwire on my pond/swamp combos. 

[DaubsNU1]

I still have Spiderwire on a few of my reels...It has to be 15+ years old.

 

Two of my favorite reels still have Fenwick IronThread spooled...has to be 20+ years old.

 

I'm still catching fish : )

[bulldog1935]

Jun at Japan Tackle recommends only hard braid for baitcasters, and Spiderwire braid is one he specifically recommends.  

Though I haven't found problems using coated braids like 832, YGK, and Duel hardcore.  

 

Just recently threw away the remnant spool of a 10-lb Spiderwire copolymer that only got fished one day.  

My daughter caught 3 massive sheepshead on the flats on Penn 4200SS + Falcon Open Hook Special.  

The line literally extruded to a tiny diameter and dug inside the spool, ending the day. 

It's ok, we were done fishing and brought home a great meal of schoolie specs, but stripped the reel, replaced the line with Abrazx, and only kept the remnant spool for leader.  

 

 

[KDW96]

42 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Spiderwire works great for dinosaur neck surgery when the Beast Dachshund rips out it's trachea. I use Spiderwire on my pond/swamp combos. 

My mini dachshund does the same. First order of business--off with its head, then clean its insides out.

[Deephaven]

Used to use Spiderwire &/or Fireline until I tried PowerPro about 12-15 years ago.  That killed me ever buying Spiderwire or Fireline again.  I've never tried their mono, but there braid was awful for break offs, backlashes, and castability compared to PP.

[InfantryMP]

I think advertising has helped out a lot. I see tons of Segar, and other brands advertising either through commercials or the pros talking about it. That helps sway the minds of consumers. 

 

To be honest. I tried Suffix Advanced Fluro because Wheeler mentioned it was the best he had ever used. I tried it, it was good. I also now use Red Label because it is cheaper, and I have not had any issues with it. 

 

I do not remember the last time I saw a Spider wire ad, or anyone talking about it. 

[NavyVet1204]

Just now, InfantryMP said:

I think advertising has helped out a lot. I see tons of Segar, and other brands advertising either through commercials or the pros talking about it. That helps sway the minds of consumers. 

 

To be honest. I tried Suffix Advanced Fluro because Wheeler mentioned it was the best he had ever used. I tried it, it was good. I also now use Red Label because it is cheaper, and I have not had any issues with it. 

 

I do not remember the last time I saw a Spider wire ad, or anyone talking about it. 

It’s been at least ten years since I have seen an ad or advertising for spider wire. Seaguar red label is my go to for FC as per word of mouth from friends as well as YouTube and online reviews. No one except one very distant relative has mentioned spider wire to me in the last 10-12 years.

[TheBasslayer]

1 hour ago, KDW96 said:

My mini dachshund does the same. First order of business--off with its head, then clean its insides out.

We haven't found a toy that my mini daschund hasn't eaten up within a few days. He eats them up! And I do not have any experience with Spiderwire, but it shouldn't be too bad of a line.

[Bankc]

Back when it was made with Spectra, it was a pretty good line.  Really, the best there was.  Then, around the time they switched to Dyneema, it started to go downhill, as I remember it.  I don't know if that was also around the time they got bought out by Pure Fishing, but it seems about right in my mind.  

 

Now, Dyneema makes for a good fishing line.  It's what Suffix 832 uses.  And Pure Fishing make quality products as well (Abu, Fenwick, Stren, Berkley, etc.).  So I'm not knocking either one.  But I think those events led it to being more of a budget oriented product rather than the market-leading innovator it started off as.  And eventually, it just got left behind as other companies superseded it in performance.  And since the savings aren't that substantial when comparing a top of the line braid vs. a budget braid, I think a lot of serious anglers couldn't see the value in sacrificing performance to save a few bucks.  

 

I think Spiderwire is fine.  I bought some a few years ago, and still have it spooled up on a reel (8 carrier Stealth).  But I also had a reel of the old Spectra Spiderwire to compare it to (lost that rod in a lake last summer), and the Spectra stuff was softer and didn't fade as quickly (it was 20 years old and looked like the new stuff after a few months).  It also wasn't as sticky as the new stuff, so it seemed to cast better.  The new stuff feels kind of waxy.  But then again, I was comparing 20 year old line to line that was just a few months old, so it's hard to tell if the differences had more to do with wear and age or manufacturing. Either way, the actual, real world, difference between either Spiderwire and something like Power Pro or Suffix 832 isn't huge.  But it's enough to question the few dollars in savings.

 

This reminds me, when Spiderwire first hit the market, there was brand trying to compete with it using Kevlar for braided fishing line.  Now I can't remember what that was.  

[Sir Shamsalot]

I used Spiderwire Stealth for years, and have no qualms about buying it again. I did decide to try different brands to see if there really was a difference. I do end up buying 832 first these days. PP's cheaper flat line got stripped after one use. Hopefully someday I'll find a hi-viz braid that doesn't loose its color dye.