Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: aquaboy24 on November 29, 2004, 05:44:18 PM
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OK...got the new Abu 6500 C4 reel...will be getting a nice 10'6'' rod to compliment it. Now....what kind of braided line do people recommend? What brand?
cheers - Vince
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Where are you planning on fishing? If your next outinng is for steelhead I would recomend 15lb maxima rather than a braid.
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maxima over braided line for sure
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reasons?
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There used to be some info here ::)
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I am actually going to get the hang of casting with the level wind for steelheal season using 15 maxima. Then my thought was to put some really tiny braided on it for Pink/coho season. Call me crazy..that was my thought..but if Maxima is good..I might stick with that. How about this new non-braided but super strong stuff some of the brands are carrying?
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steelhead fishing 30lb fireline is the way to go...
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I used Fireline for several years until changing to Tuff XP for the reason that LimitKiller outlined.
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i like spiderwire when fishing the fraser. the line flattens on the spool, so it doesn't dig in like tuff line.
but with any braided line you have to make sure, you have a rod that can help absorb some of the shock that the reel takes. especially the ones with high gear ratio.
i highly recommend the maxima ultra green, if you choose to go with monofilament.
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Just a few words to the wise. If you are going to use braided line, fraser vedder wherever, do not use fire line or spiderwire when fishing around other people. These lines will cut through mono like a razor. Instead try power pro or tuff line. These lines are essentually the same but will not chew up mono. Then again if your fishing in a remote area or you like to piss people off........
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power pro and tuff line has its downside too. they're too soft. i've had guys (using tuff line) cross my mono...what a mess. their knots are almost impossible to undo.
also, the green colour can be hard to see under certain conditions.
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I hate pepeole who use mono and run a 30 pound leader on a 20 pound test, then snag up and have 100 feet of line snap beaucse their mainline is weaker...creating bigger snags, but I dont have to worry if I use fireline
people like that obviously don't know what the hell they're doing. but its not the line, its the people using them ;)
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In my opinion Tuff Line XP is the superior braided line. I have tried Fireline and it's abrasion resistance is very poor. Once the plastic like protective coating wears of it frays like crazy because the fibers are not integrated. I bought some once and it lasted me two weeks of heavy fishing. After my bad experience with fireline I decided to try Power Pro after hearing all the raving reviews about it. The problem I had with Power Pro is that it makes for a real nasty birds nest because it digs down deep in the spool, making it nearly impossible to untangle. With Tuff Line XP the knots come out very easy (especially once the protective coating wears down). Usually I just pull on a couple of loops and the birds nest undoes it self and I'm back to fishing in a matter of seconds. I don't recommend the regular Tuff Line (black and white) because it is thicker and it is flat on one side which makes a nasty bow on windy days. In my opinion Tuff Line XP is best suited for fishing the Fraser rather than smaller rivers. It will enhance your action when you cast out far into fast deep water. Mono absorbs the shock of hits and bounces leaving the angler in the dark. One of the disadvantages of using it in small rivers is if your mainline breaks it can make for a real nasty snag for fellow anglers because it balls up and when someone's hook touches it, the hook will ride the line to the ball at the top and hook into the fabric like material which is very hard to undo. Also, it's not translucent like Maxima which is a bonus when targeting easily spooked fish like coho. It is also nice to have some stretch when fishing for smaller species. Sometimes you'll lose a fish even if the drag is set very loose because the braided lines are so stiff they lack the shock absorbance to keep the hook in place.
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I cant figure out why you would want to fish braid on the vedder or chehalis.
On the fraser 50lb braid with no strech is great: hard hook sets, small diameter=less water drag and easy long casts. That really doesnt apply on the first 2 rivers mentioned.
Mono seems like the best bet for me when it comes to clear water rivers like the vedder and chehalis.
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Maybe they call it Fireline because it goes up in a cloud of smoke. ;D Power Pro would take a Pro to be able to cast it without getting a nasty bird's nest. And Tuff Line... it speaks for itself. 8)
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do you think it matters in the lower to mid river for steelhead in the vedder Gooey?
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Braid has it's place, and most of the rivers aren't really suited to this type of line. Most of the time you're not casting very far, and the stretch in the mono would be minimal. The fraser is better for braid because of it's sheer size, and the amount of crap floating through it, it is difficult to tell the difference between a hit and a snag, the braid transmits everything that touches the line. I only really use braid in the salt, and in deep water (50 lb test for halibut in 200 ft of water).
Just by 2 cents...
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nothing wrong with using braided line as long as you use the proper test lb leader.
what's ridiculous is when someone uses an 80 lb test braid with a 40 lb test mono leader. i don't see the purpose of this....nothin' like having a tug of war with a 100 lb boulder. ???
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I have 2 reels that I use regularly in the Fraser one has 30 lb Fireline and the other has 25 lb Spiderwire. I used both regularly thru the summer, and I found that the Fireline preformed way better than the spiderwire. The spiderwire seamed to fray at an amazing rate and I found myself stripping off 10 to 20 yards after each trip. I purchased the 2500-yard spool of Spiderwire on sale for about $20 so I will continue using it until it is gone but I will never buy it again.
Unless it is on sale again for the same price. ;D
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Power Pro would take a Pro to be able to cast it without getting a nasty bird's nest.
That must make me a Pro then? First time for everything!
Colin
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nothing wrong with using braided line as long as you use the proper test lb leader.
what's ridiculous is when someone uses an 80 lb test braid with a 40 lb test mono leader. i don't see the purpose of this....nothin' like having a tug of war with a 100 lb boulder. ???
Well at least you can rearrange the river contours.
However, tackle that strong would usually allow a hook to straighten out before a break.
Colin
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TroyB, I dont think theres more than one or 2 strong application for braid on the vedder or chehalis, upper, mid, or lower river!
One scenario I could see my self using braind: I have a high quality small spinning reel, I cant get much 10lb mono on it...maybe I would consider 15 lb braid. But most of these guys hucking braid are using 30-50lb braid...thats crap. I think far to many fishermen use too heavy gear. Someone suggested 15-20 leader for steelhead?!? I fish 12-15 lb MAIN LINE!!!
The main reason for fishing braid IMHO is the high test to low diameter relationship. People arent going out and spooling with 15-20 braid (8lb diameter) and getting better castability & handling...they are going with 30-50lb briad , littering the river, and totally outclass the target species in terms of line strength! Sorry gang...that was a bit of a rant!
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Oh thats it, now I'm putting 50 tuff line on my spinning reel just for Gooey! ;D
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Aquaboy-good to hear you're going to learn to cast with Mono first.
The braided stuff has a steeper learning curve and isn't always fun to work with-I say this even though I believe it to be vastly superior.
One good idea is to spool on 100 yds of 20# Dacron first-then use a Double Uni knot to join that to your Mainline-I do this with almost all my reels now and have for years.
You won't see the backing much and it'll save money on mainline.
Speaking of money-Maxima is good stuff but grossly overpriced :o-stupidly so.
Ande and Berkley Big Game are just as good and not nearly so expensive.
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I have tried mono, fireline, and tuffline on all my reels and found that on spinning reels I prefer mono, and on my levelwinds tuffline has outperformed both fireline and mono(maxima) by far. For the fraser, tuffline is great for the reasons listed in some of the earlier posts. However, I have found that tuffline has also been excellent on my lighter levelwind(vedder, chehalis, squamish, ect...). I find that the low diameter of the line allows me to fit much more on the spool, if I do tie into something large the odds of getting spooled are much lower. The small diameter allows more finesse and lets me cast farther, and because the line floats I can mend the line and maintain contact with the float. Since I use my thumb to brake the spool when casting and often to brake a fish, the texture and feel of tuffline is great(soft and supple). It has no memory whatsoever, unlike mono and even fireline, so it comes off your spool nice and straight. And I have found that if I get a nest then the tuffline is far easier to free up. Also, the stuff is bloody tough! I always get a kick out of guys using the whole "ethical" argument against braided lines in smaller water. In my opinion a braided mainline is a far more ethical choice than a mono mainline (I had better explain this before gooey jumps all over this one... ;D). The rig I use with the tuffline for shortfloating is to run the float on the tuffline, below that a small sliding egg sinker and rubber bumper(saves wear on the knot), swivel, leader (18-36") and bait / lure. Assuming that you are using a proper leader (8-12lb mono) then you should never break your mainline. I fished the whole season without loosing my weight and float once. If a fish breaks you off, then the fish will only be trailing a foot or two of light leader at most. Also, the better sensitivity lets you feel fish(bumps versus bites) and setting the hook is just a quick flick of the wrist. Fishing with the tuffline mainline I left far less line and lead in the water (snags) this year than any other, so in my view it was a much more "ethical" choice for a mainline. I don't think that I will ever go back to a mono for a mainline.
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Thanks Sam..I know the Ande secret too..in fact, I have heard it comes out of the same factory as Maxima.
thanks for all the info guys..I REALLY appreciate it.
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Ande is great line i used it all summer guiding at dundas and never had a prob with it...but back to the braided line Gooey i know what your saying about littering the river with the stuff but if your float fishing prop you never ever ever loose fire line...and for 12 to 15 lb main i use it too when iam fishing say the stamp where it does make a diff .but the vedder 30 lb fire line 15lb leader is all i use.I like to hook them pull on them land them fast and let them go unharmed unless they are hatchery then they get wacked.
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Stren Super Braid - 65 lb. test is the way to go. far superior to all other brands. Next in line is Tuf Line XP.
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I like comments about braided lines cutting other lines. I fish for two seaons now with a braided line (Vedder, Fraser,. ...) and it hapened only once.
I got a huge spring on, and few guys just didn't pay attention to my "Fish On" and casted over my line. Call me mean, but I had a smile on my face when they started swearing as fish made me run, and theire lines were cut as a butter. I lost quiet few fish because of people not paying attention at all to other people, and never even got tangled up with people who respect others at the fishing spot. Not saying it can not hapened by mistake or my error, but learned that mostly hapens because other people just do not care. The only problem would be if they start using braided line too :)
There are bad sides to braided line as well. It fries easily (fireline), and it can cut your skin easy, but otherwise it is a great line.
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Stren Super Braid - 65 lb. test is the way to go. far superior to all other brands. Next in line is Tuf Line XP.
Hey Marshall,
Why do you think Stren is better than Tuff Line XP? I haven't tried Stren, so I'd like to hear your opinion of it.
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I like the braided for bottom bouncing in the Fraser. I personally like the Fireline and used to use the 30lb test all the time but I was always disapointed at least a few times a year because a good Spring would start peeling and eventually rip off because the line would bury into the spool. This summer I switched to 50lb Fireline on a Abu 7000 and man that the cat's bazoink. No more buried line. Any of the rare birdsnests are so easy to work out (mere seconds versus 10's of minutes). But holy crap is it ever scarey getting a swivel snag in faster water - bad, bad, bad. I carry a leather work glove for just the occation otherwise you can't break the line - it will cut thru your hand. I love the no stretch and I actually save enough money from not loosing as many bettys as I would if I were using mono that it pays for itself.