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[TROY B]

do you think it matters in the lower to mid river for steelhead in the vedder Gooey?

[Spudcote]

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...

[blaydRnr]

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.

[Centerpin]

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. 



 

[ColinB]

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

[ColinB]

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

[Gooey]

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!

[Oliver]

Oh thats it, now I'm putting 50 tuff line on my spinning reel just for Gooey! 

[Sam Salmon]

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 -stupidly so.
Ande and Berkley Big Game are just as good and not nearly so expensive.

[lunker]

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... ). 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.

[aquaboy24]

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.

[TROY B]

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.

[marshal]

Stren Super Braid - 65 lb. test is the way to go.  far superior to all other brands.  Next in line is Tuf Line XP.

[Hiker]

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.

[Eagleye]

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.