This is my post from a like thread on Marty's board. With lines rapidly changing and improving I would like the most current opinions on the subject. Thanks. ...

I think all the lines have improved over recent years; as it should be. I recall the first time I tried Ande many years ago and it was crap. When I bought a spool of 20 lb. Ande Tournament Green while shopping in P.A. with Marty last year it wound up on a spare spinning reel and rod that I took up to Northern B.C. late last summer, to use as a backup rod and for casting and retrieving Mag Warts thru schools of huge Kings in slowish deep pools. I landed lots of 30 to 40 pounders with the 20 lb. Ande without any problems. We used 40 lb. superbraid on our level wind reels for floatfishing eggs; along with 30 lb. Maxima Chameleon leader (a lot of guys up there and on AK's Kenai R. use 40 to 60 lb. leader for the big Kings; which is a good idea in many cases). The superbraids are great stuff for floatfishing (strong and it floats); and for backbouncing because it's easier to pick up the lead and tap it with less rod movement due to the lack of line stretch. And it has great sensativity - enough so that I use it in less snagy water to driftfish with (when they do snag up, rather than just the leader, they are tough break free and what's left isn't good for the holes because the deteriorate so slowly). But I think a 1000 Series Lamiglass rod with Tuff Line (or Fireline or Spiderwire, etc.) will have greater sensativity than a $300+ GLoomis IMX with any quality mono! ...

While I've been a longtime Maxima mono user, I have been trying other lines lately. The Berkley Big Game is a very good line and is a value. And I used the Izorline Platinum on the Tillamook summer steelhead before and after the cleanup event Saturday for the first time. It was 10 lb. test and a transparent smoke color. I have to agreed with Kid Redneck on this line being very good; albeit only one day's experience with it. But I fished some very snaggy water and must have pulled free of a dozen snags with it. A few times it broke off the branch I was snagged on, and broke several times when the jig or other lure was immovably snagged in rocks. It seemed just as tough to break after about the 8th to 10th time as the first couple times. The knot strength is very good (wet it before snugging the knots as with all mono lines). In this line weight it casts and handles nicely. And compared to 10 lb. Ultra Green it does not inadvertantly coil off the spinning reel spool as much as the Maxima does. I think it is an immpressively good line - at least in this # test range - but I figure in the higher # tests also. My $0.02 worth.

RT

I have used Maxima UG and Trilene Big Game with good luck.

At the begining of this year, I tried Maxima Crystal Ivory and really like it. I am currently switching all my reels over to it. It works well for leaders as well as mainline. The price is right also.

I don't normally use a spinning reel, so I can't speak for it as a spinning line but for baitcasters it is a very good line.

I've been told that the Crystal Ivory is being discontinued. I tried it last winter, it's a great line for bait casters, but anything above 8-lb test is too stiff for spinning reels. The 8-lb test is damn tough line though, but like the rest of the Maxima lines, it's a little stiff. I guess that's the price you pay for the toughness and abrasion resistance.

Berkley XL is nice and soft and falls off a spinning reel nicely, but it's crap as far as abrasion resistance goes. You must be vigilant looking for line nicks, or you'll pay the piper when you have a fish on.

I think I'm going to stick with the 8-lb. Maxima (UG or CI, whatever is available) when it comes to steelhead. Big fish will mean playing it careful, but that's just giving the fish a sporting chance

I've never been that much a fan of the newer generation braided/gelspun/hydro-ultra-poly-wonder lines. The no-stretch feature is a big plus in certain applications, and I do use them occasionally, but I'm just not sold yet.

Keep up with the feedback here, guys. Of course it's a Ford/Chevy thing, but you can never get enough feedback on product performance as far as I'm concerned. What the hell else is a guy supposed to do.....buy a spool of every line out there to try it out?

I have fished with the "Andy tournament" lines for years and that includes guiding! It breaks when it is supposed to break! What more does a fishermen want from a line? Its up to the fishermen to "know" when he is pushing the limits of the line he using! It works great on spinning or conventional reels. That's my 2 cents worth! I am an Andy- line man! Maximum lines are great strong lines, but they will never, never hold up in any would records book.

Cowlitzfisherman,

Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: cowlitzfisherman ]