I am curious of what pound line you use on your plug rod for winter runs? I usually run 15 or 12 it matters the clearity of the water.
This summer I grabbed the wrong reel and instead of 15lbs line I had to use my calcutta 251 with 8 lbs line. Well, we got one fish in the last hole that slammed and took line like a mad man. Thank goodness that the drag was loose but tight enough that there was a good hook set, we got it in.

I use 10 lb maxima fibreglow, the flourescent pink stuff. I blood knot about 12 feet of 10 lb ultragreen to the end, so the fish never see the bright stuff. The reason for 12 feet, rather than just 3 or 4 feet, is that I want the blood knot to be on the reel when the fish is close to the boat, to avoid failure from a sudden run.

I have been using this setup, or similar for about 15 years, and like it alot. I haven't had any problem with the 10 lb being too weak. I also have never had the blood knot fail on a fish. Sometimes it will be the weak link when I try to pull free from a snag.

I like to use as light a line as possible on plug rods, to get the best depth from the plugs.

For mono line I use either 8 lb. Maxima or 10 lb. Izorline for steelhead plug fishing; because the thinner diameter gets the plugs down better with less line out. And you can follow the fish with a boat to make it easier to land fish on lighter line.

For chinook I prefer using 30 lb. superbraid, for the same reason of getting the plugs deeper due to the smaller line diameter. And the 'braids are stong enough for the nooks.

RT

I run 10 lbs Izorline yellow for both summer and winter with 8 foot of 10 lbs maxima ultragreen blood knotted in for a leader. I think 10 pound is just the right combo of strength and thinness to work the plugs properly and get them down to the fish.

I have had luck with running 8/30 braided power pro and a 10-12 leader of 10lb maxima ultra green for steelies, heavier for chinook. The thin diameter of the braid main line helps to get the maximum depth. Only suggestion is to set the drag loose on the steelies, thumb it for hook sets.