Which would you go with? I'm switching from Fireline to PowerPro. I should add: I'm float fishing steelhead, salmon.

[ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: ocus ]

It really doesn't make much difference. The question is whether you want it to go all the way to the bone (30 lb) or clear through it(20 lb).

Go with the 20#, it is more then enough.

Matt-
Stay away from the 20#...All I fish is the 30#. The 20# will cut through everything and can be a royal pain in the ass sometimes. If you fish fixed dink floats plan on going through more then a few each day.

The 20# is just too thin and the 30# is perfect.

One of the real drawbacks I have found with PowerPro is getting it through the small plastic tube in a dink float. Even if you wet the end and strip it through your fingers as if you were threading a needle it still sticks on the side of the tube
The only solution that works for me is to thread mono through doubled and pull the PP through in the mono loop.
Has anyone found a good solution?

Nope, Coot, that is the only solution. It is the only drawback of Power Pro that I have found. I use hi-vis 30 pound on my bobber rod and for boondogging. Great stuff.

I'd stick with the Fireline

My question is why do you need so heavy of a line. What are you doing. Bass fishing. I find that about 12 lb is big enough.

30lb. Power Pro is the ticket. Remember that with Power Pro, Fireline, etc. you have no stretch and that means loose drag and minimal thumbing of the spool or else it's "see your leader later". Right, Parker? :p

20lb. Power Pro is only about 6lb. diameter and it is really sharp stuff like Putzy Petzold said. Excellent for plugging little Hot Shot 30's, 40's and 50's but a little to thin for dink-style float fishing if you ask me.

Another thing to remember is that the Power Pro does not have the abrasion resistance of monofiliament with the same diameter. A couple sharp rocks and it's all she wrote. Learned the hard way floatfishing springers last year. Killer hooksets right on the first dunking of the float because there was no stretch, but I had a few saw me off on the sharp rocks. That was 50lb. Power Pro too!

[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Justin Time ]

Thanks everyone.
I'm going with 30lb. PowerPro
Ryan- You guys need to get the hi-vis version
Jacob- I've not been pleased with the way the fireline abraids and cuts (embeds itself) into the spool under tension. I like the round diameter, abraison resistance, and lack of embedding in the PowerPro.
OldMan- the reason the test strength is so high is because of the thin diameter of the braided lines. 30# PowerPro is about equivalent in diameter to 8# mono. 10# PowerPro (they don't make 12#) is equivalent to 2# mono! With that diameter, you'd cut right through the dink floats I use for steelhead.

Question...is there any problem with using 30 lb. test on a rod that's rated for 6 - 12? Seems like you have to be careful, especially with a big fish, wondering what y'all think.

I don't know if its the line that makes the difference or not but i use the 20lb test and have never had a problem. One of my partners used 30lb and has broken two rods? I also like the casting ablity of the 20. My .02

Set the hook
Bill

Well if you are using 12lb leader then you are fine. The leader will break before 30lb power pro. I can't believe the price on power pro! $25 for 300 yards is worse than Maxima! Oh well, I guess I have to pay that.

~ Dr Pepper

If you think about it, Power Pro is cheaper then any mono. I've got 2+ years on one spool of PowerPro...it just not go bad.

On the other hand, I change my mono every couple weeks.

Were you using a mono backing under the Fireline? Add 20 - 30 yards of mono backing and it should stop it from embedding itself. I use 14 lb Fireline on my steelhead float rod and 30 lb Fireline on my salmon float rod and don't have that kind of problem with a backing.

No, I didn't put any backing on the spool with the Fireline. Maybe that's why the line dug in to itself. That would be a solution.

Nevertheless, with the PowerPro, I don't have to do the extra step of backing. Some people do back it with mono because of slippage with the drag (I've never had the problem, but you can also solve it with a small piece of tape on the spool prior to spooling up). Further, the Fireline just seems more like dental floss, where the PowerPro seems to have a more circular "line-like" cross section, and casts better.

If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. I tried them both, and prefer the PowerPro. It is really great stuff. If you have tried it and prefer Fireline, right on, and to each his own.

[ 01-28-2002: Message edited by: ocus ]

One of the problems with small diameter Power Pro already alluded to is the tendancy to cut into dink floats as well as the problem of the float sliding along the line during casting or fishing;thus negating much of the value of the float.
Both problems can be solved with the use of a suitable rubber band. Use a wide band of short length 1/4"width with an unstreached loop of about 2 ". Take a turn around the circumference of the float underneath your single wrap of powerpro then take another wrap of elastic on top of the powerpro.
This provides sufficient protection against sliding but allows the easy adjustment of the float position while at the same time reducing the cutting effect of the Power pro into the float surface.