I went out to a little river for Steelhead and Springers today, ended up catching a smolt and a steelhead jack (18"). I used this trip as an experiment to try out braided line for the first time, and I gotta say it worked much better than I thought it would. I used Tufline for my spinning reel, 20lb test/6lb diameter, and Fireline, 20lb test/8lb diameter, for my baitcaster reel.

The Fireline had the feel of heavily waxed dental floss, but to my surprise, I was easily able to cast a light jig & float, and hook both fish on this rod. The hooksets were VERY positive, the poor smolt was a flying fish for a few seconds. I didn't have any snags so I can't tell how dependable the breaking strength was, but I felt every wiggle of those fish. Mending was pretty easy, especially where two different speed water currents came together in a seam.

The Tufline was of smaller diameter, and more limp. Casting distance was great, and when I felt the lead ticking the bottom, it seemed a bit sharper in the feel. I hung up a few times, and always broke off the leader, never the mainline.

All of my gear is pre-tied, on pipe insulation, with snap swivels. For the terminal end of my jig rod I had a barrel swivel, and for the drift rod I used a snap swivel. This way, in between leader or jig changes, I can get back in the water in 20 seconds or so, not a few minutes.

So, here are my questions.

#1. How long can I expect these lines to last between changing?

#2. How do I fish spinners? Attach a shock tippet of 10-12 pound test, or just attach the spinner directly to the snap swivel on the end of the braid?

#3. How do I fish plugs? Same as #2?

Personally, I'd leave it on the float rod reels and forget about the rest. I've set up two rods with spinning and two levelwinds for float use with clients, but I don't care for it in other instances.

Why? In other types of fishing, I think some stretch is a good thing, you're gonna pop lots of leaders and bend plenty of hooks on spinners. I also think it will cost you some fish plugging from my experience with it. Other problems include decreased abraision resistance vs. high end mono and, difficulty in breaking off easily when needed (drifting) and need for more than simple knot when retying terminal tackle.

My 2 cents

Two other problems I've had is 1. frays right at the rod tip from casting , had to cut off the first few feet almost every time out, 2. the line can rot if you don't store it in a dry place when done fishing. I also feel that if your into a snag you have a better chance of snapping your rod if your not carefull .

I have used "fused" lines for several years. I stay away from the braids because they are too limp and therefore difficult to manage. Fireline, Fusion or Power-Pro are all similar products in my opinion. I prefer Power-pro just because it costs less.
I quit using it for drifting though, I think it is too hard on reels and rods. Float fishing would be different though. The lines bouyant quality makes mending easier. I use them now only for downrigging, sturgeon and bottomfishing.
I start the day by peeling several yards of line off my reel to get rid of the frayed and limp line from normal use. This will help minimize twisting around the rod tip every time you reel in. On the other hand, I have never had a spool rot on me and I don't change it nearly as often as mono.
.02
Good luck!

I have used Braided line with various results. Its Just like they say in the ads you can feel a fish fart with that line but don't ever get a birds nest with a baitcaster (I learned the hard way) They are almost impossible to clear. I keep two spinning rods loaded With Fireline as I like the feel of the rod (you can feel the slightest take) And I have used plug rods with braided line But it seemed to me for the number of take downs we had far fewer hook ups than with mono. The best use for braided lines seems to me to be float fishing as with less stretch you get faster hookups.
Ramprat

I've use power-pro on everything.

For drift fishing and floats I splice a ~8-10ft section of mono on the end. This takes care of abrasion issues, visiblity issues, busting off snags issues, and provides a little shock absorbtion. I've never had the splice or the power-pro break, always my mono section or leader.

For plugging I run it to a swivel with a 3ft mono leader then the plug. You could probably run it straight to the plug if you wanted. I've noticed no loss in hook-up ratio since switching over.

It will occasionally wrap around the tip, but that is less now that I run the 30lb instead of the 20lb, and was never much of a problem anyway.

Also, I seem to always hear guys talking about breaking rods on snags. Didn't anyone ever tell them to always point the rod at the snag when busting it off?

Dogfish,
I have been fishing braids for probably 7-8 years now and have never found the need for a shock tippet.Actually the first time I saw this was fishing with mooch on the skoke.I have never broke a pole due to braided lines.This does not mean that you do not have to be carefull.I do believe that the braides when used in the higher drag situations i.e drift and spinner fishing will contribute to the wear of a spinning reel.A friend bent a smaller shimano on a trophy steely last winter that I believe would not of happened with mono.

I have also found that the same thing that the float fishermen love about it{its bouyancy and easy mending] can hinder you when fishing hardware and drift fishing especialy with the lighter presentations of summer fishing.With smaler hardware it can act like a float keeping you from getting the presentation down.When drift fishing you will find that it will leave you with more of a bow between you and your presentation than with mono.Either that or you will find your self using more lead than you really want to get down fast enough.

Another thing that I have not seen mentioned is you will forget what line twist is.It is all I will use for trolling herring in my favorite early estuary fishing for silvers.

hope this helps

I fish mainly floats in winter, hardware in summer (when not fly-flogging). I prefer braided (Fireline 14 #) for both. I disagree w/ Cleo about the bow in the water. If you use the same pound test in a braided line, the diameter is about 1/3 that of mono, so there in much less drag in the current, which (in my experience) more than makes up for the bouyancy when throwing hardware.

I will say, I had a big native break my drive gear this year using Fireline and last year I lost a big native on Fireline when the line barely touched a rock on a run. That day, I hadn't replaced any line after a few days previous fishing. I straightened a few hooks when I started fishing Fireline, but when I turned the drag down a bit, this problem stopped. I use a 10.5 foot ML Lamiglas usually, which is very forgiving.

One nice thing about the small diameter is that you can tie a surgeons knot to replace a small amount of worn line without having a big knot that's a pain to cast through the guides. With 14 pound Fireline, the knots are tiny. I change one casts length after every 10 hours or so of fishing. I prefer Fireline because it comes in 14 pound (nice for steelies) and it has a tougher coating than Power Pro.

I usually use a 1.5 foot 12 pound Maxima leader with 14 pound Fireline.

Good Luck!

If your tip is fraying the line, you must have a crack in the ceramic ring (or chip). Alos, begging my pardon, it does not rot.... It is synthetic and made of the same material as kevlar vests. Might break down after years of ultraviolet light exposure, but not going to rot from mold, etc..... Six years as a guide and I swear by the stuff, although I broke three expensive rods the first day I used it (Fireline) because I was used to mono hooksetting...

I was wondering about how braided lines perform in windy conditions. Been thinking about starting to use it for fishing saltwater. Also, does anyone have any experience with whether or not this type of line is suitable for fishing kelp beds?

I switched all my downrigger rods to TufLine. I get much less blow back than with the mono. I can almost crank the line to where it is straight down the downrigger cable. Sure helps with hooksets that way, no slack in the line. Easy to tie knots, no stretch, and tough as anything. Pluss if the dodgers get tangled, the line doesn't get all twisted up and ruined like mono does. I like it!

After doing many self line tests I personally would not even consider using Fireline anymore. It is great line for the first dozen or so trips out and then it begins to fray turning from a black color to a gray. At this point the line has lost almost half of its strength. More than once I have lost steelhead while setting the hook with Fireline.

I like Power Pro although it does have a nasty habit of twisting around the rod tip. I have used Power Pro on all of my rods for more than a year now and have experienced no problems with rod/reel wear or breakage. I tie directly to the plug when trolling with no problems but would not do so if drift fishing.

Tuf-line is good stuff (not Tuf-line plus) and works fine but frayed on me when I was trying to slide the bobber stop up and down the line. Otherwise the stuff worked great, landed many spring chinook with it last year. Tuf-line tested very well in the line test done about 2 years ago by the way (saltwater magazine, forget the name). In general the line test demonstrated that braided lines have poor abrasion resistance and high tensile strength.

Bottom line: Try Power Pro, you won't be disappointed. If your going to be using it for drifting, add some mono leader on the front for abrasion resistance, otherwise tie straight on to the lure. Good luck!!

Best Regards,

RM

I have utilized the following braided lines and would have to rate them as follows:

1. Tuf line-

2. power pro-

3. Fireline

I use braid on everything i fish, i will probably never return to Mono., it took some getting used to. The problem with fireline is that it frayed to quickly. I have had nothing but success with the Tuf line. I have had it on all my baitcasters since before the beginning of last years summer run. ABSOLUTELY no stretch, when you set the hook, you set the hook. Need to be careful or you will be subject to busting some rods. You have to deal with people who give you a rash of [Bleeeeep!] on the rivers for using it!! I have yet to lose any of the braid in the water because i will use a considerable lower lb strength leader. Just my thoughts...

rockhopper,

Stuff works great in and around kelp beds. It is made-to-order for bottomfishing, as it gives all the benefits you would expect from a dacron-like line. Best with dart-like jigs, but I don't recommend it with buzz bombs type lures which will abraid the line; unless of course you use a mono tippet. Although I do use a mono tippet for river fishing I don't bother in the salt. For my DR I still use mono cause I haven't found a DR clip that won't abraid. Anybody got suggestions out there?
All around the stuff is great but it does have a few drawbacks. Besides abrsion resistance it does not do well in freezing temps as it absorbs water and it can be difficult to tie a strong knot quickly and well. I tie a double Uni with braids most of the time. Once you get use to it you can get a good knot without looking, which is a plus for my dim peepers.

DF, tuff line all the way, I run 35lb tuff on all my boat rods, lasts forever.. 5 or 6 foot bumper on the end. your hook up ratio will double trust me, i used dracon before braided lines on my plug rods, people thought i was nuts, nuts with a fish on.. last two days trolling for springers 9 takes and 8 fish in the boat????