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. frown

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 laugh

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? eek
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She was standin' alone over by the juke box, like she'd something to sell.
I said "baby, what's the goin' price?" She told me to go to hell.

Bon Scott - Shot Down in Flames