I hate to start another line thread, but here goes anyway. Has anyone found a superline that holds up over time? I have now done line tests on Spiderwire, Fusion, Fireline, Tuff-line, and most recently Power Pro. Power Pro has held up the best by the way. My test is admittedly simple, but effective, tie a piece of line to each side of a barrel swivel and pull, he who breaks first, loses. In all cases, I have found that once fished, the claimed strength of super lines falls short, way short! Oh sure if you pull on it straight out of the package, all the super lines are incredible, but fish it for 10 days and then test it against a mono of equivelent breaking strength and see what happens, you will be amazed at the loss in strength. Just wondering what the experience of others is. Happy New Year Guys!

RM

[ 01-02-2002: Message edited by: RiverMan ]

I like the Power pro the best.
I use to test line quality by tying a over hand knot on a piece and then give a sharp tugg on both ends, if it breks too easy then I move on. Make sure you use gloves when you do this with Braided lines

RM, I too think the consensus 'go to' super braid line has become the Power Pro. But I disagree about the fading strength opinion. I could be wrong, but I have been using these type lines for quite awhile now and find it to have good strength retention. The exception could be when abraised lower end of the line is not periodically cut off. When it is, this not only eliminates frayed line but also gives you a freshly tied knot. It's really strong durable stuff from all that I have heard and experienced.

Other experiences or opinions?

When I started fishing Kevlar lines I think they were stronger.You could get 30 lb line at a 10lb diam.Seems like that has gone away.Because the lines were hurting people and breaking tackle???
Just seems like the strength to diam. ratios have gone down.You definately want to change out the buisness end ,I like to swap them end for end too.This takes two spools but will increase the life.
Thats all I use for catch and release on the Sol Duc in the early spring,Ike tamer and is good for getting the fish in with a little oxy in its system.

I @$#&%! hate fireline.

[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: LittleZoZo ]

maxima chameleon is the toughest all around line, in my opinion. great abrasion resistance, and it wont dig into your spool when a big fish makes a hard run. i've caught hundreds of kings up to 60 lbs. and have never had one break me off.

I've fished a lot with Fireline on my float and hardware rods and have been very impressed. It will dig into itself when pulling off a snag but if you let some line out afterwards it's not a problem. I just started using the PowerPro on one of my float rods and I really like it too. My .02.

Bruce

Hi All: This is an interesting thread,one cannot help wondering about the possible sources of strength deterioration. RT has suggested the importance of removing worn sections at the tip where bottom abraision may weaken the line. I find that Cabelas offers special scissors for cutting these braid lines.I believe however that a better solution to clean cuts is the use of a pair of high grade wire cutters.
I would doubt that either sunlight deterioration or moisture induced rot could be a factor.
I always worry about line twist particularly with spinning reels and spinning lures.It is clear that mono line stored with severe twist becomes deformed and probably weakened. It would be interesting to know more about the equipment used by the originator of this thread.
One should of course expect variations in line thickness within an individual spool This variation is about .001" and in small diameter mono lines this can mean a a difference of 1 1/2lb or in the case of a 6 lb line about 20 percent.
It would be interesting to know the variability in diameter in these small diameter braid lines. I will mike the first spool I purchase and report unless someone knows now.
coot

Good point, Coot. I switched to Fireline a couple years ago during a trip up way north chasing big nates with hardware on spinning gear because I got sick of the line twist from mono. I haven't had the Fireline twist up on me like mono at all and I run it straight to the spinner/spoon with no swivel. Yes, the ends do get frayed a bit but sharp sicsors take care of that. Never lost a big one on it either.

Bruce

I've been using fire line for several years and haven't had any problems. You must trim and retie peiodically, but you should do that with any line.

Baddawg

baddawg, no biscuit

Hey thanks for the replies. I don't doubt that many of you are having great luck with some of these lines, I have too. But what alarms me is the change in strength, please try a test on your line when its new, then several weeks later, its strength (talking power lines here) changes big time! As far as trimming the line goes, I do this as a precaution with any line, this is not the problem. And, I am using quality rods/reels, etc. If your using Fireline and its fraying, from my experience you may have lost at least half of your original breaking strength!

Hey RT, I propose we have a line test, what do think? I would be more than willing to conduct the test and/or help with the experimental design. What do you say?

RM

[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: RiverMan ]

I think a test would be a great idea!! I've been putzing around with "super lines" for a while for driftfishing and personally I like ProPower and FireLine. I really think I get better feel than with Mono.. kinda like the difference from fishing mono on a old fiberglass rod vs. fishing mono on an IMX with cut away reel seat. The things you can feel!!

Granted the stretch in mono can be nice for playing fish but I think the increased feel and bomber hookset make up for what you loose.... it took me a while to get drag settings dialed in for the no stretch lines.. I've also started useing my thumb a bit too when playing fish for a little extra control..

Just my $2...

Oh and as far as digging into the spool when breaking off snaggs.. i started carrying a 4" chunk of 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 dowling.. take a couple wraps of mainline around it and pull away... no more digging into the spool..

[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: Sniggler ]

If not stated above, the loss in strength has to do with the photosensitivity of the line. Sunlight deteriates these lines. Or I should say used to about 7 years or so ago when they were "big" on the fishing scene.

Have any of you tried the new hi vis power pro (yellow I think)?
Do any of you use a leader? I'm thinking of using this yellow power pro on my float/spinning rod and using about a 4 or 5 foot 8 to 10lb UG leader. Does this sound like a good idea or not?

Sorry to digress from the intended topic (:

-Chad

I've been using Fireline and wouldn't even consider switching to Power Pro. Fireline has worked so well for me (on my float rod) that I can't imagine how Power Pro could possibly improve my fishing. Also, Fireline has the added bonus where it doesn't twist around the rod tip like Power Pro and Spiderwire do.

Coot and Sniggler, I love the idea of doing line tests on many of the popular monos and braids! I will start a new thread for members to do that. Coot and others with the equipment can give us results of diameter measurements, and most can do comparison pull tests or weight tests for strength comparison.

Suggestions for test candidates ....

Super Braids:
- Power Pro
- Fireline
- Tuf Line
- Others? (add your's to the new thread)

Monofiliment:
- Maxima; Chameleon and Ultra Green (Perfection?)
- Berkley; XT, Big Game, XL
- Izorline; Platinum
- Ande; Tournament Green
- Others? (add your's)

I will add that in addition to diameter and pull tests, that we also compare test braids that have been used a few weeks to the exact same line new; as River Man aluded to. I would expect the new to be stronger, but not much stronger. Using a tester or weights should be more informative than direct line to line break off tests, because the one that breaks could be almost as strong, or not near as strong; but difficult to tell which in that scenario.

I will say that I have used 30 lb. Tuf lines for years and have older ones that consistently survived a hook snag pull out when 25 lb. Maxima leader broke at the same swivel; even a number of Maxima breaks against the same Tuf line knot (lazy to re-tie - Of course it was 30 vs 25, but impressive braid performance). This was during Tillamook tidewater tug-o-wars with big Kings in snaggy areas. But I haven't had the Power Pro braid I've been using in those situations yet.

I will move this to a line test thread. Thanks guys.

RT

I'd like to see a comparison of Maxima Chameleon, UltraGreen, and Clear. And maybe Perfection.

does fireline cast like powerpro?

I have been using fireline for the past year and find it to be very tough, i have not had one break off, it is alway my leader, but i get my swivel back, the only thing i noticed is a couple of weeks back my guides were all iced up and it shredded the line,but it didn't seem to affect the strength at all.

I know what you mean by the strength. Depending on what I have with me at the moment, I use 10 or 12 lb Maxima for leader. I'll get a jig snagged and most of the time I get my enter set up back albeit with a bent hook. That line is strong.