Has anyone experienced excesive wear to their levelwinds due to the use of Fireline?

I've been using Fireline for 5 years and I love the stuff: Low stretch, thin diameter and high tensile strength has done me justice. However, I have had 4 levelwind reels go TU in that period of time. Specifically, with wear to the pinion gears. A guide friend of mine suggested it might be the line. I'm curious to know if others have a similar story.

I tried the 20 lb on a new Curado. After 2 trips I had had enough of its stiffness and replaced it with Power Pro. I've used Braid for several years and the only brand that I have had trouble with was the Fireline.

Hated fireline. Listen to Wolverene.
That stuff is slick and casts well but I had it bury into itself with a big July chinook in the Hoh on the other end. It broke at the spool and I was unable to salvage the rest. Needless to say that was the last time I've used it, and made the switch to PP with 0 complaints. (Or mono)

I've fished Fireline exclusively for almost 4 years now without a problem.

I have been using it for years and it has only cut grooves in the level wind eye. Not that bad though. It does tend to frey fast and I tie it to a tree and unwind my spool then tie off that end retie the rigging end to the spool and rewind. I can get twice the life out of it that way. The fuzz on the coating does make for nasty back lashes when it gets worn.

Hey for all you anti fireline people, if you don't want your spool of fireline, send me an e-mail and maybe we can work something out

I've never had a problem with it. Once it broke in, the better it got.

It doesn't sound like ya'll that like Fireline have had any internal gear problems as a result of using it. My concern was the lack of stretch in braid in general might be harder on gears than mono. Perhaps I just got a hold of some "lemon" reels, I don't know.

I had to stop using it (both fireline and powerpro) on one of my spinning reels (mid price shimano) because the front drag system couldn't handle the lack of stretch. With mono, it worked flawlessly, but with braid, it would cause some slippage when I tried to set the hook and caused me to loose sevaral fish. I ended up switching to an old rear drag quantum spinning reel that I had been using on my backup rod ($20 reel - about 10 years old). This real handled the braid flawlessly and helped me land many pinks, silvers, steelies, and chum this fall - not one fish lost due to the reel.

Yes, yes,yes! Everything said above about Fireline is true. Its to stiff, frays easy, and "RUINS LEVELWINDS''! I put that stuff on an Ambassedeur 6000c for float fishing, when the stuff first hit the shelves about 6 or 7 years ago and used it a couple times and caught some fiesty summers. Then the whole reel locked up on me on my next trip. Lucky I've always got extra's! So, I went home that evening and took the Fireline off of it and it freed it up, but it was to late. Everything in that reel was toast, just tossed it and got a new one. The stuff also cuts into guides, but so does Power Pro, so go to the Titanium guides with this stuff. I came to the conclusion that the reason my reel went TU was due to pulling straight back on my rod to break off which with that stiff tough a** line makes the gear teeth grind down real quick. So, with this stuff, never make the mistake I did by using the rod to break off. Actually shouldn't do that anyways, with any line, really bad habit that destroys reels. Just a heads up!

I've only had a few initial problems with Fireline, all due to being unfamiliar with the properties of it. For someone used to mono, it can be quite a switch!

For example, it casts like a dream, mostly because it is so light and slick. However, the slickness led to problems because the line would slip on the spool while reeling. Solution? After tying the arbor knot to attach the line to the spool, wrap the spool and knot with rubberized electrical tape.

Another problem I initially had was having the line dig in upon getting something on the hook, be it a snag or a fish. The problem turned out to be that the line was too loose on the reel. My solution? Re-spool the line using much higher tension. Braid seems to handle this and doesn't have the memory problems that you get if you use mono.

Having figured these differences out, I've been having a great time with it. I really like Fireline and recommend it highly.

Grandpa's Fishin Buddy, I think you answered my question. I do point my rod at snags to break them lose. Always have. In the past I've never had reel problems as a result when using mono, however, it makes perfect sence the inherantly higher tensile strength of Fireline would strain gears when doing so. I had my suspitions but needed to hear it from someone else with similar experience. I guess I'll go back to mono.

Or, just wrap the braided line around a strong stick, plier handles, ect and pull back to break off your leader. Don't use your bare hands!! I just use a stick or my folded up multi-tool when needed.

With my spinning reel, I just grab the spool so it won't turn, then pull straight back and snap off my leader.

I'll tell you from personal experience that even a well-clothed forearm is not a good way to break this stuff off... I've got permanent line-burns in my SST jacket from doing this. I now wrap the line 4-5 times around the fish-bonker in my boat.

Another method of breaking off braid that I was told about is to wrap it around the frame of your round-style baitcasting reel... let the frame take the abuse instead of the gears. Haven't actually tried this yet, but I would reserve it for reels with a strong one-piece frame. Don't know if the wimpy crossbars on some reels could handle the stress.

A wrap or two around an Ambassadeur frame works great! Even my '57 is still holding up to years of doing this with mono and braid.

As far as the Fireline goes I really like it when its fresh. You can literally fish all day with the same swivel.

My only complaint is that once it starts to wear it seems to go pretty fast, though. And its too pricey for me to want to replace it as often as I should.

Glad I could help out Sol_on_the_Duc! My run in with Fireline was one of my most frustrating dilemmas in all my years of fishing. I do not wish that on anyone else but snaggers. I would never suggest using any part of your reel or your body to break a super-braid off. I too have some line scars from Power Pro and Dacron I use for halibut, that aren't very nice when they get ya either. I wouldn't put that kind of abuse on my reels again either, no matter what part. Well, good luck on your fishing ventures to come and maybe we'll see ya out this way sometime!

10-4!!!

Having fished superbraids for several years, I've come to love it for spin casting spoons and spinners for its casting distance and being able to pull snagged lure free, but one place I've found it can be a disaster is jigging salmon.

Unless you can keep the line really tight on the reel , the line will dig in an get jammed on the spool. It is not a good situation when you need a smooth running spool and drag and there is a 30 lb. Chinook surging at the end of your line. After busting off five good Chinook in the Charlottes one morning when the line dug in and stuck, I was very thankful that Surecatch had a spool of 16 pound test mono in his bag.

After I changed line, the problem was solved and we had a forty fish c&r day with Chinooks from 18 to 50 lbs.

For halibut and ling cod its great stuff. Usually you are using heavier jigs which help keep the line tighter on the spool than a two to four ounce salmon jig.

Changing the subject, I've found that free spooling to the bottom, then reeling up very quickly is deadly on halibut and lings. If you don't get slammed in the first 30 feet of reeling, drop down and repeat the action. It can be deadly on salmon as well.

Braid can be a pain when jigging, but if you keep a little tension on the spool with your thumb as you lift & drop it works pretty good. The "rounder" braids like Power Pro and the new Stren (haven't tried the Stren yet) don't dig into the spool as much as the flatter braids do. I feel your pain about losing nice fish. 4 years ago I had some 65 lb Tuf Line loop around the rod tip and a slab darn near pulled me in the drink.