I did a search on here looking for the some good mono line reccomendations, but couldn't find much. I want to get away from trilene XL. I am sure everyone has their opinion, maybe it would be easier to say which line not to buy. That would save me some money from buying junk.
I am going to buy some different spools early and try them out before the tourney season starts. I have been seeing BPS excell getting alot of good reviews, but I am concerned with buying a discounted line. Line is not the place that I want to skimp. I am very happy with BPS Flouro though. I am leaning towards Suffix siege.
pline premium and fluoroclear in 8lb test or greater is great line. Gamma is also top notch.
these are both co-polymers however.. not mono.... ;) ;D
How do the co-polymers work on top-water and cranks???
I have also had very good success with the P-Line Floroclear and it is pretty much the only mono I now use. It seems to be pretty resistant to abrasion and doesn't seem to twist quite as much as other brands of mono I have used on spinning gear. I generally use the 8lbs, 12lbs, or 15lbs test and all of them have held up nicely.
I don't think you will be disappointed with the Floroclear and there is also a rebate going on now. Buy two spools, get six bucks back. :)
-Ryan
PM'd you.
Tried Suffix and hated it. Had to retie tubes 10 times to get a knot to stay. It was ridiculous. Love Floroclear, decide to try Evolution and Halo. Think I will stick with Halo, and will probably go back to Floroclear. Had some problems with the Evolution.
i tried suffix for about 20 minutes... 10lb line and i must've broke it 30 times tying a knot or pulling it tight. i emptied the real right then and there and right back to some 12lb pline premium.
this was only slightly longer than i used vanish... 8lb vanish and i broke of 3 undersized (10-12") fish on a fluke in 10 minutes.
SUNLINE, SUNLINE, SUNLINE, If you guys have not tried this line you are missing the boat. I use 3 lines no matter what I am doing.
1- 65lb white Power Pro- flippin and frogin.
13lb Sunline shoter defier (mono) This is the best mono I have ever used-I put it on a shimano stradic 2500 and can cast a weightless centipede farther than I can with 8lb P-Line CX, and the Sunline is stronger than Heck. - Top water, and skippin docks.
16lb Sunline FC Sniper Floro - Stronger, limper, and easyer to cast than any other floro I have tried. I use it for everything else I do - cranks, jerks, jigs, and swimbaits.
You can get Sunline from Mikes RX (http://www.mikesrxbaits.com/), Backwatersonline.com.
Try it you won't be unhappy, It cost a little more but it dose last on the spool a lot longer.
Jason Ammerman
If you want true mono - not copolymer - then excel is very good for the money but you should expect a huge amount of stretch. Maxima is a very good mono and I have also heard McCoy's is very good.
I really don't use mono anymore as copolymer's and flouro's (Yozuri Hybrid(spinning), Pline CXX(baitcast) and seagur(spinning and baitcast) have suited my needs. Well, except for the couple of spools of Shakespear supreme I picked up to fish on practice days
Down south my partner and I lost 2 spinnerbaits and a chatterbait on 3 different rods spooled with Suffix from 3 different spools. Brand new off the spool never been used. None of them broke at the knot. 2 of the breaks were mid cast. I will never use Suffix again.
Maxima Ultra Green rocks.... nuff said about that.
I like PLine but I am going to be trying Seaguar InvisX this year. I gotta tell ya, I'm getting very comfortable using that Maxima Ultra green even in my normal fluoro applications. I'm getting very confident with that stuff. My entire week down south I only broke off once on a fish and that was my idiocy. I caught and culled 4 fish in 4 casts in less than 5 minutes, each increasingly bigger and was so tweaked I didnt retie. I paid.
Power pro 65 lb for all my heavy cover/structure stuff.
B
Hey Jason OUTLAW,
I'm curious, why white Power Pro?
I use the green and love it, is there any advantage to white?
Joshimoto son ;D
A lot of bad line out there. Seems like every year it gets harder and harder to find good line. I like to use pline but it can go bad fast, especially evolution and flouroclear. The most reliable mono I've found is bps XPS, the excel had way too much stretch for me.
-Matt
Thanks alot for all of the good info. I definetly know what lines not to buy now. I am going to buy a few of the brands mentioned above and try them out during the pre-season. I have been using XL for as long as I can remember. I want to give some other lines a try. I spooled up a roll of BPS XPS I bought today and gave it a few casts on a shimano baitcaster in my back yard. It was 12lb. It seemed a little stiff, but it casted well. We will have to see how it performs on the water. I am going to also buy some Flouroclear to try on my spinning reels.
I like the white because I can see it a lot better, I used A MAGNUM sharpie to color the last 2 foot black.
motocross most important thing is to change line after a few good uses.
I am a firm believer in trilene xt and hate the xl been using xt for 25 years and landed many many west coast toads on it,
the xt works well on spinning reels also as long as its changed out every couple trips,
I have done some garage tests with scales and files and xt and maxima seem to be the most consistentley strong lines.
my preference is 8 lb xt for my spinning and finese rods 10 lb xt for just about everything else but my picthing stick and a cranking rod I use 12lb xt or 15 lb big game and 20 lb xt on my flipping stick.
If your kinda a trilene guy try a couple spools of the xt before you get away from confidence tackle.
Quote from: OUTLAW on April 24, 2007, 06:39:19 PM
I like the white because I can see it a lot better, I used A MAGNUM sharpie to color the last 2 foot black.
I read somewhere online that some guys actually camouflage their braid, It said they would wrap it around a cylindrical object and color sections different colors, like red, black, and green.
Quote from: Langer on April 24, 2007, 07:40:09 PM
Quote from: OUTLAW on April 24, 2007, 06:39:19 PM
I like the white because I can see it a lot better, I used A MAGNUM sharpie to color the last 2 foot black.
I read somewhere online that some guys actually camouflage their braid, It said they would wrap it around a cylindrical object and color sections different colors, like red, black, and green.
In this humble reporter's opinion.... that is in the outer limits, not to mention a waste of time.
B
I agree, but none the less some people apparently do it.
What is a waist of time coloring it with differant colors. or useing the white and coloring it with a sharpie?
The camo thing. Utterly stupid in my personal opinion, but hey, to each their own.
As for coloring braid any color... it's not for me. I'm actually going to be moving away from braid except for the heaviest cover, in which case coloring the line would also be pointless.
After the Tennessee trip I have whole heartedly bought into the theory that line color and line visibility play a big part. I caught zero on braid the entire trip in heavily stained water and all my fish came on low vis mono/fluoro lines. I'm not going to get into huge detail but I will say that using the braid turned the fish off in little to no cover situations. So again I'll stick to braid in only the heaviest of cover and in that case line visibility shouldnt play a factor.
B
As far as the Suffix goes I have had nothing but good experiences with it. Maybe the knot strength is more indicative of the person tying the knot than the line itself. I have used both Siege and Elite and have had nothing but positive experiences with the both of them. Pline would be by second choice. I work in a fishing department where I have free access to an unlimited amount of free Trilene and I refuse to use it. However, I have not tried the new Trilene Maxx and am curious to know what everyone has to say about it. ???
Don't forget about using a line dressing.
I hate changing line... I do it, but not as often as I should.
On all my mono and Fouro lines. Imidiately after spooling I will put two SMALL bursts of Reel Magic on the spool. One shot on each side, because it makes it even. we won't go into that part of my OCD.
I have found it keeps my line from getting brittle and helps protect it from the sun.
That line being... Seagar, Maxima and Pline.
joshimoto son ;D
Ditto Josh - it also helps to minimize line memory.
Ditto Josh as well - especially the OCD part. I spray the spool every few cranks as I spool the line (p-line mono, bps fluoro) with either reel magic or KVD line conditioner. I want it to be coated all the way through the evened up spools.
Jack
I was watching Al Lindner's show today..They had 5 or 6 lines strung out between 2 blocks of wood and showed them underwater. The braid and the Moss Green lines stood out no matter what the water color was. The clear and the Flourocarbon lines disappeared pretty well. It makes me believe you should stay away from Green lines except maybe with reactionary baits, but then why bother. I was kind of questioning green lines even before I watched the show. As far as the other colors go I have been using colored fireline with a Flouro leader in the river, works well there. Any other opinions on green line? I just bought 3 spools of Moss green Gamma.
I notice many of you are using line prep, ie. Reelmajic. I have to agree that it does have many advantages. BUT, it does have a major drawback. It will attract dirt. When I work on a reel that has had the prep sprayed on the line the area around the spool is covered with dirt. The result is dirt causes wear and wear results in poor performance in the reel.
The line preps are lubricants and over time they migrate, so dirt will be in areas you wouldn't expect. Spinnig reels have trouble with the bail pivot areas, bait cast, the level wind and the spool bearings.
If you do use the sprays, be very careful when you spray a little goes a long way.
REEL_MAN
I've heard of guys spraying the conditioner on a rag then running the line through it. That would cut down on the overspray, and it would be easier to control the amount going on.
I am going to try to stay away from conditioners.
Hey Reelman,
I know you mentioned that Reel Magic attracts dirt, but how do you feel about the KVD Line Conditioner, I imagine that it probably would have the same effect. I have been using it for a couple of seasons and I like it quite a bit, but if you think that it might be detrimental, maybe I should limit my usage. Thanks for your reel expertise.
-Ryan
Ryan, IMO, the advantages of the KVD line conditioner far outweigh the possibe dirt build up. Dirt can be cleaned, but line problems on the water can cause serious aggravation!
Man after reading this i feel like i'm using all the wrong lines....hahaha...That's horrible.Least i haven't had problems "yet".
seaguar seems to be a top choice among alot of people online that does alot of fishing,as well as power pro.
One question though,as mono starts to coil(begins to have memory)will reel magic help relax it?I just recently got some reel magic last week and was hoping that it'll help relax mono a little bit.Last year i started using braid because mono was giving me too much trouble after awhile.I mainly use it for top water applications,so braid doesn't bother me much as i had no trouble getting bites with braid,fish didn't seem to care.Now that i want to start expanding my fishing areas,i'm a bit worried about different lines in different lakes i haven't been to yet.
I run 8 or 10 lb Gamma on all my spinning reels. I have found this to be the toughest line out there. I run Power Pro on all my baitcasters... with a P-line or Gamma Floro leader (3-4 feet of leader).
I currently have Suffix Siege 10 lb on my crankin stick. Got to use it for the first time Saturday and landed a nice smallie with it no issues. Until it fails me I guess I'll leave it on the reel.
Haven't used the KVD conditioner so I can't give a judgement. As far as the Reel Magic, don't get me wrong it does reduce line problems, but also can create other proplems down the road $$$$
REEL_MAN
I've been using a lot of Shakespeare Supreme for mono the past two seasons. You can get it cheap right now in many places. It's soft. It may break a little easier than Trilene XT but I'm not sure why yet - just noticed the comparable Super Tough is softer than XT. I have not had a problem with excessive break offs with it tough like I've had with a few other lines. I'll still use it some this year because of the price making it more cost-effective to replace fresh more.
I also use Power Pro some. Been messing with several copolymers and fluorocarbons with a couple new to try this season. Have not tried Shooter because of the price despite one good friend highly recommending it. Maybe later in the year.
I may be trying P-Line sometime this season for the first time...maybe??
As far as line treatment, I've been known to spray regular silicone spray on my mono's (and sometimes fluoro's although less of an effect) for flexibility and lubrication. The reels do get more grit on them some days. It does help the line behave more too though, especially for finesse, and for tougher, stiffer mono's.
Dan, I've used PLine pretty consistently the past year and like it. That being said, so as not to lead you to believe I'm bashing it... If you are going to try a new fluoro I would suggest you skip right to Seaguar. As much as I like Pline, I think the Seaguar out performs it. I will be using Seaguar quite a bit this year.
Line is like anything else though - one man's junk is another man's treasure...
B
I've had good success with PLine as well, buth with the tests on tackletour, I will be switching to XPS for the money factor. As long as I have no problems with it I will be sticking with it, but first bad encounter I will probably scrap it and go back to PLine.
I used XPS 6lb flouro today. Caught a ton of less than 20 inch toothy pike.
No problem with the line. I just retied a couple of times. I was throwing a tube and had no more of a problem with line twist than mono. I tried throwing a zoom jerkbait with my spinning rod with mono today.(It was all I had in the boat). Big mistake. I didn't have any swivels.
I took my daughter to fish at lakeville lake this morning. That lake has some nice crappies and way to many pike. Still couldn't get a bass to bite, it looked like they were hugging the stumps. No real signs of spawning yet. Water temp 57 degrees should be soon.
Quote from: djkimmel on May 03, 2007, 11:29:53 PM
I may be trying P-Line sometime this season for the first time...maybe??
So what are you saying Dan? LOL! I'll send you some sooner or later! PM me your address. I'm going to the post office tomorrow!
Fished the St. Joe yesterday with then new Halo Flouro on, not happy at all with the way it performs. I couldn't keep it on the reel, it was breaking for no reason whatsoever, as was my Evolution from the day before. Maybe I'm too hard on lines, but I think I am going to be looking for a new Flouro, XPS probably for the money. Maybe will go back to Floroclear for mono, but probably not. Probably go with XPS for that too. 2 days of bad experiences sent me to the dumps on PLine. Sorry guys, I'm no longer a firm believer.
Javelin, I'd be curious as to what pound test you're using in Halo and Evolution, and whether it's spinning or casting gear. I've been using both since last fall, and have yet to have a snarl or breakoff with either. Halo truly is one of the most manageable 100% FC lines there is. I even fished a weightless centepede for a whole day on 10 pound Halo, and never once had a loop or birdsnest. The biggest thing with the 100% FC lines (all brands) I've found is you must pay more attention to it while fishing and spooling it on. I always spool it on using a linewinder (as opposed to laying the spool flat on the floor), and always reel it on with the line coming off the bottom of the spool (so it goes on the reel the same way it comes off the spool). If the line wants to shoot off the spool, 9 times out of 10 it's because you have too much line on the reel. When I get what I feel is the right amount of line spooled on, I then tip the reel so that the spool is facing down, open the bail, and let the excess fall off. Every reel gets a few squirts of KVD Line Conditioner. And ALWAYS close the bail by hand! When you close the bail with the reel handle, that's how loops and loose line gets on the spool, and then you have trouble. Now I sound more OCD about my line than Joshimotoson. ;D
You didn't say whether this was your first experience with a 100% FC line, but the Floroclear you have been using handles much differently than a pure fluorocarbon. Floroclear is on of the easiest casting lines on the market, but it lacks some abrasion resistance. It has more stretch as well, so it's a more "forgiving" line. On the flipside, Evolution is one of the toughest lines, yet not as limp as Floroclear or a mono like Trilene XL. Any of your pure fluorocarbons and "stiffer" abrasion resistant copolymers are more suceptible to bad knots (mainly because they have less stretch), and will break easier if kinked. So you really need to pay attention and wet the line well, and make sure the strands don't overlap (on a palomar mainly).
As for the Tackletour line tests, I'm always skeptical of things like that because they never test the lines under real world fishing conditions.
I'm sort of confused as to why you'd give up on Floroclear and go with XPS (which you've never used) because you had a bad day with Halo and Evolution? ???
Bottomline is that there is not one perfect line for every situation. That's why there are a hundred different lines on the market. Use what you have confidence in! :)
Quote from: BryanP on May 06, 2007, 11:33:39 PM
Quote from: djkimmel on May 03, 2007, 11:29:53 PM
I may be trying P-Line sometime this season for the first time...maybe??
So what are you saying Dan? LOL! I'll send you some sooner or later! PM me your address. I'm going to the post office tomorrow!
Hey... I didn't say anything about anyone... a statement like I made could mean anything... ::)
Halo was 10 lb on spinning gear throwing tubes, and made the mistake of winding on with line coming off the top. Probably where my problems were occurring. Seems like I read that it comes off the top somewhere, but as much as I read and don't retain, who knows. Could have said don't reel it off the top. :o
Evolution was 8 lb throwing tubes the day before. Lost one tube to a 1 1/2 lb smallie at the boat lifting him out of the water :-\' , lost one casting >:( , and lost a third pitching >:( >:( . No reason for line to break like that. Checked my line on all occassions, after every fish and rock contact. Maybe my palomar sucks, but why don't I ever have this problem except with these 2 lines? Used Vanish before and it was crap in all aspects, but never had problems with PLine before, even the cxx stuff. Wierd. >:(
Man i love that Pline halo,but i got it on a baitcaster,i can't stand any fluoro lines on spinning reels though for some strange reason(that's just me personally).I have yet to break off with halo and i've been pulling in tree stumps without breaking my line.I've gotten a few birdnest with it,but they were all my fault as i'm still a novice with a baitcaster.
Here is a great tip for spinning gear.
After every cast, close the bail with your hand,grab the line and give it a short tug.
This helps control your line and keeps 90% of the mess' from happening even when the line is twisted.
You gotta pay attention to what you're doing, and belive it or not, it's not a hard habit to get used to.
I promise... you will have MANY less problems on your spinning gear.
joshimoto son ;D
Sounds like you had some bad line. Pline is great when it's good but when it goes bad it goes real bad. I'm refering to the strength issues you encounted, any pline 8lb should be very tough when fresh. Line manufacturers need to look at how they package their lines,a lot is bad when you buy it. I've started to repackage any good line I buy into ziplock bags, so far none of the line has gone bad. You won't be dissapointed with the xps flourocarbon, but you should test anything under 10lbs before you buy it. Also as mentioned manually flipping your bail is a must with flourocarbon.
-Matt
I always flip my bail manually anyways, but I noticed you have to do it a lot faster with the fluoro, when your lure hits the water or even right before, or it will nest up like crazy. Maybe I did have a bad batch, but I don't want to take chances like that come tourney time. Losing a well fish at the boat to broke line is not something I will deal well with on tourney day, and I don't want to take that chance. We'll see. I am definitely going to go with the XPS, so unless it seems worse to me than the PLine, it'll get my money. And KVD uses it, so what better line could there really be!!! ;) ;)
I have caught over 20 walleye and probably 10 pike this year using XPS flouro. The walleye I use the Flouro as a leader with braid. I have been casting XPS Flouro for the last couple of weeks on a spinning reel with no major problems.
I am going to start trying Gamma and P-line Co-polymers on my baitcasters this weekend.
I real only use baitcasters. I am a big fan of Berley Big Game in #10,#12,#15 and #20. I was playing around with Sunline today and really liked it, smooth and great feel of baits. I bought the Sunline shooter Flourocarbon and the Machine Gun Co-Poly. I am heading to Vilas county Wis. on Tuesday for a week of smallie fishing and will get back to you my opinions of this line. I am using both for fitness jig fishing in clear water. I have #10 and #12 of the other. I hope this line helps with fishing 3/16 and 5/16oz eakins jigs in 10 -20 feet of clear rocky water.
Well here are my findings from the last 3 months of non-scientific, rookie, back of the boat line testing. I spent probably over 300 dollars on different spools of line and weight classes. I caught I don't know how many fish and probably snagged wood and rock at least twice that much. I made thousands of practice casts in my back yard. No fancy weights or scales. I can't think of a fish that broke off, I am very anal about checking and setting my drag.
I usually start out on the light side and crank up from there.
I won't slam a bunch of lines, but some of them are like cable compared to the premium line manufactures.
I am going to go with either Gamma or P-line co-polymers for my Mono type line. They were basically a dead heat. Both of them were very castable and have not had any failure issues.
Braided line..I like Fireline crystal, I have used it on both a spinning reel with a leader and Baitcaster and have had no problems.
Flourocarbon I like BPS XPS Flourocarbon. I tried to spool up another premium brand just before Burt and Mullet and it twisted up so bad i took it Back off. I didn't want to deal with any problems or change anything just before a tourney. I have been using the XPS as Leader material with my Braid and haven't had any failure issues. It seems to hold really well with the Braid using a Blood not. I use a polamor Knot to tie on the lure. I just read in Bassmaster magazine where Aaron Martens says not to use a Polomar knot, use a trilene knot instaed. Well that contradicts everything else I have read so now I am really confused. I haven't had the Polamar fail yet so I will stick with that knot until I have issues.
The shakespeare supreme that Dan K was reccomending on this site would definetly be one of my choices for inexpensive line. I used it alot for practice line and it worked well. I also like the old standby trilene lines, but for a couple of dollars more a spool I will go with the co-polymers.
I back all of my spools with monofillament to save money.
Just my opinion and I thought it may interest some other anglers looking at different lines.
I've heard about the Fireline Crystal, but haven't tried it. How much is it? I lays well on your spinning reel? Nice job on the report.
Very good report Brian.....
For me its polymar knot or stay home...i swear by it.
I have been using fireline crystal on my spinning reel for about 2 months now. I changed it out just before the Burt and mullet tourney...It was still working fine. I have been using it with a 7 FT Outlaw rod/shimano reel with an 8lb flouro leader. I love it. I use it for all of my plastics, Tubes, Drop shot, wacky rig and shakey head. I haven't experienced any line twist or problems.
I just make sure that I close the bail by hand. (it has taken me a while to get used to that).
I think Fireline crystal is around 13 dollars for a spool of 200 yards, but don't quote me on that.
BBS Excel all the way. For the money you can change out line reel cheep. And it holds upwell. Its all I use
Excell and XPS mono were 2 of the lines I tried. They were OK, but they were stiff in the 12 and 14lb range and seemed to develop memory faster than the copolymers. (like within a week) If they work good for you though great. That is why there are so many different manufacturers. Alot of people swear by Excell for the money, but I only put 50 yards or so of new line at a time. So I get at least 6 respools out of each spool.