Stan Fagerstrom
04-17-2003, 06:38 PM
Power Pro Line Favored By
Top Oregon Salmon & Steelhead Guide
By Stan Fagerstrom
There was a time not long ago when about the only fishermen paying serious attention to those new super strong but small diameter braided lines were bass anglers. No more. Now you'll find a building number of salmon anglers in the Pacific Northwest with that fine line on their reels.
I knew that some of the top guides in the Pacific Northwest were using it. I was interested in just why that was. I decided to find out.
One of the guides I talked to was Scott Wolfe. Scott is a full time guide who operates mostly out of the beautiful Big K Guest Ranch not far from Elkton, OR. Scott is the guide coordinator for the Big K. The Big K overlooks the Umpqua River. The Umpqua, one of the Oregon's most productive rivers, provides a year around fishery for everything from striped bass, smallmouth and shad to salmon and steelhead.
http://www.ifish.net/SFSW.jpg
Guide Scott Wolfe, left, often uses high visibility Power Pro line when he's trying to get his clients hooked into salmon like the one pictured here. Because the high visibility line is so much easier to see it makes it easy for Wolfe to tell exactly where his lures are located when he's pulling plugs or side drifting.
Much of the salmon fishery on the Umpqua is done by casting lures like wobblers and spinners. As any experienced guide will tell you, the clients who climb into their boats vary widely in their fishing skills.
"I started using braided line two years ago," Wolfe told me. "The line's excellent castability was a primary reason. Often I have my clients throwing lures that weigh from a ½-ounce to ¾-ounces. You can handle lures of that weight nicely with a 20-braid because it is still of such small diameter despite its strength. It handles much easier than 20-pound monofilament."
The braided line Wolfe picked is Power Pro, a line that has grown in popularity all over the world since it was introduced a few years ago. Power Pro, a product of Innovative Textiles out of Grand Junction, CO, was one of the last of the present day braids to come to market. Today it's one of the most popular braids and that popularity is growing
"Another reason I like this line so much," Wolfe says, "is because it doesn't have near the tendency to twist as does monofilament. That makes a big difference when you're throwing spinners."
As I suspected, some of Wolfe's clients are surprised when he hands them a reel loaded with Power Pro braided line. They are expecting to see monofilament. "I explain to them why I'm using it," the popular Oregon guide says. "I've never had a client who has used it with me who didn't wind up liking it."
If you're into casting for salmon yourself, you may be interested in the way Wolfe goes about rigging up. For starters, he runs about 50-yards of 25-pound monofilament onto his casting reel. Once he's got the backing in place, Wolfe attaches his braided line with a Uni to Uni Knot.
The Uni to Uni Knot is a dandy for attaching a braid to monofilament. It's not a difficult knot to tie once you get the hang of it. It's the one I always use myself when I want to attach a leader to the end of the braided lines I use so much for bass fishing.
As the makers of Power Pro line point out, their product won't stretch and cling to the bare reel spool. This can result in the line sliding around the spool and might make you think the drag set up on your reel is screwed up. The way to get around this is to do exactly what Scott Wolfe does and that's to run a length of monofilament onto your reel before you attach the braided line. The Uni to Uni Knot lets you do that with no problem.
"I run about 200-yards of braided line on top of my monofilament," Wolfe says. "I attach a barrel swivel to the end of the braided line. Then I use a Palomar or Improved Clinch Knot to attach 2 to 3-feet of leader to the other end of the barrel swivel."
http://www.ifish.net/sfsst1.jpg
Veteran Oregon guide Scott Wolfe says Power Pro braided line helps him get his clients into steelhead like the beauty he's holding here.
Wolfe fishes other popular Oregon salmon rivers besides the Umpqua. Do it for years as he has and every now and then you hang a big buster that does its best to get back to the Pacific as soon as its hooked. "On average," Wolfe says, "a salmon runs 20 to 30 yards. But I've seen some that have taken 60 yards of line."
The largest salmon Wolfe has caught on the Umpqua River weighed 48 pounds. But that's not the largest he's had hold of. "Last year we hooked one we had on for 2 ½-hours," he says. "That fish finally got away before we got a good look at it."
Scott Wolfe brought up something else with regard to Power Pro line that I'm hearing more and more about from a variety of anglers. It's that fishermen would do well to consider trying this line in the high visibility yellow color in which it's available.
"The high visibility line is my favorite," Wolfe says. "I like it especially when I'm running plugs or side drifting. Because it's so easy to see I can tell at a glance right where my lines are. Sometimes that's difficult to do with monofilament. When you're on a river day after day you get so you know right where the snags are. I find having the high visibility line makes it much easier for me to work around the underwater hazards because I can always tell right where my lures are."
Like me, Scott Wolfe tried some of the other braided lines when they first hit the market a few years back. Also like me, he wasn't all that impressed. Some of those first braids cut rod guides and buried deep down into a reel whenever pressure was applied. They were also so darn soft they were forever wrapping around your rod guides as you cast.
Some of those early day super braids were made with aramid fiber. The folks at Power Pro got around the problems that aramid fiber had by building their product with Spectra fiber. Spectra fiber is composed of polyethylene, a fiber that's darn near as slick as Teflon. Today their product is a more round, smooth line that gets away from those problems so common among the early day braids.
Scott Wolfe is a man who makes the bucks to buy his beans getting his clients hooked into fish. He'll tell you Power Pro line helps him do that. They've done the same thing in my own fishing. Give them a try. My guess is you'll wind up experiencing the same satisfying results..
[ 04-17-2003, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]
Top Oregon Salmon & Steelhead Guide
By Stan Fagerstrom
There was a time not long ago when about the only fishermen paying serious attention to those new super strong but small diameter braided lines were bass anglers. No more. Now you'll find a building number of salmon anglers in the Pacific Northwest with that fine line on their reels.
I knew that some of the top guides in the Pacific Northwest were using it. I was interested in just why that was. I decided to find out.
One of the guides I talked to was Scott Wolfe. Scott is a full time guide who operates mostly out of the beautiful Big K Guest Ranch not far from Elkton, OR. Scott is the guide coordinator for the Big K. The Big K overlooks the Umpqua River. The Umpqua, one of the Oregon's most productive rivers, provides a year around fishery for everything from striped bass, smallmouth and shad to salmon and steelhead.
http://www.ifish.net/SFSW.jpg
Guide Scott Wolfe, left, often uses high visibility Power Pro line when he's trying to get his clients hooked into salmon like the one pictured here. Because the high visibility line is so much easier to see it makes it easy for Wolfe to tell exactly where his lures are located when he's pulling plugs or side drifting.
Much of the salmon fishery on the Umpqua is done by casting lures like wobblers and spinners. As any experienced guide will tell you, the clients who climb into their boats vary widely in their fishing skills.
"I started using braided line two years ago," Wolfe told me. "The line's excellent castability was a primary reason. Often I have my clients throwing lures that weigh from a ½-ounce to ¾-ounces. You can handle lures of that weight nicely with a 20-braid because it is still of such small diameter despite its strength. It handles much easier than 20-pound monofilament."
The braided line Wolfe picked is Power Pro, a line that has grown in popularity all over the world since it was introduced a few years ago. Power Pro, a product of Innovative Textiles out of Grand Junction, CO, was one of the last of the present day braids to come to market. Today it's one of the most popular braids and that popularity is growing
"Another reason I like this line so much," Wolfe says, "is because it doesn't have near the tendency to twist as does monofilament. That makes a big difference when you're throwing spinners."
As I suspected, some of Wolfe's clients are surprised when he hands them a reel loaded with Power Pro braided line. They are expecting to see monofilament. "I explain to them why I'm using it," the popular Oregon guide says. "I've never had a client who has used it with me who didn't wind up liking it."
If you're into casting for salmon yourself, you may be interested in the way Wolfe goes about rigging up. For starters, he runs about 50-yards of 25-pound monofilament onto his casting reel. Once he's got the backing in place, Wolfe attaches his braided line with a Uni to Uni Knot.
The Uni to Uni Knot is a dandy for attaching a braid to monofilament. It's not a difficult knot to tie once you get the hang of it. It's the one I always use myself when I want to attach a leader to the end of the braided lines I use so much for bass fishing.
As the makers of Power Pro line point out, their product won't stretch and cling to the bare reel spool. This can result in the line sliding around the spool and might make you think the drag set up on your reel is screwed up. The way to get around this is to do exactly what Scott Wolfe does and that's to run a length of monofilament onto your reel before you attach the braided line. The Uni to Uni Knot lets you do that with no problem.
"I run about 200-yards of braided line on top of my monofilament," Wolfe says. "I attach a barrel swivel to the end of the braided line. Then I use a Palomar or Improved Clinch Knot to attach 2 to 3-feet of leader to the other end of the barrel swivel."
http://www.ifish.net/sfsst1.jpg
Veteran Oregon guide Scott Wolfe says Power Pro braided line helps him get his clients into steelhead like the beauty he's holding here.
Wolfe fishes other popular Oregon salmon rivers besides the Umpqua. Do it for years as he has and every now and then you hang a big buster that does its best to get back to the Pacific as soon as its hooked. "On average," Wolfe says, "a salmon runs 20 to 30 yards. But I've seen some that have taken 60 yards of line."
The largest salmon Wolfe has caught on the Umpqua River weighed 48 pounds. But that's not the largest he's had hold of. "Last year we hooked one we had on for 2 ½-hours," he says. "That fish finally got away before we got a good look at it."
Scott Wolfe brought up something else with regard to Power Pro line that I'm hearing more and more about from a variety of anglers. It's that fishermen would do well to consider trying this line in the high visibility yellow color in which it's available.
"The high visibility line is my favorite," Wolfe says. "I like it especially when I'm running plugs or side drifting. Because it's so easy to see I can tell at a glance right where my lines are. Sometimes that's difficult to do with monofilament. When you're on a river day after day you get so you know right where the snags are. I find having the high visibility line makes it much easier for me to work around the underwater hazards because I can always tell right where my lures are."
Like me, Scott Wolfe tried some of the other braided lines when they first hit the market a few years back. Also like me, he wasn't all that impressed. Some of those first braids cut rod guides and buried deep down into a reel whenever pressure was applied. They were also so darn soft they were forever wrapping around your rod guides as you cast.
Some of those early day super braids were made with aramid fiber. The folks at Power Pro got around the problems that aramid fiber had by building their product with Spectra fiber. Spectra fiber is composed of polyethylene, a fiber that's darn near as slick as Teflon. Today their product is a more round, smooth line that gets away from those problems so common among the early day braids.
Scott Wolfe is a man who makes the bucks to buy his beans getting his clients hooked into fish. He'll tell you Power Pro line helps him do that. They've done the same thing in my own fishing. Give them a try. My guess is you'll wind up experiencing the same satisfying results..
[ 04-17-2003, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]