[Dogfish]

I went out to a little river for Steelhead and Springers today, ended up catching a smolt and a steelhead jack (18"). I used this trip as an experiment to try out braided line for the first time, and I gotta say it worked much better than I thought it would. I used Tufline for my spinning reel, 20lb test/6lb diameter, and Fireline, 20lb test/8lb diameter, for my baitcaster reel.

The Fireline had the feel of heavily waxed dental floss, but to my surprise, I was easily able to cast a light jig & float, and hook both fish on this rod. The hooksets were VERY positive, the poor smolt was a flying fish for a few seconds. I didn't have any snags so I can't tell how dependable the breaking strength was, but I felt every wiggle of those fish. Mending was pretty easy, especially where two different speed water currents came together in a seam.

The Tufline was of smaller diameter, and more limp. Casting distance was great, and when I felt the lead ticking the bottom, it seemed a bit sharper in the feel. I hung up a few times, and always broke off the leader, never the mainline.

All of my gear is pre-tied, on pipe insulation, with snap swivels. For the terminal end of my jig rod I had a barrel swivel, and for the drift rod I used a snap swivel. This way, in between leader or jig changes, I can get back in the water in 20 seconds or so, not a few minutes.

So, here are my questions.

#1. How long can I expect these lines to last between changing?

#2. How do I fish spinners? Attach a shock tippet of 10-12 pound test, or just attach the spinner directly to the snap swivel on the end of the braid?

#3. How do I fish plugs? Same as #2?

 

[Flatfish]

Dog-

We fish it directly to the plug for steelies(50# tuf) and black the first 3 feet or so with a pen. It works fine. For salmon we are stil using leaders for increased abrasion resistance.

I fish spinners a lot with fireline and it is great stuff. I tie a double surg loop on the end of the fireline and tie on a 5 foot bumper of Maxima from there to the spinner. Honestly in muddy water(steelies here again, I stay with mono leaders for salmon) the leader is unnecessary. But in clearer water, say 5-6 feet of vis and up, I am spooking fish with it. For summers in gin clear water I fish mono only.

The fireline we use on spinning rods is 20#, and I am on my 4th season on one spool. It is fuzzy and looks like it is getting weaker, but I do not feel that it will fail me yet. I will probably replace it at the end of this season.

You need to remember that 20# line can be pretty beat up and still be plenty strong to bust any reasonable steelie rod. There is a bit of room for error.The rods I fish fire line on are rated for 8-12 or 10-17, so that gives you an idea of how long it will hold up.As of right now, I promise it would break the heavy rod. That tells me it is strong enough to fish with.

Now don't pile on here and call me a slob that does not pay attention to my gear.Far from it. But part of the draw to the superlines is their long life, so I tell my story. If you want to replace your line every season, feel free. I simply refuse to purchase 500 dollars worth of superline every year( yep that is about what I have tied up in it right now. kinda tells you what I think of the product huh?)

Hope this helps.

Mark and the dog.

 

[Snapshot]

Dogfish, I am on my second season with power pro line use for bobber and jig fishing and three other reels with 30/12 power pro for plugs and salmon. The major difference is that mono stetches and the braided lines do not have tha stretch in it. I do no set the hook hard as I feel the lack of stretch can pull the hooks out. I have seen several fish lost because of the fishermen setting the hook hard with braided lines. I lift the rod and pull back in a smooth motion and keep the rod high. So far this year I am 4 for 4 on Springers and hope to add to that. All on power Pro line with a mono leader.

The hard part of fishing with braided is the knotts. I still use the double clinch but loop throuth the eye of the hook or swivel twice before wrapping the line. And after wrapping about seven times I put the end of the line throught the new loop twice and then cinch it up and it holds very well without any slipping.

I have a reel that belonged to my DAD and it has an old braided line on it that is still good. It must be 20 years old. I don't think I would trust it to a chinook though. Good luck

*Fish only bite wet hooks*

 

[salmurai]

Hello Dog, I just reverse the super lines and after that I just cut off the fuzzy part and add to my backing to maintain a full spool. When adding mono or fluorcarbon I use a uni to uni knot. Good Luck....

 

[Space]

This is my 5th year of fishing the same spool of 80lb tuff. No problems and no worries. I use this at bouy 10 every year and wash it down when done. SPACE

 

[fishbait]

This is 5th or 6th year on some 80Lb tuff, fall bobberfishing. 4rd year on 50 tuff for the diver /backbounce rod. All still very fishable. Welcome to the new world..........