Looking for a new fishing line

[Gumby]

Hi everyone, I need to pose a question that i know will start another massive debate. I would like some opinions on what is a really good line out on the market this year. I used to use Berkely Photocromic Trimax and it was great. They don't make it any more. I went to Berkely Tournament and it was good. They don't make it anymore. I tried Berkely Premium and it was absolute junk. You cannot tie a knot in the stuff. So you see my problem. At the end of year last year i ended up using up most of my line from the NPAA just to get by. I dont't like XT or XL either. I would like to know your thoughts on what to use in the 4,6,8, and 10 pound weights.
PS. I know all about fire line, i use it alot for trolling. Just looking for a good mono. Thanks for the help in advance.

Mike Tompkins
#461

Gumby

[Phil T.]

Personnaly, I doubt that anything more "exotic" than Stren Magnathin is needed for at least 90% of walleye fishing. It is of reasonably fine diameter, is reasonably tooth resistant, and knots well. Actually, a very good arguement could be made for simple, ordinary Stren. For bottom bouncer leaders, I still use Trilene XT. It holds up well to the wear of the spinning clevis, and if 14lb or stronger is used, few fish will bite through it.

[stevefellegy]

I use, without any promo relationship, just to clarify, 100 percent
Silver Thread. This the strongest mono I have found per spool rating and diameter. When the money is on the line....that's my choice.

[eyewitness]

On recommendation last year I spooled up my rigging rod with some P-line. I found it to be very good stuff. Sensitive, tough, low memory, and easy to see. I f Berkley doesn't improve their XL line soon, I'll be rigging up a few more rods with it as well. Also, might try the Silver Thread line too. I've heard good things about it as well.

[BD]

Maxima Chameleon! Hands down! You can find it in Cabelas Master Catalog.

[EsoxProSport]

I am also a big fan of Berkley lines, but question all the changes over the years..... Last year I started Using Sensation Seems to work as promised and has a great combination of abrasion resistance diameter, strength and VERY LOW stretch. I like it better than trimax which was an old favorite.

About 10-12 years ago I liked Bagleys Original Silverthread.. I believe it came in a light bluish-silver box. Is the new stuff the same? Tried AN-40 and did not like it.

[nosnoots]

SilverThread and Berkley XT Solar.

nosnoots

[nosnoots]

P.S. Wish SilverThread came in solar green.

nosnoots

[rich]

maxima silver

[buzzer IA]

Hey Mike,
Used to be a big Berkley Tri-Max fan myself..Don't run anything but Silver Thread for walleyes now..Still use XT for pike and muskies..

[Kingfisher]

Excaliber by silver thread. It is almost as clear as florocarbon and real tough. I use it for Trolling and casting and wouldd recomend it. Kingfisher

[rogerm52]

A clerk at my local Bass Pro who fishes quite a few tournaments talked me into this line on my 2 new stradic reels. I LOVE IT and will spool more of my reels with it this year. Just my 2 cents.

Roger

[Phil T.]

It ain't that tough. When it was first sold, I bought a spool and tied up a bunch of spinner rigs. The first time used, I lost at least a half dozen "eater" walleyes. They bit through the line. No, the knots didn't slip, there wasn't a squiggly at the end. Also, the water was clear enough, I could see when the line parted. The next week, I was retying spinner rigs with old reliable XT.
I have been really disappointed with only two lines. Excalibur, because of bite-offs, and Trilene Solar, because it wasn't at all UV resistant and got really brittle and weak on the spool in about six weeks.

[manitobawalleye]

I have used silver thread for about 15 years without problems winter or summer....have in that time also spooled on XL,XT, Triple Fish silicone coated, Vanish to name a few always go back to Silver Thread...6lb for rigging and jigging... 10lb for jigging pinefalls and the red for big eyes... for spinner rigs i use 10lb & 14lb Excalibur...
have never had the problem mentioned above... cannot recall ever blaming the line for a lost fish.....

[Gumby]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate all the feedback. what i am seeing here is that Silver is a pretty good line. last year when i got fed up with the berkely shuffle i pretty much switched to Silver Thread for the simple reason that i had so much of it. I jig with 8# and tie all my spinners with 20# Excalibur. I wish they made it in something I could see a little better. I like to watch my line.

P.S. If you are wondering why 20# for spinners we have beasts in Green Bay that tear up anything much less than that.

I appreciate all the help, maybe we'll see some of you at Spring Valley.


Mike Tompkins
#461

[manitobawalleye]

mike
had to do a seach but found you a test report that i recalled a couple of years ago...
have it attached.... i will have to reread again
http://www.lurenet.com/product_review.cfm

[Gumby]

That was very interesting. I guess my quest for a new line is over. It would be hard to argue with the facts. Now if they will only it in photochromic or solar.

Thanks again


Mike Tompkins
#461

[Sparky]

Maybe I missed something, what line are you talking about? Are you referring to P-line or Silver Thread?

[rogerm52]

I am referring to P-line. Since I replied to a post about P-line, I assumed this was understood.

Sorry,

Roger

[science nerd]

I have tried most of the popular mono brands over the years and had settled on Super Silver Thread as my favorite. Lately however, I have found it hard to find in stores (Wal Mart or Cabelas). I am a little disappointed since I considered it far superior to Trilene which seems to break unexpectedly out in midair once in awhile and Stren which has spool memory that won't quit. The plus side was it was cheaper to boot. In this case I feel its a question of marketing. Silver Thread doesn't have that idiot on TV catching mailboxes every 15 minutes during all the fishing shows. I also would like a line on which brand to try.
Nerdy

[John Wayne]

I hvae been using Ande fishing line for the past few years with out any problem. I am really happy with it. Not any problems.

[Ralph]

I just spoke with my brother who just fished the Keys.

He is the biggest line snob I know and has never liked any fishing line he has used.

One of the first things he told me was that he loved the new Sensi-Thin.

Try the FireLine too. And stay away from Vanish. I busted off 3 two pound walleyes on the junk in five minutes last year.

If you want a flourocarbon, use the SeaGar as a leader, if you can find it light enough.

I also like the Sten Sensor in coffee for crankbaits. I know it's received some bad press here, but I haven't had any problems with it.

[flyman]

I would take some of the results from this page skeptically (because maybe I'm just a skeptic).

For instance:

Knot tests on this page are done with an overhand knot. How many people out there fish with an overhand knot in their line? Overhands knots are very different from the knots most people use when in fishing. I watched this demonstrated at a show once, where the overhand knot broke at 1/2 the force of a palomer knot. The real interesting thing was that different makes of line performed differently in this respect. What I mean by that is that one line may perform better with an overhand knot, but worse with a palomer knot (or vice versa). Don't we use knots that don't cause the line to break at the knot? A line with a properly tied knot will not break at the knot. Given that, how applicable are these tests? Either the testers don't know what they are doing, or they are misleading.

I would have questions about other tests as well. The abrasion test, for example, basically saws through the line. The real test would be to abrade the line, then perform a test to determine at what poundage the abraded line breaks. I've never "sawed" on my line until it broke. I have had abraded line broken by fish. I suspect that there is a big difference between the two scenarios.

I see other things that make me scratch my head too. Maybe it is just the engineer in me showing through.

If you look at the bottom, this seemingly "impartial" report turns into a commercial for copolymer lines. That has me scratching my head too. You don't think Silver thread might be owned by Pradco (EBSCO), the owner of the site? Maybe that is just the skeptic in me.

Of course, all that I said doesn't mean that it is or isn't good line. Obviously, some people who posted here are very happy with the stuff. It just means consider the source, and more importantly the tests described in the report, carefully.

[Tom (mich)]

Anything but Vanish.

[stevefellegy]

This post has been interesting to follow, as is most, but pretty surprising to me in the sense that MY favorite line is used by so many. As someone noted, it is hard to find in the stores, for some reason. One would hope that changes.

Knot strength has always been brought up when talking of line quality. Interesting. My concerns are pointed toward toughness, dealing with bottem abrasions , spinner clevis wear, of course teeth nicking, most of all, life span from just being on the reel and out in the elements. How is it a few months after I buy it? How is it after it sits in the box in a hot truck for several months, or a frozen garage or fishhouse? Some lines pass the tests better than others. These posts seem to confirm to me, Silver Thread works pretty good from all angles.

Now the breaking knot story.....my answer is something my dad taught me. He said, "when you put an elephant on one end of the line, and a two pound walleye on the other end of the line, the knot will break."
Any knot....I ain't had one break yet... BACK REEL! FREE SPOOL!

[KP]

Personally I can't tell you how happy I am to have read this post. I had been a Silver Thread user for many years until I moved back to Illinois and couldn't find it with any consistency. An old 14 lb. spool here, a 20 lb. spool there. That was it. I thought they may have been out of business. Stupid me never searched on line. I forgot all about Silver Thread until 30 minutes ago. Gonna order some tonight thanks to Steve. I don't know much about abrasion, knot strength, etc. All I know is the stuff was consistent all season and multiple seasons. I never experienced the problems I experienced with many other brands.

[manitobawalleye]

flyman
these tests were not on this site 2 years ago when i first found it.
this is only where they turned up when i did the search last week...
if i was pradco i would also put it on my site....
you can search the credentials of l.j. broutman and associates if you like....what line would you recommend is what the original question was............
i will stand beside steve with silver thread.....

[Hookem]

Thanks for product review
Very good site

[Woodsdweller]

Steve
Since the original post referred to mono, I was wondering if you or the others might comment on what applications are best with mono, and which would be ones where a superline (such as fireline) would be preferred. I use mostly XL and XT, but would like greater sensitivity. Have searched the archives and read so many great things about fireline. Just when I decide to try it, I will hear someone say I'll lose lightly hooked fish, or else never hook them at all because they'll drop it before I ever get around to setting the hook. I'm really confused!! Thanks.

Woodsdweller

[lobo1]

Richard !!

[reddog]

I found the expeiment quite interesting, and am going to give the Silver Thread a try, if I can find it. One thing bothered me, why didnt they use Trilene XL, a tried and true performer in the test, instead of Big Game? I have been a XL user for a long time, and I guess my biggest concern lately has been inconsistencies in the strength.

[Weyes1]

Well, since nobody mentioned Spider Wire Super Mono, I may as well. I use the 6lb. LS in the green. Great line! The only problem I found was the spool they spooled it on. No matter how you tried to put it on it twisted. So what I would do is put it on and then go to the Lake, now I go to the bridge and let the current take it then reel it in. I just bought the Super Mono XXX in the clear to try. The dia. is the smallest in the pound class I have seen. I can't wait to try it now. Some good news is that they changed the spools so now it can be put on with out all the twisting. I hope this is better than the LS, although I didn't have any complaints with its performance. I do prefer the clear lines to the colored lines.
As a former Trilene user, I won't ever buy the Trilene brand name again.
Try Super Mono, you might like it.
--
Weyes1
Kevin Clark
weyes1@wamego.net

--
Weyes1
Kevin Clark
weyes1@wamego.net

[SUPERTROLLER]

The test they did for the memory of the lines was where they lost me. I know from my own personal experience that Fireline has ZERO memory. They claimed that it retained just 64% of it's length due to coiling. Fireline is just like the Spiderwire in regards to it's properties to resist memory and should have rated much higher. Also noted that since we are "setting" the hook on a moveable object(fish) with one end attached to a reel with a drag system that the shock test they did really had no valid results. Of course it showed that the mono type lines had stretch and the superlines didn't. That's the way they are supposed to react, but a no stretch line then reaches it's breaking limits at a lower length of stress applied. That test only proved that the line will break when 10 lbs. of stress was applied to it. When weeds start growing with an abrasive coating on the outside like a file let me know, too. I've never had a problem with Fireline due to abrasion. I must trim off the ends and re-tie often enough like everyone else does with mono. You still have to check your lines and watch for nicks after snags or fish!

I know of several friends that use Silverthread and are very happy with it. I didn't know it was a Co-Polymer line. I was thinking of trying some Yozuri hybrid line that has a flourocarbon core surrounded by a mono covering. Think I will now look at the Silverthread too and try a spool of each to see which one I like better. Your glowing praise is what sold me, not the suspect testing methods.

[Marble Eyes]

I spooled up two reels of the Yozuri 8 lb. for steelhead last fall and have been real happy with it for that purpose. It does have a tendency from my experience anyhow, to act a tad stiff in the (below freezing) colder weather. But It is tough stuff, and very little spool memory. I also use it for leader material when running bottom bouncers on the Rivers for Steelies and it seems to be fairly fray and nick resistant.

IMHO Good stuff.

[ChuckD]

I agree with the Spiderwire Super Mono! I saw a nice spool of 10lb clear on special for real cheap, tried it, and love it! I used it for trolling cranks, and bass fishing and it was some tough stuff. I have never seen the green color, gonna have to find some!

[rick-Ar]

Tectan

[stevefellegy]

One small item that was not mentioned in regard to how well line holds up etc., is in reference to the end eye on the rods. The best fishing line on the market sometimes becomes, unknown in many cases, a weak line because of a hairline crack on the inside lining of the end or tip of the rod eye. If it looks like someone in the boat stepped on the tip, look carefully at the eye to insure it will not wear on the line. I've learned this the hard way....not paying attention.

[WAeyes]

I have found out that one the hard way too. I casted off 2 brand new cranks within 5 minutes one night. After the first time I just thought I had overlooked a fray in the line. Then when you throw the second one into outer space that lands in another direction you start to get a little suspicious. DUBBLE DOH!

[Weyes1]

Unless they improved it since I tried it 4 years ago I wouldn't bother with it. No sensitivity, too much stretch and not very abrassion resistant.
Just my two cents.

--
Weyes1
Kevin Clark
weyes1@wamego.net

[Box]

What is the difference between AN40 or Excalibur? I keep seeing mention of Silver Thread, but only a few poeple distingusih between the two.

Thanks for any more info!
-Box

[SUPERTROLLER]

Thanks for the encouraging news on the Yozuri. I haven't found anyone yet to just trash the stuff. Seems to not have many limitations I have heard of yet. Anyone have a bad experience with Yozuri Hybrid?

[stevefellegy]

The difference between AN40 and Excaliber is that AN40 is much thinner and is also colored (green). The AN40 is the same as Silver Thread in all qualities except color. Silver Thread being clear. The Excaliber is made for tougher applications, where bigger diameter might be good, such as in sharp rock/oysterbeds/zebra mussels etc.
The AN40 and Silver Thread will cast easier and softer and is less visible.

[Amdahl]

Really, I am not trying to stir the pot here, but don't we buy high quality reels in large part because of the smoother drag system? If the drag is screwed down tight then isn't it pretty much a winch? I see almost every pro backreeling so I would tend to believe that it more than likely is the best way to go. It would just seem to me we could then save money on reels. Again, I don't mean for this to be critical, just want to understand.

Thanks!

Amdahl

[stevefellegy]

Correct assumption, in my opinion, Mr. Amdahl.

[Dan Beckman]

Where can I buy this Excalibur Silver Thread?
I don't see it in Bass Pro Shops catalog. Sounds so good I want to give it a try.

[stevefellegy]

The Fleet Farm stores have it, most of the time, in Minnesota. When I can't find it, I call the customer service dept. at 800-531-1201
The Excaliber and Silver Thread are two different types of line. It is splained in post #41...I think.

[rogerm52]

Cabelas sells them both.