Spiderwire or Fireline?

I am getting ready to put new line on all of my Daiwa counter reels. I usually fish the Cntral Basin of Lake Erie with Dipsy's and Planerboards. Which line is the better choice, money aside, and should I consider pound test or line diameter as the primary guiding factor?

[Gilligan]

I'm not sure what your water depths are there but I fish the east basin and with the extreeme depths fireline is essential. The fireline may seem pricey but the stuff lasts forever. I am running the 14# test, trolling off planer boards.

My personal choice would be the Spiderwire. I have used it exclusively for the past six years and have no complaints. I troll the Central Basin of Lake Erie as well as Lake Ontario. My planer boards and dipseys are used every day on both lakes. This is what I do for a living and replacing lures, dipseys, and other assorted terminal gear takes money out of my pocket. It doesn't make sence to try to get by with cheap line. It will only cost you in the end. I don't want to try to explain to a client that I'm sorry that he lost the fish of a lifetime because I wanted to save a couple bucks on line. You get what you pay for. Good luck

[Gilligan]

I don't quite understand your comment on the cheap line. My experiences with fireline it is anything but. I have broke off my 14# test fireline maybe 4 or 5 times in same amount of years. Two of those were on 4' muskys. I normally straighten hooks out on lures rather than break the line. I fished last summer on Ontario charter that runs lots of fireline and it serves them well. My understanding on fireline is that it's as tough as Spiderwire and easier to tie knots and easier on rod guides. My $.02

[JOHN]

WAY TO GO GILLIGAN! Both superlines are expensive and serve a place on the water. If I was a client and Fireline snaped I would not think the charter Capt. was using cheap stuff. I would hope the strike of a pike or musky did the damage. I have fished Spiderwire before for bass and it worked great on hook sets worm fishing, super sensivtive and no strech. This year I will try Fireline to troll with and have confidence it too will do the job. For the cost of them both, they better be good! My $.02 worth!

I do like the Fireling, I have never used the Spiderwire. I was wondering is anyone has used the TUFFline. I read that is is Spectrum (same as Spiderwire).What is this line like comparable to Fire & Spider?
Drift'r

For Dipsys and boards, why don't you go with Whiplash? It's made from the same stuff Fireline is, but is braided and tougher. I've used it trouble-free for two years (which is all it's been on the market, I think). Good luck.

[ETT]

Sometimes I just don't get it. Someone askes a straight forward question. It is answered by a very knowledgable and experienced fisherman (in this case Y Knot) a guy who makes his livelyhood fishing. And instead of listening to it or disagreeing with it we take issue with his choice of word "cheap". OK maybe he should have said "lesser expensive" but SO WHAT. Fireline costs less that Spiderwire is there any point in pounding a guy when his central point is correct. You guys make me wonder why bother some times. Frank Kittrick (Y Knot) and Bruce Dzuro (Dead Eye) spend more time one the water,and work harder finding their own fish, than any 2 Charter Chaptains I know of. They don't need to share their knowledge and information here. They do it out of the goodness of their heart to try and help anyone smart enought to listen. Keep finding fault and takeing issue with them and they will quite. It is that simple!!!Is that what you want???
I'm sorry but I guess it has built up to a point where I needed to vent.
This board is a great opportunity for those of us that want learn, and those that are willing to share. I guess it is also a great opportunity for those that are jealous and need to pitch.
Hey Frank, thanks for the info, and keep it comeing.
Now my 2 cents worth: Spiderwire is a Spectra fiber line, Fireline is Micro Dyneema. The fireline will frey and wear ALOT faster than any spectra fiber line. In heavier test it does last longer, but it probably lasts only about 1/4 the time that Spiderwire (or any spectra fiber line will last) So for Dipsys it is no contest: the spectra fiber lines are best.
Now beat me up I'm getting so I like it!!!!
Gilligan and John, I'm not really that upset with you, I just had to get it off my chest.

[Gilligan]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-00 AT 10:58AM (CST)[/font][p]Unless Y-Not made a mistake as to where he posted his message he was responding to me not the origional poster, that is why I responded. It won't be me beating you up, I don't do that and am rather tired of that happening here and WC not stopping it. I was not rude or disrespectful to Y-Not, just felt that he discredited the value of fireline. I actually hoped he would post back concerning whether the spider wire was indeed detrimental to the guides and if it were enough of a factor in his decisions using spider wire. I fished off Buc-Aroo Charters on Lake Ontario last season and they used fireline on several of the 9 or 10 rods they ran and they were sold on the stuff. So are quite a few of the charters that I've spoke to where I fish in the East basin. From posts I see here from pro's and others as well as my personal sucess with fireline it will probably be on my reels a long time. As I said, if the post was to the guy with the ? and not me I would not have responded, and I may have responded differently if he would have addressed the problems or supposed problems of spider wire and explained how to work around them rather than say it's stronger and the other stuff is cheap. I need input from Y-Not and others like him, I certainly don't consider myself even near his level in fishing expertise, but I want to hear him tell how to deal with the problem not just say it's better.

Fireline is the way to go.It will not break unless you get a toothy critter and it gets cut.It will save you money in the long run!