"State of the Art" Light Line ?

[steve b]

I've been a fan of Fireline since it came out. Tippet on floro in 2-6lb. Maybe half my reels set up this way. Have a couple reels yet with all mono for Brookies in Penn woods runs, use your basic Trilene in 2 and4 lb.. What are your favorite light lines and applications ? Have I missed something new I should check out and try ? steve b

[Tom Hudson]

Hey Steve;

Great post! I also am a big fan of both Fireline Crystal and Trilene XL. I use Fireline for NP, LMB, SMB, WE, and Cats...really anything other than panfish. However, I think Trilene XL, dollar for dollar, is a great line for Crappie, BG, YP, RES etc.

Are you stating you use Fireline with a Florocarbon leader? If so, can you tell me more, like the length of your leader and what knots you favor for tying the Floro to the Braid? Surgeons? Uni-knots?

[steve b]

Yes Tom, I add some type of floro, believe what I have here now is P-line, to the Fireline 4lb mainline. So far with bluegill/brok trout size fish, a double surgeons knot is sufficient. For fishing the brush choked little runs in the Penn hills for stocked trout I just use Trilene XL. Don't want Fireline wrapped around 3 trees, two rocks, etc.. steve b

[Tom Hudson]

Double surgeons - got it. I think uniknots would be good too, but it took me a few years to learn to tie an efficient surgeon - so I'd better start practicing.

[James Feasel]

back to back uniknot seems easier to me and i've never had a problem with it. i use it for leaders and for adding that last quality 50 yards of line onto my reel spool.

[IceWarriorGill]

Tom's right! For best bang on the buck it's hard to beat Trilene XL as your all around line and it's the one I have spooled on the majority of my reels... I still use alot of Vanish Transition though; but it's pricey, a bit brittle and can break upon tying your initial knot... However, I believe it's really good for line shy finicky biters in tough conditions where an invisible line really shines!!

[Aaron Brown]

I use trilene micro ice for filler on my spools. Usually 4-6 lb. Tie on a very small swivel and then use a 4-6 foot long leader of Gamma in 2 lb. Great combination and the swivel keeps the line twist from carrying down through your jig which I find very helpful here in MInnesota.

[robsabloke]

Some of the finest, supple, strong line on the market is Maxima... I use 2 lbs test and have just got some 1 lb... incredibly strong and makes tying knots very easy. Any line is only as good as the knots that hold it together.

Rob

[Bruce Condello]

I need to check this out. I'd love to have access to some high quality 1 lb. test!

[John McKean]

From many years of light tackle jigging, I can't find a better,thinner, more supple mono than Tectan ,sold by Cabelas.It's 4,5,6 # test lines by actual diameter measurement are smaller than major brands 1 & 2# test ,no leader necessary!

[robsabloke]

I tried Tectan a few years ago.... Great line out of the box... BUT... I found it didn't handle UV very well at all and I had to change the line much more often than usual. The other problem I had was knot strength... it didn't seem to 'Draw down' properly... but that could have been me.

Rob

[Bruce Condello]

I used Tectan exclusively for years. I had to quite about 8 years ago because of that exact same problem--UV just beat the heck out of it.

I generally respool after every trip anyway so it wasn't always an issue.

Very castable stuff.

[Bill "Musky" Modica]

Fireline Crystal and Vanish Floro is my bread and butter.