Type of line

[goldie11]

I've been experimenting with different types of line for the past couple years and was just wondering what brand of line you guys prefer. Also what brand of leaders do you typically use for an all purpose leader?

[muskydeceiver]

Sufix 80#

Stealth Flouro 130#

[50inchpig]

everyone has a favorite but i tried a couple others and usually go back to power pro, despite it being wet and noisy. masterbraid frayed too easy for me and built up crazy friction when it was dry, probably due to my inferior casting skills. nevertheless, 100# power pro it is, standard steel leader.

american fishing wire is very cheap and makes great leaders.

[Esox_Magnum]

I run 80# Power Pro and Invisibraid with 174# soild wire or 150# Stealth Flouro.

[AWH]

80# Cortland Masterbraid for me, coupled with a Stealth 130# fluoro leader.

Aaron

[hunter991]

I use to use Powerpro 80#, cortland spectron and a few others. Best so far is what i use now. VICIOUS Braid 100# is better than all these IMO.

[cjac]

80# Cortland Masterbraid for me, coupled with a Stealth 130# fluoro leader.

Aaron

That applies for me as well, either a Stealth or a Thorne flouro leader and I'm set in most cases. I have P Pro, Sufix, and Cortland going in some capacity on my reels but am migrating more to Cortland every time I respool. All are servicable, but the Cortland seems to "behave" the best, especially in the cool Fall conditions.

P Pro 30# on my braided bass reels which have been known to encounter a muskie on accident, and Sufix in the 50 & 65 ratings on my crossover multi-species set-ups. I was a little disappointed in P Pro in the 50-65 range.

Keep in mind the lines, rods, and reels we all use are more for the baits we're presenting/casting and the cadence/speed of the retrieve, not the fight of the fish itself. In all honesty, there's not a muskie out there in Minnesota that can't be whooped in a couple minutes on a heavy bass set-up in the right hands. If there is, I'd like the chance to meet her!

[RK]

Hiya -

Cortland Master Braid 80# is what I use now mostly. I do plan on trying Sufix this season as some guys I know really like it. Cortland Spectron is pretty good too. Never could get to like Power Pro.

For leaders I make my own, wire and fluoro...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[muskymaniac4ever]

last fall i put on some berkley Spider Wire Ultracast 100 pound test, loved it in the cold water, dont pick up as much water

[Fish&Fowl]

Hiya -

Cortland Master Braid 80# is what I use now mostly. I do plan on trying Sufix this season as some guys I know really like it. Cortland Spectron is pretty good too. Never could get to like Power Pro.

For leaders I make my own, wire and fluoro...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

I'll second that...I've never liked PowerPro and I will be switching all my stuff over to Sufix for this season.

[Castinski]

Sufix in 80-100#. I started with power pro and haven't gone back. Tried the spiderwire ultracast, but that started to fray too much after a full season and then really absorbed the water. May try Cortland on one setup this season just to see. The Sufix is awesome though.

[Musky Buck]

Anything but power poor I mean pro. I stashed some Berkley Whiplash a few years back and hope it's fine, usually 80 pound green tuf-line have had no problems yet anyway.

[Aaron Carrell]

Its funny how some people can absolutely love Power Pro, and others won't touch it. I just wonder if thats the difference in using it a few years back vs more recently?

I'm a Power Pro guy right now. Usually 80 & 100lb on my muskie rods. I use 30lb-65lb on some of my bass stuff as well. I've tried out Cortland Masterbraid on a friends rod for a day or two and liked it as well, but I haven't had the urge to switch because they felt nearly identical to me.

I'm hoping to spool up the Suffix Braid on a rod this year and give it a try. We'll see what happens.

[Musky Buck]

I hear ya A.C. It double crossed us 1 to many times, lost 3 brand new lures to it and that was that,also lost a giant fish to it, it's basically the only line we had any trouble with in 22 years. However, maybe we got a bad spool of it or maybe it had been on the shelf for many years, I don't know. My cousin was the one using it and I got the laugh out of it, he sounded like a drunken sailor after each lure was snapped off on the cast and it snapped any old place. My gut tells me it was just a bad spool.

[RuKiddingMe]

I picked up 1200 yds of 80# Stren Super Braid last year dirt cheap, figured I'd give it a shot. I really like and will probably stick with it for quite sometime. I have used Power Pro in the past, never had a problem with it and still have it on some reels. I will never again touch a TUF line, original or XP.

Like the fireline for my bass rigs.

RU

[Aaron Carrell]

My gut tells me it was just a bad spool.

Well I can attest to definitely getting bad spools of line on occasion. In the last 5 years I've gained a few rods, gone through plenty of spools of braid (I like braid for just about every application, so its on 75% of my rods), and I've definitely hit 2 bad spools of power pro. Both times I've never had a problem with sending in the form with a sample of line to get the spool replaced. It was strange when running into these issues, cause literally within MINUTES of trying out these bad spools of line, I'd have a break-off. And then another, and another, until finally I'd give up and pull that line off. Spool the same pound line from a different package on there and not have another break off for years. I wish i knew why these faulty packs of line were in the mix, but I guess sometimes you can't get everything perfect in manufacturing.

Oh, and a quick suggestion, NEVER use the red power pro. That stuff stains your hands and rod red for quite some time! That actually turned out to be one of my bad spools (30lb), and when I got that spool replaced I requested green and informed them of the poor quality of the line holding the dye. I noticed this year that they no longer sell that item either.

[Nick Kuhn]

I love the Stren Super Braid. Only had one spinning rod spooled with the new Sonic Braid and it saw limited use but it seemed to be very nice line.

[Spallgard]

I have used Power Pro for many years. Yes, I have snapped off 65lb. test on bad casts. (spelled, backlash)I bet you can do the same with any 50/65lb. braid. I've never had a line failure with PP. Never had a problem with 80/100lb. Color fades quickly, and does fray after use. Spooled 2 reels with 80lb. Suffix last year. Really like it so far. Stiffer than PP initially. Looks like it will be more durable. Not enough bad about PP to take it off before it's done. Have heard good about Sonic Braid - usually priced less than most. Have used TUF Line XP. No major gripes. Lots of people swear by Cortland Bronzeback. Looks nice. Haven't used it yet.

[BorderView]

Will be trying 100# Suffix for the first time this upcoming season. Nice deal at the Expo. Buy a 150yd spool and get a free muskie bait from the storm booth for free. All Thorne had left on Sun. was one 300 yd spool. They gave me a nice Sun. discount and the Storm booth gave me two lures. Yippee

[jiggineye]

talked to the shimano guys at thornes this weekend when I was workin on a few of my reels. Shimano rep Dan said they updated/changed formula with the red PP when they bought it, should not leak like that anymore. I had the red PP on my dsv and the red was noticable inside the reel casing..

Otherwise I have both, PP and Cortland with thorne 130 flouro lead. both have been good.

[blakeb]

Power pro, i like it, it works for me, 80 lbs

[urban cowboy]

100lb power pro.... #90 7 strand

[cherokee]

I'm going to try suffix this year. See what happens.

[nater]

I'm trying out 100lb Vicious braid. Heard good things about it.

[kenais]

Has anyone tried the Daiwa Samuri braid? TT liked it in their review. Like to give it a try but its spendy...