Superline cutting through guides?

[Shorelunch]

I'm trying Fireline (or PowerPro) for the first time this year and I've heard that it will cut through non-stainless steel guides? If true, is it best to put it on my cheaper rod (South Bend) instead of my GL2?

[iffwalleyes]

Make sure that your rod is designed for that type of weight line not the diameter. If your rod is a 2-10 lb and you get fireline with 10 lb diameter it will ruin the guides. If you use to heavy of mono it will do the same thing. So match the rod with the line weight and you should have no problems.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes

[Fathead]

Hey Shorelunch,

I am currently using PowerPro line, which is a far superior line than Fireline (my opinion). I fished for more than 300 hrs with that line last year and not a fray in it!

As far as cutting into your line guides, I have heard that these braids will do that on cheaper rods with cheaper guides. I use St. Croix rods with PowerPro, and I have not had a problem.

[Northlander]

I havent had any problems either open water or ice fishing.

[slick2526]

I have been using powerpro for about a 1&1/2 years on my fenwick eaglegt rod. It has ceramic guides. Caught plenty of 5-7lb pike, used it for jigging walleyes with a fluoro leader also.

As fathead stated I also havent noticed in frays, or had any breaks in my line for any odd reasons. Just remember to use a palomar knot. Ive been the hooks straight before breaking my line.

About straightening the hooks out. That kind of gets expensive and isnt the best for you equipment. If your fishing in spots that you are able to get snagged often, and are jigging, I would suggest to also use a fluorocarbon leader.

I first tried this using a uni-to-uni knot and came to find out that it will start to slice into the fluorocarbon. A simple way is to connect both of the lines a with a barrel swivel.

If your concerned about this set up bringing down the sensitivity of your rod it really doesnt. I was able to catch a 6in perch in 35ft of water with a 1/4oz jig.

I believe braided line makes a $50.00 rod feel like a $150.00

By my judgment, and running a peice of cotton over the guides, I havent been able to find any wear marks in my guides, or tip. I was suprised to find this myself because I was also a believer of the myth that "all braided lines cut your guides"

I have only used 4lb fireline on my crappie rod. Otherwise I havent used it on anything else. I noticed it frays after a little time of use.

Im going to try spiderwire stealth for a while. To see if it compares to powerpro, or if I like powerpro better. This is also suppose to be a type of line like powerpro that will not cut your ceramic guides and top. This is suppose to be a teflon treated line.

I dont think I would worry about it wearing out your guides, I believe I would be able notice by now with amount of fish I have caught.

Well, I hope this information will help you in some way.

[This message has been edited by slick2526 (edited 04-03-2003).]

[This message has been edited by slick2526 (edited 04-03-2003).]

[This message has been edited by slick2526 (edited 04-03-2003).]

[joneshat11]

I will have to disagree, the only rods I have had problems with fireline are my St. Croix Avid rods (2 different rods). St. Croix wouldn't fix them without paying a minimum cost. Do to this and other customer service I've gotten from St. Croix I will never buy their rods again. Never had a problem with g-loomis, berkley, and shamino. Just think for $150 per rod customer service would be first on the list.

Joneshat11

[Guest]

i burned the guides out of the tips of 2 st.croix premiers and a shimano clothes line prop. 7 ft., 2-6 pound test rods, with 4 pound fireline. but it took a couple of years, and a gazillion miles of it ran through them. i presently use custom rods built by a fairly well known builder in calif. who uses loomis blanks and guides designed for the braids. this will be my 3rd season with the new rods and so far the guides are like the day they were put on, and the line is still in good shape. i'll let you know how they wear after a few years and another gazillion miles of line ran through the custom rods. i noticed that as the guides wore in the other rods the fireline began to fray.

[Guest]

Power-Pro has proved to me to be more guide and reel friendly, in all temps. I also like FireLine for certain applications but Power-Pro is quickly replacing it on most of my spools.

Most any non hardened guide will see faster wear from super-lines, or super mono's. Look to replace older rods with FUJI Hard alloy guides and your problem will fade away. Performance will shoot up too, line sails through hardened guides better. Less line twist and wear is also a beneficial result from hardened guides.

Titanium guides have become a favorite of mine these days. The thiner guide sheds ice faster as it has less surface area to cling too. During conditions that allow for ice build up, such as spring and fall, I find the Titanium guide more friendly. A tip I will share with these types of guides is allow the guide to be bent forwerd at a 45 on the top 4 guides. This increased angle "Trips" out the ice beads that do form and will allow them to pop out with a quick snap of the rod under load. They almost self clean this way, handy in the cold.

Most of the main rod manufactures have upgraded to hard alloy guides and reel seats. But if you have a favorite rod that need to be upgraded consider having a rod builder tune it up with new hardened Titanium guides. I had a Boron rod tweaked out for just this reason, love that rod, just didn't like the guides.

Don't be afraid of the new Hi-Tech lines. Just complete the system by upgrading the components needed to accentuate the capability's of the line.

Hope this helps.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 04-05-2003).]