Gearing up for a trip up to northern MN in/ near the Boundary waters wilderness. Sadly my annual pilgrimage went dormant 9 years ago. So, much of my fishing gear has been idle since then.

My reels should probably be re-spooled. Spinning reels will get mono, 6 or 8 lb.

But what about braided lines? Have they evolved much over the past 10 years? My go to then was spiderwire, usually 25 lb test IIRC. I'll be putting this on my baitcasters, medium weight and heavyweight Rods (big poke Muskie rod).

Primarily fishing wallet, smallmouth, northern and I would like to go for the grand slam with lake trout.

Florocarbon is the thing, but expensive. I've got a bunch of reels so I compromise and use a florocarbon coated line, Floroclear.

I also like Trilene XL in a small test line. For
smallies I'd get clear, not colored or florescent.

Can't help with braided as I'm too old and set to use it. Special scissors, knots, no stretch, etc.

I like to match my line size, strength, & diameter to the primary fish targeted. Of course you have to take the averages when multiple species are expected, with the same equipment.

With a primary panfish rod I like #4 test line. In your case, the #8 lb may make the most sense, possibly 6 if Northerns were low priority.

All the line boxes have diameters on the box, some can be thinner while the same strength as another.

I'd take some backup line or a reel on the trip, just in case.

I either use PowerPro for braid or Trilene XL for mono. I've tried Fluoro, but really don't like it. It's clear, but spools like a dang spring. I've also found it more prone to breakage at the knot.

Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material. That's why it spools like crap. If you use a good knot, you'll be perfectly fine. I catch fish up to 75-100# with braid to fluoro connections. You'll be fine with smaller northern fish.

Stick to PowerPro for your main line and then tie on several feet of fluoro for your leader depending on your target species. The fluoro will also act as your shock absorber as braid does not stretch.

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:
Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material. That's why it spools like crap.

That may be true in saltwater fishing, but there are plenty of bass and walleye fisherman that use it for spooling. I prefer not to due to the stiffness and minimal advantages over mono.

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:
Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material. That's why it spools like crap. If you use a good knot, you'll be perfectly fine. I catch fish up to 75-100# with braid to fluoro connections. You'll be fine with smaller northern fish.

Stick to PowerPro for your main line and then tie on several feet of fluoro for your leader depending on your target species. The fluoro will also act as your shock absorber as braid does not stretch.

plenty of people spool fluoro... including me. Fluoro is stiff, which is why it has higher memory, but it also sinks better than mono, has less low end stretch for better hooksets, is basically invisible underwater, and is more abrasion resistant than mono. I spray Real Magic on my line to help reduce memory, but on baitcasters I don't mind the coils. Hate it on spinning reels, though.

It is especially good for drop-shotting in clear water.

Personally, I use P-Line for fluro applications or... get the best of both worlds with Yo-Zuri Hybrid which is 50/50 fluoro/nylon.

I use Trilene Xl almost exclusively. I prefer clear line for lighter lines on spinning reels and yellow in the heavier lines for bait casting reels. I have little to no experience with braided lines so I won't comment on that.

Jim

I believe Spiderwire has evolved too. Couple different guys at Cabela's recommended it for bait casting reels (actually a count-down reel for trolling) and I liked using it. This was just last year.

I do like Trilene on open-faced spinning reels, that's been true for a long time.

There are some new braids out there that are even smaller/smoother than the standard ones - NanoFil and NanoBraid - use with a flouro leader. I use Suffix Nanobraid (neon yellow) on my walleye pitching rod with a Stren Castable Flouro leader tied directly to the braid. The flouro has much better abrasion resistance than mono. Getting used to the no stretch took a few outings, but now fishing with mono feels like I'm using a rubber band.

Northern MN lakes will likely be really clear (even if stained) so using a flouro leader will really help.

Shawn

I'm mainly an inshore saltwater fisherman.

I pretty much only use Sufix 832 braid with Seaguar Premier fluoro leader.

Being able to put a couple hundred yards of 30-40 pound braid on a small, light baitcaster with a 15 pound drag is a game changer.

I do have traditional mono and fluoro lines on a couple of reels for kids or casting light stuff into the wind. Braid backlashes can be horrific.

To the "fluoro is leader and too stiff for spooling" folks, well, that's because you're using fluoro leader. There's some very good fluoro line available.

Growing up I don't think we ever used anything but 12 pound Stren.

I use sufix braid for musky rods, and seaguar tatsu flourocarbon on bass rods. Bobber/panfish rods get the white skinny stuff.. Nanofil I think?

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:
Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material.

I don't know if you could possibly be more wrong.

Yo-Zuri Hybrid is all I use. Low stretch, doens't absorb water, excellent abrasion resistance, good knot strength.

http://yo-zuri.com/products/hybrid-600yd-clear/

I mainly use light spinning tackle on freshwater. Light - under 10 pounds.

I have braid on my lightest reel. It is a 2 to 6 pound set up, and I think it has 8 lb braid on it, because that is the lightest I could get. The brand is Sufix. I like it - it is super thin and limp. It is almost as small in diameter as 2 lb mono. It casts like a dream. It doesn't stretch hardly at all - the feel is great. I use a flourocarbon leader.

My other setup is a little heavier, and I have flourocarbon line on it. I don't like it right now. It is as invisible as hell and has little stretch, but it isn't limp and does tend to have some memory. As soon as I can bring myself to throw away the relatively new line, I'll use either a braided line, or go back to plain old mono. The advantages of flourocarbon don't outweigh the poor casting.

A couple weeks ago I spooled 1 spinning reel with 10-lb. Power Pro braid and another with 10-lb. Spiderwire EZ braid. I don't care for the Spiderwire EZ - it performs ok but appears all curly like it has memory. It was on clearance from Walmart so maybe was sitting there a long time.

It's Braid for me in N. Canada trips. Last year it was windy one day trolling and got the line tangled in the motor twice and the braid still worked good with no breaks. We did get smart later and trolled backwards, problem solved.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
My other setup is a little heavier, and I have flourocarbon line on it. I don't like it right now. It is as invisible as hell and has little stretch, but it isn't limp and does tend to have some memory.

What kind of fluoro line have you used?

If you aren't quite ready to give up on fluoro, you might try Seaguar InvisX - I find it is pretty castable. A lot of the bass fishing nuts love the Seaguar Tatsu, which is about twice as expensive as InvisX (which isn't cheap to start with).

There are also fluoro coated lines like PLine Floroclear, which is mono with a fluoro coating. It feels about like mono but is less visible in the water.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:
Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material.

I don't know if you could possibly be more wrong.

That's OK. Stick to the small stuff that might not even be big enough for me to use as bait.

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by steelcityfishanddive:
Fluoro isn't for spooling, it's for leader material.

I don't know if you could possibly be more wrong.

That's OK. Stick to the small stuff that might not even be big enough for me to use as bait.

If you're fishing offshore, I don't see why you would use anything but braid with a heavy fluoro or wire leader, but that doesn't mean there aren't good fluoro fishing lines.

Fluoro line is not the same as fluoro leader, even at the same weight. The leader is much stiffer and has a harder surface and has more memory.