Northwest Fishing Reports

I recently purchased a spool of P-Line Fluorocarbon line to use for salmon fishing in the green. I normally use cheap trilene or stren, but when I do use fluorocarbon I have stuck to Berkley Vanish with great success. The reason I didn't get vanish is because my local sporting goods shop didn't have it. I have read many good things about P-Line so I assumed I had made a good purchase.

The first time out on the river using it I did catch fish, but also had a lure break off (which hadn't happened with the cheap line I had been using). I assumed I forgot to check my line and retied and continued fishing. The next day out I had another lure break off. This time I started wondering since I religiously check my line periodically and after each fish. I retied and went on fishing, and caught a few fish. Today I went back out and my first bite I set the hook, line breaks! I check the line, retie, and second fish hits... Line breaks! Enough of this I say! I re-spooled on the river back to my cheaper line and almost immediately land 2 nice silvers.

I know I had good knots and my line wasn't knicked when using the P-Line. Just curious if anyone else out there has had similar experience with it, or if I just got a bad spool? This line wasn't cheap, and between the line and my lost spinners I'm out about $45. I did send the company a message telling them all this, but I doubt it will get read.

Which type of P-line is it?

It just says "P-LINE FLUOROCARBON" on it. It was the 12lb test

So you used the stiffer normal stuff. Blue box.

I've only used the CX stuff and it's working great on my spinning reel. Bass fishing only.

yep, blue box

I have not had good luck with any P-Line. It's either too much memory or brittle. It's not for me.

I recently used a spool of the green box fluoro and it did well on pinks. I've used the cheap stuff once but I really like Maxima Fluoro. I use the 8 pound test or six pound test but would bump up to 12 for fast water. Otherwise with fluoro you gotta check your leaders and knots often. Regardless of what they advertise it's not as abrasion resistant as we'd like. It does have a little less stretch and mainly I use it because it's darn near invisible and stronger for it's diameter. But I have gotten bad spools before. I don't know if there are flaws when they wind it, or if by sitting in the sun or heat make 'em that way.

I've been using P-Line fluorocarbon for a while, use it for bass fishing. I use to have problems with Berkeley Vanish, then I switched to P-Line. Never had issues, until the last two spools of 6 pound test, it happened this summer. Kept on breaking on fish, I could break it by pulling it apart with my hands. Was pretty disappointed, because the stuff is not cheap! And the best kick in the nuts is when you read the sticker says "quality inspected". Went out and bought some maxima flurocarbon and never had any issues.

I still use their leader line, no issues with that, yet.

I'm wondering if your line hadn't been sitting on the shelf for a long time. The higher priced lines may not be selling with the economy being in the tank. I don't use fluorocarbon fly line tippets or leaders. They are too expensive.

I've had issues with fluorocarbon lines in general and found that they really need a lot of lube when you tighten the knot. This is especially true when tying bumper knots as the friction when pulling the line through the loops can cause fraying and weaken the line considerably. I don't use fluoro for main line, if I use it at all it just for leaders and Maxima is the the brand that seems the most forgiving.

The reason I trust Maxima a bit more is that it's made in Germany, not China and I've always had great luck with their lines. They have a bit more quality control than some others. An interesting article comparing fluoro is here http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbon2.html the part one is there somewhere too, but it helped me decide which expensives lines to try without breaking the bank. Bad spools are from lack of quality control and shelf life. I buy from sportco or teds because they have a continually rotating inventory rather than walmart which has its line sitting for a long time.

Here is another article with some good information.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fluorocarbon.html

Been using P-Line leaders with my leaded line trolling rigs for years, never any problems. I re-tie frequently, and change leaders at least once a season or when my normal 50' leader is down to 40' or less. I've had some nasty hangups at Roosevelt, and rarely lose gear, but it does happen on occasion. I keep a spool of 6lb P-Line on the boat "just in case". In my experience, it's as effective as mono without the negatives. Just my $.02.

Marc Martyn wrote:I'm wondering if your line hadn't been sitting on the shelf for a long time. The higher priced lines may not be selling with the economy being in the tank. I don't use fluorocarbon fly line tippets or leaders. They are too expensive.

I think the line had been sitting for a while since there was dust on the box . Thanks for the input guys, I'll try the maxima next time before I go back to vanish for my fluoro needs.

hewesfisher wrote:Been using P-Line leaders with my leaded line trolling rigs for years, never any problems. I re-tie frequently, and change leaders at least once a season or when my normal 50' leader is down to 40' or less. I've had some nasty hangups at Roosevelt, and rarely lose gear, but it does happen on occasion. I keep a spool of 6lb P-Line on the boat "just in case". In my experience, it's as effective as mono without the negatives. Just my $.02.

50' leaders? Im trying to picture how youd use this period and cant. I dont do alot of fishing off boats so not really sure lol. I dont like flouro at all. I seen alot of them say superior knot strength. Well that is usually the place that I break off is at a knot. Even when I spit on it to lube it. I can get better results from a bulk spool of andes then the flouro I tried. And Pline to me is garbage. I see alot of people swear by it. I bought it once and it broke and broke and broke. Im a braid kinda guy for my main and cheap mono for my leaders. Give me some andes or some berkley big game and its on. I do like maxima alot. But I can get 750 yards or more for cheaper then I can get 300 yards of maxima I gotta go cheap. I donate too many leaders to the rivers.

'leader' in that case would be the same as what I do.

'working line' = the 100 feet or less of the line you put on the reel last over 'backing'. When you change line, only the 'working' line is changed, not the backing, therefor saving 200 yards of wasted line. My 'backing' line is usually clear blue florecent by Stren in 10 pound test.

You need to wet your knot well if using fluorocarbon. If you do not you weaken the line significantly. To help avoid this I use co-polymer lines that are a fluoro/nylon mix. I use almost all P-Line Fluoro or P-Line CXX and love it. Limp for fluoro, no memory, and STRONG. I use everything from 4lb up to 15lb from stream trout to Kings on the Columbia.

You know why they call that line Vanish? Because thats what happens to your fish, they vanish after the line breaks. Weakest worst line I've ever used. That crap was toast after one season, I could pull and snap 12lb with little effort.

Make sure to always wet knots and to test the line strength by pulling on it before use. It will save you a lot of hassle if you find you have bad line before you get in the field.

I'm trying 8lb P-line CX on my spinning rod/reel for my 1/8th oz Repala minnow bait. Working great.

Amx wrote:I'm trying 8lb P-line CX on my spinning rod/reel for my 1/8th oz Repala minnow bait. Working great.

I tried CX in the 6lb flavor on a ML spinning setup and had NASTY memory and line twist after a week of it being on the reel. I always flip the bail by hand as well. Never had a problem with the Co-Polymer or CXX.