Northwest Fishing Reports

I went out to the only place I can get line within a 45 minute driving distance to replace the really craptastic mono I had on my really craptastic poles. I was looking at something to help me get more distance and hold up to fishing cover so I was looking at braided lines since I had never given them a try.

Well after shopping the shelf of 5 brands and one being $26 for 120 yards and the other being $12 for 180 I settled on the cheaper Tufline Duracast made for spinning reals. So I had them load the real up and off to the lake I went. I do have to say I got an extra 10 yards of casting distance, but that is where my love affair stops.

I noticed within just an hour of casting that it looked as if the whole real was fraying out. Never having had braided line before I thought this may just be the norm but lord was I wrong. 6 lures later all with at least 20 feet of line attached to them are either in a fishies mouth, up a tree, or on the bottom of panther lake. I ripped the Tufline off my reals in a hurry.

Yes I have checked my guides and there are no rough spots that I can find...

So this time I made the 45 minute drive up to the big fishin store and spent $26 on the Power Pro Line and lord what a difference. I gained at least 15 yards with out having to add any more power to the cast. That was not the real ticket the real ticket was when I was fishin the shallows with a crank for bass and laid into a 3 lb rainbow. I have from past experience found that the teeth in trout can lay havoc to your line more than a bass of the same size and this time was no different. When I got the guy into the boat and the hook out of my hand I checked the line. Sure enough it was chewed 3 ways to sunday, it was literally holding together with only one or 2 stands but still allowed me to land a good sized fish.

I am now a big believer in the Power Pro and spending good money on line... Still only spend $2.50 on my cranks though.

Power Pro is what we use and I like it.

I have found though, that I break the 15 lb alot when casting weighted soft plastics. Not sure where the failure is happening but its probably at the knot.

RaMcVey wrote:Power Pro is what we use and I like it.

I have found though, that I break the 15 lb alot when casting weighted soft plastics. Not sure where the failure is happening but its probably at the knot.

Interesting that you say that Rac. I had been using the 20lb, and was finding breaks down in the spool.. I am on some 30lb now. Still love it though.

The Quadfather wrote:

RaMcVey wrote:Power Pro is what we use and I like it.

I have found though, that I break the 15 lb alot when casting weighted soft plastics. Not sure where the failure is happening but its probably at the knot.

Interesting that you say that Rac. I had been using the 20lb, and was finding breaks down in the spool.. I am on some 30lb now. Still love it though.

I have to admit, I was casting pretty hard when these breaks were happening. I was using a Bass Pro Ultimate casting reel and a 6.6 ft med-light action UglyStick. I got excelent distance on the casts and was amazed at how far the baits were flying once broken off. No breaks in the reel that I can think of.

I'm only using the 10lb right now since my real and rod wouldn't handle anything over that if I hooked it anyway.

I have found that you have to tie braided in a whole different manner than mono. If you are using the same knots you did on mono try using some of the knots in the manual that came with the power pro line or superglue the knots as I do....

I've had my best luck with the tuffline xp. I've had quality issues with power pro as well as knotting issues on the cast. I've been using tufline since the early eighties with no trouble. For spinning reels the braid can't be beat..... No memory.