Choosing your mono-line

[Chuck]

So say you've been thinking of putting a new mono line on your spinning/casting/mooching reel. So what determines (other than line strength) which brand you opt for? Do you dash down to Wal-Mart and grab the biggest and cheapest spool? or do you drop into Canadian Tire and scan all the Trilene on the wall. Or do you stick to the same old tried-and true Stren that Dad used all these years?

[Browningmirage]

Me i like the maxima ultra green. On a nucklebuster or centrepin steelhead reel, it really is nice. I dont like the chamelion line from maxima on a centrepin because it is a very stiff line, and bails really easy. Basically, i used to ask around and see what people like, then i got a feel for choosing lines, and go with what feels nice for the reel that i am using. I now use ultragreen on my centrepin, a fairly expensive trilene on my nucklebuster (i have never had a line tie knots as easily as this one) and ultragreen mono on my halibut rod (40lb test, have brought up some nice halis on it too, a friend got a 150 hali on 40 lb mono). For some reason i am not too fond of the braided lines, they just dont feel right to me.

[steel_ram]

Funny. All the years of development of all these hi-tech lines. I've come all the way around the circle and come back to Maxima Ultra-Green on my centre-pin steelheading reals. Seems to have good abrasion resistance, inadvertant knots are less likey to break.

[Mr. Dean]

Ultragreen was my old tried and proven until a dealer spooled me up w/ a demo of Berkley Big Game.

That was three seasons ago; the past two seasons, ALL of my salmon sticks were converted to the Big Game and I'm sticking with it.

All of my fishing is done on the salt-chuck.

[Deerwhacker]

for mono for sure maxima ultra green.and remember canadian tire and wal mart are the devel.support you local specialty shops.

[SAVAGE300]

trilene big game for me, on our nuckle busters. I prefer 25 lb test for a main line, even the wife had problems breaking this stuff ( you know " I cant hold him what now") on those big springs at the mouths of the big and little qualicums.

[LUCKY]

Maxima on all my reels except hali.

Get it spooled from bulk at your local shop. No wasted line. Pay for what they put on only. Also it is spooled nicely by the machine.

25lb on my salmon gear mainlines. 25-30lb leaders.
12-15 on steelhead main line with 8-12 lb leaders depending on the river.
Florocarbons for fly leaders.

Lucky

[todbartell]

Maxima or Trilene is good, cheaper stuff is just that, cheap stuff.

I use Tuffline though, that stuff is AWESOME

[Dirty]

Maxima Ultragreen is good, Berkley Trilene Big Game is good, and so is P-Line mono. It comes down to personal preference. As far as braids go, the best by far is Power Pro. It is thin in diameter and is the most durable braid that I have used. On my reels I use Maxima or Power Pro for mainline, and P-Line for leaders. I am considering switching to P-Line for mainline too.

[Fisher-Dude]

Maxima Ultragreen for everything. The Berkley and Stren that I have tried has never had the knot strength of the Ultragreen. I fish some gin-clear lakes for big, moody trout, and consistently get more action and have fewer breakoffs than my Berkley-loving fishing partner who uses the same fly I do. That tells me lots.