The Spoonpluggers Forum

I have been watching the post about the power pro lines and the fireline. I too have experimented with some of these lines. When you first start using these lines, you note the ease at which these lines reel through the guides. No more pointing the rod towards the lure while reeling in a fish and no more losing fish at the boat when the rod is put into a position where the line can no longer be kept tight and a fish is lost. And then there is a sence of feel. Yes there is little stretch and the feel is good. Now what about depth? How deep can I get a lure compared to wire. Maybe some of you dont fish very deep or just have not considered going there. What about line length of line needed to control depth compared with wire?
What kind of leaders? How do they effect depth?
There are a lot of controls that need to be considered that not a one of you have brought up. What about trolling in the early season. Dont you want a long line to get your lures farther back? Then you dont want braid at that time of year. What about trolling the extreme depths? Nope, braid will not get your lures to the depths that I am speaking of.
Is there a use for braid ? Yes there is but in no way is it a replacement for wire. I'll just be frank. If you fish with me and you do not have a reel filled with wire and it is needed for that day, you will do a lot of watching while I fish. And the next time you go with me, you will understand why we use the tools that we do.
Do I have a reel with braid on it? I do not. With what I have seen , braid does not replace wire in most all situations. If I used braid, I would have to have two more rods rigged and ready. This would have me with 6 trolling rods. Two with no bo, two with wire and two with braid.
I have been through all the usages of braid. I would have to do the weigh thing and ask what is it good for and what are it's weaknesses? The bad out weighs the good for me. I do know for a fact that Bucks baits does not sell much wire line any more due to the fire line and power pro sales. This tells me a couple of things. There are a lot of you that do not use wire to reach deep structure when it is called for. In a lot of these cases, the power pro just will not attain the depths needed at times. So if you do not carry wire, you are severely limiting yourself. This alone should tell you which way you want to go.
Each of you can do what you want to do. If you are anything like me, you would want fo find out these things yourself, but I have made these mistakes myself already and can save someone a lot of time and money.
John

Hello John

I am so glad that you have put some imput on this Power-Pro or braided line. First of all I want to agree with you that there is no substitute for wire, I have two rigs spooled with wire, the other two rigs are spooled with Braided Dacron line I choose 60LB due to is the same diameter as the 12LB No-Bo line. When I first started spoonplugging I used 12LB No-Bo and due to I was able to break it easly I went to 20LB No-Bo but I could not get any depth with out laying out lots of line. At first I taught the 12LB was defective so I purchased more line and I still could break it. That is why I experimented with braid and I finally settled with Cortland 60LB. Now I still have this nagging feeling to use No-Bo so I rigged another rod with No-Bo 12LB. in the last two years and I have used on and off, it works fine gets the spoonplug down with no problem, but I tell you if I am up in Mille Lacs where the Big Boys Roam I just do not thrust the 12LB due to its lack of strenght . I do like the 20Lb but it takes a lot more line out. Never tried the 17LB. I have wasted lots of money on No-Bo and I am a litle upset about it. John I really like to do it by the book, but the line issue got me stumped
I am not interested in any other fish except for big muskie fishing, catching any thing under 45 for me it is a waste of time, so the line issue it becomes even greater.

Gino

Gino, I know how you feel about the Musky. I too was obcessed with the Musky when the Detroit river system and connecting waters were the best in the country. But when the big fish kill came several years ago, I lost interest. Once you catch quite a few fish over the 50 inch mark, and one at 55 1/2 those 40 to 45 inchers around home just dont do it for me any more. I put the musky and the smallmouth as the best two fish in the world to catch. They are equal as far as fun.
We all go through the same things when dealing with those larger fish like the musky. Any fish that is large and powerful we need to beef up our equipment a little. This may mean going to other name brand equipment. When we do these things, we end up making some mistakes and bad choices before it ends up being what will work for us.
No bo line is a part of my tools. I still use the 12 lb test. I have two rods, one for me and one for Deb. Around here there is no need to go heavier. Even for the muskies. With a home made leader out of Buck's wire and 12 lb test, I have no problem landing a big musky on even a 400 or 500. The problem with the small lures is the small hooks that are on them. We lost more fish because of the hooks than any other reason. But you know what? Thats another story and thats just the way it is. You win some and you lose some. We try to be prepared with the right equipment which will allow us to control our depths and speeds no matter what the situation is. Thats the name of the game. If we do well by being prepaired, then thats great. If we fail, then we try to learn from it and be ready the next time. Thats the great thing about being a spoonplugger. The learning never stops. We are lucky. We have guidelines to follow. The others do not. Learn them well. John

John

Thanks for the support. Reading your response also reminds me how much I love to fish for smallmouth, one of these days I will give you a call and do some smallmouth fishing in your part of the world, You and the Brown Brothers are owsome human beings, many thanks for sharing . Right now the obsession of catching a muskie over 50 is taking me to different waters, I am sure it will happn someday.

Gino

The brown brothers are very high on the list of great human beings. They are good spoonpluggers also. And make the best ice cream in the whole world. Plus they are my ride to Chicago for the early season talk. I tell them if they dont drive me, I'm not going. Good people as are most that you meet along the way. Almost forgot. If you get run over by a ship in the Detroit River and they happen to see you get cut in half, they will save you. John

Boy, I really opened a can of worms on this one. I think I will just go back to the basics and use the nobo and the wire like I have for years. John great points, With nobo and wire I can cover everything I need. Plus I don't really need any more rods in the boat than I already have. Bill Beck.

You may have started with a question but a lot of us have done the same thing. 2 years ago, I was like you - I loved PowerPro. Whatever the reasons I have changed my mind. I have switched to 12 pound NoBo but again there are trade offs. GINO, I have had the same issues with the 12 pound. Tie on a lure and pull on it a bit - and it breaks. I don't know if it's old or a soft spot. But I do check quite a bit of it before I troll. I don't know the answer. Also I have NEVER had any problems with the 17 pound. I think 20 is too thick for my purposes.

One thing I have learned though, and keep in mind I haven't been Spoonplugging that long, is the fact that whenever I stray from Bucks formula the WORSE I do. Granted I have adjusted my tools because of availability but I try to stay within the confines of what Buck wrote. Boats, Rods, Reels. The closer to what is written in the GreenBook the happier you will be.

As previously written - there just aren't any short cuts.

Morning

I admit it.......I'm the guy with 6 Trolling rods in the boat. Two of everything, 12 lb. No-BO, 30 lb. Power Pro and Wire.
That was the main reason for the bigger boat, the Whaler listed to the Port side, caught red handed!

Seriously, I have never had any problems with braid or 12lb. No-Bo......Good Clean Living???

Spnplgr, great to see you sharing your knowledge with the rest of the community.

When it comes to fishing, I say "to each his own". No single method nor line will satisfy everyone.

As I stated earlier, all line has positive and negative attributes. In order to take advantage of the positives, one must resolve and overcome the negatives. He who solves the most problems, catches the most fish. I measure success by the catch and don't care what it takes to get there. No, I do not use nets, trotlines nor dynamite, but I do whatever it takes with hook and line.

I would not be caught on the water without NO-BO, regular mono, braid and wire. Each one will put fish in the boat under certain circumstances where the others will not. I have experienced the limitations of each and learned how to make each work for me.

As far as carrying all those rods, I build my own 13-inch tall, quick release rod holders that carry my five rods quite nicely, even in rough water and trailering. My wife will not fish, so I do not have to worry about carrying rods for her. Mr. Perry carried spare reels loaded with other line and would change reels rather than carry another rod. His method worked for him and mine works for me.

Be careful about limiting your options. It probably will llimit your catches.

Good fishing

Very well said

Has anyone tried the braided line from stren?

The following link has an index of popular fishing knots with step by step automation on how to tie them , great site..... http://www.animatedknots.com.

Select "Fishing" under to banner at the top of the page...

Steve, that is a very good site for fishing knots, Thanks, it's in my "Favorites"!

Gary, it has been in my favorites for awhlile now. Good to see you posting these days as I can put a face with the post. Enjoyed meeting you and your wife in Tenn last month. I didn't take time to spend talking to you as we were both caught up in different conversations but maybe we can talk more next year.
I have been using FireLine for Carolina rigs for years and Dave and I have been trolling Fireline here lately and evaluating how it campares with other lines. We use NoBo and wire also, I always carry extra reels with all line loaded. Stay in touch.
Steve