Spiderwire, Fusion, or Mono

I spooled up some spiderwire last year on my bass rods and really liked it for all aspects of my fishing.

I am looking for what you may have for pros and cons of the different lines out there.

Spider wire:

Pros: I liked cause it was strong as heck, no stretch so I felt everything, could tear out of the weeds if needed and could haul them out of the lily’s if needed.

Cons: If I did get hung up where I could not get off I had to cut the line and loose a fair amount. This did not happen much.

Freezing Temps it comes off my reel for mono

Fusion: Have not used it a lot. Tie-ing on is a little tougher.

Mono:

Pros: Old reliable, good when I have needed low vis Cold temps she works great.

Cons: Although stretch can be useful I also feel that I have lost some because of it. Wear is faster so breaks are more frequent.

My knowledge is VERY limited overall so I would like to see others thoughts, and input on this subject.

Thanks

I can’t stand spiderwire for anyhting but casting cranks and using it in the slop for summer bass. I’m one of those guys who tends to find every snag in the river so I may be a little biased. Just think about what happens to that line when you have to cut it because you can’t straighten out your hook and have to cut it. Now you’ve got 10 – 30 feet of that suff just waiting to be caught by me next time I’m in the area. Kind of like the fusion. Yes the knots are a lttle different and a lot more fickle when it comes time to tie one correctly. Mono, mono, mono …..I need not list the pros and cons as that would be redundant to all the great people who are members here. Just my point of view. ————–Pax

Hey Haywood ,

I used to be a mono mono mono man myself but now the only time i use mono is when the temp is below freezing.The Fireline in the below freezing temps feels like cable comming through the eyes of my rod. I tried spider wire before but i like Fireline .

ec

Spider Wire Braid for trolling cranks. Mono for pitchin jigs for those shallow water walleyes. Fireline for casting cranks on a spinning rod. Fireline is great for verticall jigging and just dragging jigs when it is not to cold out. It will freeze up and be hard to fish with when the temps are in the mid to lower 20’s.

Fireline also comes in handy when you have to make long casts to a target that is quite a distance away. You will have to much stretch for this if using mono and will miss a lot of strikes.

I have never used the Fushion line, maybe I will have to give it a go and see what happens. Just one word of advice from my past expeiriences with Spider Wire Braid. It is great for trolling cranks and is very abrasion resistant. This line works good on a bait caster reel for throwing cranks and trolling. But whatever you do, do not use this Spider Wire Braid on a spinning reel! You will have nothing but headaches for hours, days and however long you decide to fish with it.

Stren HI Vis (6#mono) for Jigging,Trilene XT (10#mono)for trolling, casting wings, and just about anytime a baitcaster is in my hands. I have lost to many fish on fireline etc., Especially with guide customers. I have tried just about every combination of pole and drag setting , because of it’s obvious other charateristics, thin diam,large test, but it continues to cost me money and fish almost every time I use it. When loosing a single fish counts, the two above get my vote everytime. Don’t misunderstand, I know many people that love fireline,etc. but I just can’t seem to make it work. Lawrence

I’ve got to agree with Mountain Man. A few years ago, most every rod had some sort of “Super Line”..Spider wire, Fireline, Fusion…. Tried them all. Today, only one rod has “Super Line” (Power Pro) and it’s a rod I use for Sonars. All of the others are back to mono. (30 plus rods)

10 # Trilene XT for Trolling.

6 # Trilene Solar for jigging/pitching.

6 to 8 # XL clear for Bobber fishing or Live bait Rigging.

Day in, day out, mono simply puts more fish in the boat.

J.

I agree with Jon J.

The only superlines I use are for the toothy critters. I have Cortland Black Spot 50 lb test on all my muskie rods (except 1 I have spooled with 100#.) I like the Black Spot because I don’t have to put new line on every year. I’ve tried other “superlines” on my spinning equipment and have been horribly disappointed. I started to using the Yo-Zuri Hybrid lines late last year and they have performed well. I caught a northern in the fall with no leader and the line held up. I’m a mono man myself, but am going to try the Berkley Sensation. If I don’t care for it, I’m going back to the the same mono I’ve been using for years. BTW, I believe the worst line ever invented is the Berkley “Vanish”. No flurocarbon stuff for me.

Pure junk IMHO

I haven’t had much luck with Spiderwire. It seems kind of limp and I found it hard to work with. I really like 4 lb diameter Fireline for trolling cranks and 6lb diameter for casting lighter lures on a spinning rod. I also use the Fireline on a flippin stick. I tried some of the braids on the flippin stick but they didn’t work as well.

I tried Fireline for other applications (open water jigging and rigging, jigging raps or spoons while ice fishing) and have gone back to low strech mono. I seem to either loose too many fish or pull the hooks out of their mouths when setting the hook or some other mysterious user related problem. I think the Fusion is somewhat similiar to Fireline though I haven’t tried it.

This post is the perfect example of how there’s always more than one way to get a job done.

For me, my customers, and the way I fish, I’d be a lost puppy with superlines. I use spiderwire for pulling plugs…. mono and fireline = bajillions of $$ in lost cranks on the Mississippi River due to snags and zebra mussels and a horrible decrease in total number of fish boated in a day’s fishing. If I had to eat off the fish I could catch pulling plugs on mono, I’d go hungry! I use this same line on the same rods up to Mille Lacs at night. I’ll rarely lose any crankbaits at all. Very rarely do the pike or muskie even fray spiderwire even when the smaller walleye sized plugs get completely engulfed. Running this line with rods with the correct action is key! Fast action rods and spiderwire DO NOT mix.

For jig casting, mono is the only way to go. Superlines have too high a sink rate and when the weather’s cold there’s always an icing problem with the braids. Trilene XT Solar, Stren Sensor, Maxima Fibre Glow get the nod as some pretty decent lines to use in this application in the 6# – 8# range.

For casting cranks to rip rap or wingdams, fireline gets the nod from me. Mountainman mentioned losing too many fish with that particular line, he’s a great angler with YEARS of experience but that’s not been my experience. The opposite would be the case. I rarely lose fish on cranks when casting them… my problem is the fish take the plugs too deep. This happens enough that when we’re on a good crank bite and a customer wants to keep a few fish, we won’t keep anything that’s lightly hooked as I know we can count on 4 – 6 deep hooked fish that wouldn’t likely survive if we did release them. Again, extra long, slower action rods in both graphite AND fireglass would be a key I’d mention again here to pulling off fishing cranks with Fireline. Without the superbraid I just don’t get the depth and most importantly, the feed-back from the plug that allows me to know exactly what the crank is doing and where its at in relationship to the bottom.

I even switched over ALL my rigging rods to fireline this year and I noticed a distinct improvement in catch rates for myself and my clients this season over years past. With mono most anglers in my boat missed way too many fish they never even knew were there. With Fireline even the lightest biters are felt in time to stick in hook in ’em.

Moral of the story….? If you’re putting fish in the boat, keep doing it your way! If not, give some of the superlines a shot. I love ’em to death and can’t imagine not using them.

Excellent discussion.

How long should a guy (or gal) expect to get out of a fresh spool of Trilene XT Solar ? I’ve tried it once before and didn’t have good life out of it. I’ve been using 6# Trilene Advantage.

ec

I have not fished with the XT solar that is on my reel right now for about 2 months. Last week I was rigging this rod for a presentation I did for a local T.V show and the line came of the reel like a slinky (great now I have the slinky song in my head again) or something. This line has been great for me but it is just like any other mono in the effect that if it sits on the reel for a long period of time the memory factor really plays a big role. I would suggest changing it every month or as often as the pocket book allows just to be on safe side.

I went Fireline Fanatic for about a year.The problems with mono were just getting too much(twisting,degredation,toothy critters)I love it for verticle jigging and rigging but found with the near zero stretch that I was ripping cranks right of fishes mouths so I went back to mono for those applications.

Having worked and am sponsored by Berkley for 6 yrs. I can tell ya I like all of your thinking on “Super Lines” I’ve been in this industry for 30 yrs, and “what ever works for you is the way to go!”. People don’t realize that fishing is more than 50% mental. There is as many ways to fish as people that can hold a rod & reel.

Super Lines are situational, mono is still the every-day line.

Graphite Rods and Super-line is not recommended do to the high propensity for rod breakage (the rod is the first to give). But if you have ever tried using a Carolina Rig the above dosn’t apply. Trolling with a Glass rod and Super -line is like bread and butter. Super-line is some of the most expensive line on the market and yes it should be changed out several times a season, and it’s not uncommon for Tourney. guys to change out every day, depending on the bottom they’er running their rigs and cranks over. Lastly, your line is critical link between YOU and the FISH!!!!. Keep it fresh, this is the place you shouldn’t be looking for short cuts and lack of maintenance. TIPS :::::: Mono Lines – spray a lite oil (wd40, or Baggleys Reel oil) on the line before any storgage(this will help with line memory and keeps it supple).

Super-Lines :::::: Cut off the frayed sections. Rub a black Permanent Marker on the sections of line that loses it’s black tint. The Palimor knot is the best all-around knot to use. Please, Please dispose of the line propery (it takes 200 yrs for that line to decompose, and save the birds!! – they can get themselves ensnared in it).

Gofish

Kensyl Reading EFN ProStaff

Ol’ Miss Guide Service

Give the Fireline a try for cranking (14lb test), rigging (12 lb) and jigging (8lb). Whenever you want more water-cutting ability and sensitivity. The only thing I use mono for is when I want more resistance on the line for shallow water long-line trolling or pitching jigs.

It takes awhile to get used to the Fireline but once you do you’ll be glad you made the switch.

P.S. Florocarbon makes great leaders because of its light refraction, abrasion resistance and stiffness. Use 100% florocarbon. My personal favorite is Seagur.

I tried Fireline for the first time this year for cranking and deeper jigging. The thing that I like about it is the feel. You really can feel the fish fighting better. I can feel leaves on my cranks better. I can feel 4″ smallies right away, instead of dragging them for 50′ before knowing that there is a fish on. The lack of stetch just makes catching fish more fun. And when you get a big cat on a crank w/ Fireline…man…talk about fun.

I still have mono on most my rods that I fish in shallower water where the stretch is nice to have. But for any long lining or deeper water fishing, I prefer Fireline-I find it more fun!

Time for my 2 cents.

Both ‘Superlines’ and mono have their niche in the fishing world. They perform well for certain tasks, but neither will do everything.

I use Fireline for certain purposes. First of all I use the lightest that I can find for vertical jigging presentations. It’s thin diameter and extra strength are both plusses for that presentation.

I also use 20# Fireline for casting and trolling cranks. I like the abrasion resistance and again, the thinner diameter. It also provides me with enhanced feel when I’m throwing cranks, one benefit that I couldn’t live without.

But whenever I use Fireline I make sure to couple it with a softer action rod to keep hooks from ripping out. I’ve been using St Croixs glass series rods for the past few years and this year I’m using the Avid crankbait rods. Both of these rod lines were developed with softer actions so you can use superlines and not rip off fish.

Whenever I cast jigs, I’m using Stren, either gold or flo.blue. Casting jigs on the river, you need some bulk in your line to get a downstream drift going. The larger diameter of the mono helps you acheive this.

Re-spooling is a must. I’ll top off the first 100 yards on my reels at least 4 times a year. I usually buy bulk spools of 4 and 6 pound test every other year.

Beav

Try spiderwire mono if your a mono fanatic. It really holds up on nicks and memory and is super tough. I personally think the feel is very good. I also agree fireline for trolling cranks and jigging deep.

I have fire line on now and love it. I have had bad experences with Fusion (crap in my mind). Spiderwire is ok bet seems to wear fast for me. Love the mono for top water and casting.

I have to Ditto Beaver.. also my Mono lines are changed very often depending on fishing time if I’m on the water all week I’m probably changing line by the weekend..just my pennys worth..Buy bulk and change often MONO..it’s the most important thing between you and the fish…line is cheap..Also take all your mono home with you it’s no good in the environment…My Granddad always told me when you go out in Nature bring home more than you take with you..So pick up that bag floating or can or tangled mess of line…