I've been using Stren Original in Lo-Vis Green 6 lb. mono for years. I always spool my lightweight rig with it, which gets most of the action. I have not been disappointed. As far as toughness goes, I landed this 45" NP last year with my lightweight rod using this line with a 1/4 oz jig at the end. At one point in the battle the line was through its mouth.

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for my heavier rod, I'm undecided, but usually go for something in the 10-12 lb range that has some "extra tough" type of label.

Meself I always have at least two spools for each reel I use. One spooled up with Seaguar InvisX 6 or 8 lb Flouro. The other is spooled with 20lb Spiderwire Stealth to which I add a 4 foot length of Seaguar Flourocarbon Leader material in 8 or 10lb. using a uni-to uni knot connection.
I use the Flouro for crank baits - just a little bit of stretch, great knot strength, and not so much stretch that I lose feel of the bait. I use the braid for topwater, jigging and cranking too.
For me, mono is a sorry choice for line. I hate using it after having used flouro or braid, because you have absolutely no feel for the bait, fish or bottom whatsoever. It's like fishing with a cooked spaghetti noodle. I think people like mono because it's forgiving on spinning reels, and its cheap.
Seaguar InvisX is absolutely the best flouro I've found for spinning reels, and if you have a decent reel you won't have any problems from stiff line or memory. Crappy reels tend to be less line forgiving, tend to twist line as it comes into and off of the spool.
For me it's all about feel. Really adds to the fishing fun and success. Fishing is my only hobby, I don't waste money on tee times and golf balls, so I'll glady spend a bit more on fishing line to enhance my experience.
FYI- the extra money you'll spend on these lines will be repaid by the fact that you can keep the braid on your spool for several years without it degrading due to age or sunlight.
You might break off and have to replace the flouro, but it wont' degrade in sunlight like mono either.

Monofilament line degrades with time, sunlight, temperature changes, and worst of all, it actually absorbs water and gets softer. The longer it's been wet, the more it'll stretch, the easier it will nick and break. Modern chemistry has moved beyond this 1950's technology, IMO.

Mono is dead

Puckster wrote on Jan 26^th, 2014 at 8:50pm:


Do you know the name of this knot? I've heard using it is the way to go with crankbaits but I don't know the knot.  I think I tied one accidentally once...  I use what I learned back around 9-10 years old, and I think it's called a blood knot.

For line I use flourocarbon and Spiderwire Stealth. 2 rods both 7 feet.  One med/heavy, the other medium. In a canoe I like the longer rod. I used mono for years but the rocks do a number on it pretty quick when trolling cranks.

That's an impressive northern BTW. I caught a big one that was light colored like that.  It went around the same size and I also was using 6 lb. test and we couldn't get it in the boat (no net). Too big to grab over the neck and I didn't want to go under the jaw because my crankbait was somewhere deep in his throat. He was a mean fish and got the best of us.

Forgot to say that I like mono. It's all I use. Back to my corner...

Kerry wrote on Jan 26^th, 2014 at 9:40pm:


i have braid on my baitcasters and i use suffix 832. never was a big fan of power pro and i didnt like the 'flatness' of fireline. have been nothing but happy with suffix 832. maybe ill consider running a mainline braid and using a leader of flouro or mono from there.

@whit, i was reading about it last night and everything you said about mono was pretty spot on with the water absorption and stretch. i guess it worked for me and never really thought/cared much about the chemistry.

this is good discussion! cant wait to hear MT's take