@newapti5

Varivas lines aimed at salt are also aimed for warmer water,  and the coating is modified to be a little tougher.  Again,  their toughest coating is Si-X.

 

YGK, Duel X-wire, Varivas - I've had 3-year life from each of these.  

There are only two brands where the coating peeled on the first Allbright knot - Yamatoyo, and a site sponsor.  

One thing stands out about the Si-X coating - rolling and cinching Allbright knot, the braid glides.  As coatings get softer, they get stickier when cinching knots.  

This pretty knot is on Super Trout Advance, so you can see even Varivas coldwater line has a good coating.  

I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to fishing. I have five setups, all spinning, all spooled with Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultrasoft line 6# test. This is all I used for the last twenty years. Works for me.

On 8/1/2025 at 2:57 PM, jbmaine said:

I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to fishing. I have five setups, all spinning, all spooled with Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultrasoft line 6# test. This is all I used for the last twenty years. Works for me.

Do they still make that line? You must be sitting on a stash of it, I’m thinking it’s been discontinued. No matter, PLine CX is just as soft a line as far as a co-poly line is concerned. 

34 minutes ago, F14A-B said:

Do they still make that line? You must be sitting on a stash of it, I’m thinking it’s been discontinued

I stocked up on it before they discontinued it. I've probably got enough for two life times.

New to BSF this year and using my standby Max UG 5# .078D mono line.

Haven’t found a replacement for Sunline Defier Armilo Nylon mono?

Tom

So aging and memory loss is not always a bad thing. 🙂

Myself I’m more of a monofilament or co polymer guy and as such I’ve used good old Trilene XL on a multitude of spinning reels along with McCoy mean green that a tackle shop owner turned me onto when he spooled a few reels for me years ago. Most recently on my casting reels it’s been split mainly between Big Game monofilament thank you Catt (RIP) for pushing it so hard and Suffix advance monofilament both in 10 pound test. As far as braid goes I have 50 pound Suffix Performance braid on a reel that doesn’t see much time on the water, 8 pound Daiwa J-Braid Grand X 8 on a spinning reel and 6 pound Suffix 832 on a shallow spool Miravel. I also tried Yo Zuri hybrid 6 pound on a spinning reel this year and although I wasn’t a fan while spooling it on after about 4 outings it turned nice and limp and I’m really enjoying it and I’m looking forward to trying the 8 pound I purchased at the same time.

South Florida guy here:

Sunline Sniper FC in 90% of my rods. FX2 for frogs and Supernatural for topwater.

 

I A-B tested straight fluorocarbon vs braid, and fluorocarbon got me considerably more bites when I tested. Hated the results of my test because I was hoping I could run straight braid. So now braid is more of niche line for me, and most of my rods get fluorocarbons.

zillions and Tatulas, no spinning in my boat.

1 hour ago, Kasrkin said:

South Florida guy here:

Sunline Sniper FC in 90% of my rods. FX2 for frogs and Supernatural for topwater.

 

I A-B tested straight fluorocarbon vs braid, and fluorocarbon got me considerably more bites when I tested. Hated the results of my test because I was hoping I could run straight braid. So now braid is more of niche line for me, and most of my rods get fluorocarbons.

zillions and Tatulas, no spinning in my boat.

I would be interested in knowing how you tested while holding all other variables constant to conclude that it was flourocarbon alone responsible for  “considerably more bites” than braid.

PE#0.6

PE#1.2

PE#0.8

there's plenty more where those came from 

On 8/3/2025 at 10:22 PM, OldManLure said:

I would be interested in knowing how you tested while holding all other variables constant to conclude that it was flourocarbon alone responsible for  “considerably more bites” than braid.

I tested over two non-contiguous days on 200+ fish days. 

Water clarity was pretty high.

2 rods with same bait, same rod, same reel, only variable was line. 30 minute intervals back to back.

Lines were 16lb Sniper and 30lb power pro on the two rods.

Bait was a Zoom Junebug Speedworm, with 3/16oz tungsten weight and 4/0 WRM956. 

I averaged between 15-20 fish per 30 minute period with FC. And around 5-10 fish with braid.

Then I tied on a 7’ FC leader to the braid and so no discernible improvement from straight braid.

It is important to notice that a speed worm is a moving bait. So it might have not been so much the visibility of the line, as much as the sound of the braid cutting water that might have had an effect.

If there was any bias on my non-scientific testing, it was favorable to braid. As I wholeheartedly wanted braid to win.

I’m an engineer and had to do this test for ME. Results may vary for other people in other parts of the country, so I encourage people to test this out in their own waters.

Many years ago when I started to fish, I tried many types and brands of line. I landed on ANDE Back Country monofilament as my preferred choice.