Went out today & fished w/ 24 deg temps, snow on the ground.

I had 8 lb Yozuri Hybrid spooled on my Shimano Saros 2500.  I do have other spinning reels w/ other line weights.  I noticed when it gets COLD, mono line just does not work that well.

So, should I drop down in line weight, or do I just need to deal w/ fishing w/ mono in COLD, COLD waters???

How well do those ice fishing lines work in cold water, better than regular mono?

This might be a great time to give PowerPro Braid a college try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

You'll be giving up an elastic band with wiry memory for a non-stretch line with no memory at all.

The reduced line-stretch gives you enhanced sensitivity and greater hook-setting power.

Also, spinning line with no memory will virtually eliminate bird nests.

As though that weren't enough, 20-lb PowerPro braid has the same line-diameter as 8-lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid (0.009").

Roger

hey ghost ..... i too tryed the hybreed ..... didnt like it at all .... now i believe hybreed is a copoly .... i also noticed i didnt like the way my go to pline cxx behaved in cold water .....  the cxx is also a copoly ....  id say try a true mono line ,,,,, like a cajun red cast or a tryline xl smooth bolth are easy casting lines and bolth are true monos ..... id stick with the 8lb  .....

Take a look at Sufix Ice Magic, a mono targeting the ice fishing market; stays limp in the cold and water absorption/icing is minimized by the blending of additives during formulation.

Okay guys, I'm taking your suggestion & going w/ a spinning reel w/ 10 lb Sufix braid.

I had problems last year w/ braid & cold, cold water.  The rod guides would ice up & it was not much trying to cast w/ iced up guides.  That's why I thought of trying mono.

I did buy something called Ice Off, it's for fly fishing guides.  I think this may help keeping the guides from icing.

Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft is not affected by cold weather or water.

I recommend #6 (.010" diameter, 11.9 lb  test) for spinning tackle.

A few things..... Yo-Zuri #6 and #8 are basically the same strength so on spinning tackle use #6 since it's a smaller dia. and is better behaved. Secondly, are you using hybrid or hybrid ultra soft? That will make a big difference.

I have a slightly different opinion than Roadwarrior on Y-Z. I used Y-Z a little over the last 2 winters and even though it was less affected by cold than XT, I still didn't like it in the cold. It was not the answer for me.

For this time of year, I use Suffix Elite (red box) it's well mannered, good handling, surprisingly abrasion resistant and it doesn't stiffen up nearly as bad as XT or Yo-Zuri in the cold weather/water.

I love XT in the warm weather. When it warms up, I go almost exclusively to XT.

Braid might be an option but cold clear waters and braid rarely go well together. I personally don't like it but that's just my experience.

Flechero, I checked out the Sufix, the red box is the Elite, not the Siege.  The Siege is in a blue box.

The way I understand it is the Elite(red box) is similar to Trilene XL.  And the Siege(blue box) is similar to Trilene XT.

Now which of these 2 are you talking about.  I don't know if I need to try the Elite or Siege.

Sorry for the mix up, I always say the wrong one. ...lol I actually like the red box better. It handles better and seems just as tough in the rocks and trees. I know that sounds odd but I couldn't say that one was tougher based on my own experience. But since we are talking winter time, red box IS the softer of the two.

Sorry for the mix up.

Now in the interest of fairness, my regular partner used the blue box Suffix year round and won't even try the red box.  Bottom line is that Suffix makes 2 great mono's, I just think the red box is a better winter time choice.