What Power Pro Color would you pick for Basswood or the BWCA in early spring?

I would not use braid in early spring. Mono has the edge IMO unless I am fishing deep, in strong current, heavy cover or using large heavy lures.

But having said that I have fished with guys who use Fireline and they did just fine.

Braid adds lots of complications such as connection points and added visibility. When I fish braid of course I avoid the brightly colored lines such as yellow and stick with green. Some guys like yellow to jig with but I think thats crazy town stuff. You should be able to easily feel a tap with braid........if you can't get rid of the Ugly Stick ;-)

It doesn't matter. They all work fine

I always use the green stuff, don't really know why. If you like the feel of braid with the flexibility of mono/flouro, just add a leader. Do this especially if you plan to be using braid and jigging/fishing near the bottom -- it can be very difficult to break even light braid if it gets snagged on bottom (and you can cut your hands up pretty good, too, if you pull on it).

If you're unfamiliar with a uni-to-uni knot, do a quick Youtube search and practice a bit. You'll get it in no time.

AmarilloJim: "It doesn't matter. They all work fine"

+1

Walleyes are so adapted to low light vision that they have sacrificed color and resolution. They have ~30 rod cells for each cone (color sensing) cell. The reflective layer in their eye (tapetum lucidum) forces the light absorbing cells into bundles, which reduces the resolution their eye is capable of. I imagine they see in a grainy sepia tone with a yellow-green tint.

That being said, if you are fishing for something more finicky I recommend the floro leader and a uni to uni knot. I use this combo for trolling and casting in clear water.

I also stopped using power pro because it shredded at the very sight of rocks. I am much happier with Fireline or Spiderwire.

carmike: "I always use the green stuff, don't really know why.
"

Green does seem like the color for shallow pike in weeds, but does the water up there seem stained brown? Maybe brown would be better?

I always use Flourocarbon leaders but the stuff I use doesn't stretch much. It's not like something like Berklee Vanish which stretches a lot. I deal with that by leaving my drag way loose and not setting the hook much at all. On a violent take by by a pike at the boat I actually point the rod tip at the fish.

For walleye jigging I'm using 15 lb super 8 slick with a 10 lb Flouro leader. I can snap that.

Tyler W: "

AmarilloJim: "It doesn't matter. They all work fine"

I imagine they see in a grainy sepia tone with a yellow-green tint.

I also stopped using power pro because it shredded at the very sight of rocks. I am much happier with Fireline or Spiderwire. "

Sepia tone would be brown, but green tint? I'm trying to decide between brown and green. LOL

I don't have any experience with the original Power Pro. I only started using it since Super 8 slick came out. It's rounder and slick which cuts down on friction, which is what I suspect was shredding your line. This stuff seems great in the rocks. My line has been lasting for years. I've never seen it wear out yet. I just change it because I needed something different. It's alot easier to work with too. Seems limper with less memory and easy on the fingers.

AmarilloJim: "It doesn't matter. They all work fine"

Green or Brown?

mastertangler: "I would not use braid in early spring. Mono has the edge IMO unless I am fishing deep, in strong current, heavy cover or using large heavy lures.
quote>

I am mostly going after Big Pike and I'll be casting some medium/large swimbaits. Braid not only cuts down on the line diameter for longer casts, but it's also more abrasion resistant. Especially Super Slick and Maxcautro. I always use Flourocarbon leaders.

When it comes to Walleye jigging braid seems like a no brainer. Why spend all the money on a high modulus graphite rod and then use mono that stretches and doesn't transmit vibrations as well? Braid transmits every little tick and walleyes bite lite in the spring, so that is a huge advantage.

What I'm wondering is...what color will match the conditions the best? Green is obviously for weeds which I will be fishing in, but the water seems stained brown up there. Would timber brown be better?

I'm also trying to decide between 30 or 40 lb braid for Pike too. Maxcautro 40 lb has the diameter of 8 lb mono, the same as 30 lb slick. That should be light enough to make long casts.

60 or 80 lb Flourocarbon leader?

mastertangler: "I would not use braid in early spring. Mono has the edge IMO

So what advantage does mono have? The only thing I can think of is the stretch could be used as shock absorber for fast trolling, but you can just use a snubber for that. I can't think of anything else, except maybe it's user friendly.

As far as I can tell, the major benefit of the various colors of braid has to do with their visibility characteristics for detecting strikes. Some of them have metered line so you know how much is out without needing to use a linecounter.

Between brown and green, I wonder how much of a difference it makes. My guess it not much, but I suppose I couldn't prove that. :)

Regarding the pound test of the leader, we use 100# -- only because that's what the guys I know who fish pike/muskie for a living on Mille Lacs seem to use. They might use heavier stuff because they can run into muskies, but even the guys on The Next Bite suggest 100+ lb for pike fishing. Just my .02 (I know you'll need a lot more than that to afford that leader material! :)

I believe the extra pound test is designed more to ensure the shock of a hookset doesn't break the line -- I don't think it's because the line needs to be that thick to prevent being cut.

Green.

I fish braid a lot and IMO the braid line color is a moot point as I always use a floro or mono tippet. BTW, there are braid haters on this forum and no amount of logic will change this. Self discovery is always the best.

I use 10lb Fireline tracer on all my rods up in the Q. I like the yellow for pitching jigs. I like the 5ft segments of alternating color for quick calculations of line out while vertical fishing for suspended LT or trolling. I use a 40lb fluorocarbon leader while trolling.

I use 8 lb green power pro and 10-15 lb fluorocarbon leader on everything... Uni to uni knot and I've never had a knot pull. Basically I use the same system I use in Florida, but with lighter line. I have had people tell me that uni-uni isn't great, but I caught this on a jig with 20 lb power pro with 40 lb fluorocarbon. This fish ran AND had sharp teeth...

Suffix 832 Braid in GREEN is my go to braided line. I use a Seaguar fluorocarbon leader especially when fishing clear water lakes. I find a Fluoro Leader is not really needed in stained water lakes.

Wally13: "Suffix 832 Braid in GREEN is my go to braided line. I use a Seaguar fluorocarbon leader especially when fishing clear water lakes. I find a Fluoro Leader is not really needed in stained water lakes."

My preference as well. I probably would be partial to a FC leader however in all circumstances as I feel larger fish are more likely to put off by presentations which aren't optimum. Sure you can catch plenty of fish with straight braid but who knows how many fish, including that 13lb walleye ;-) which turned away at the last second sensing something isn't "quite right".

Again, i see no distinct advantage with braid in spring unless I am fishing current and then I really like it. I like the simplicity of mono......no additional knots to tie in the wind, no hangs which require putting gloves on to bust off and I am used to it and have developed a bit of a sixth sense with mono and the additional sensitivity of braid isn't required for me. I see braid as a tool in the box. Certainly I am a fan and used it exclusively my last 2 August canoe trips as strength and achieving depth was important.

I still MUCH prefer the FG knot over the Uni which I tied for over 20 years. Most of my salt water pals have switched as well. I find it far easier to tie and much more consistent strength wise. I would go through several uni ties before I would get one I liked ( I am a ruthless knot tester, gloves required).

Manmountain8 I would go with heavier braid over lighter. 40 lb line would share more of the characteristics of 50 while 30 will share much of 20 if you get my drift. I like 65 which I find does well with a bait caster and won't bury itself easily on a reel. Plus the heavier braid joins itself to heavy FC better being closer in diameter to each other. Plus the 65 is unlikely to part with mega beast on even in the thick weeds. That was proven this past summer at Isle Royale. I went with the 65 (power pro) after considerable research. I was a bit surprised that it gets the nod from the guys who routinely fish big pike.

I agree with Carmike that much of the heavy FC leaders are matched to the weight of the lures and not because they will get nipped. I have experimented with 40lb leaders however and actually got to watch a mid sized pike eat a jig near the boat and cut me clean on the hook set. So 30 and 40 only work in winter IMO. I used 60 Seagar this past summer with excellent results. My leaders are 10ft long again tied with an FG knot which is far slimmer than a Uni (with all due respect to the uni knot users etc. etc.) and went through my eyes and into my reel if I desired with no problems. There is also an extra hard version (the name escapes me) of Fluorocarbon which is used strictly as leader material and was advocated by the likes of the In-fisherman crew but harder also means stiffer.........perhaps good for your lure presentation in some instances and bad in others.

My last comment on the choice of braid for pike manmountain8 is your choice of gravitating towards a "slick" material. I would be suspicious of this as the slicker the material the harder it might be to get a truly 100% knot, particularly with the FG knot which actually "bites" into the material to secure a hold. I do not see casting distance for pike fishing a tricky pursuit as heavier lures are often the norm. Green Power Pro gets the nod IMO over Suffix 832 in the higher lb tests and is the general preference in the salt water community as well.

BTW.....there are some mono haters on the board and no amount of logic will change that ;-)............... But I am for tolerance.........just listen to all the advice and do what seems best. A big part of fishing IMO is doing things your own way.

manmountain8: "

Sepia tone would be brown, but green tint? I'm trying to decide between brown and green. LOL

Maybe I should have said "black and white" with a green highlights.... The point is, the only color they can see is yellow-green. Everything else is in grayscale.

Since they can't see red, a dark red jig would look dark gray. A chartreuse jig would presumably look light chartreuse. And a white jig would look chartreuse (as long as their is chartreuse light to bounce off of it at that depth). And it would all be grainy (compared to our vision) because the cells in their retinas are clumped together.

I haven't had any problems with knots using slick. They say it's rounder which improves knot strength. I think it's the flat shape of normal braid that hurts knot strength. I don't use any fancy knots or glue either. My knot is like a Berkley knot except the tag is up instead of down. I attach braid to leader using a bb swivel and I only use 30" leaders. Then I tie the flouro directly to my lure. No snaps or swivels. I've tried several kinds of flouro and I've decided on Seaguar which seems like it has no stretch. I've learned to just leave my drag really loose and not set the hook. You have convinced me to go heavier though. I keep hearing that from everyone who has ever caught a really big Pike. I landed a fat 42" Pike on 12 lb mono with no leader but it took forever and I feel like I got lucky. I'm hoping for bigger than that. If I use Maxcuatro 50 lb it is the diameter of 10 lb mono so I can still cast that pretty far. I do think long casts are important. I know they'll hit right by the boat but I like to be able to reach a target quickly and not spook out shallow spots. I'm gonna use 80 lb leaders too. No point in skimping there. I am hoping for the biggest Pike of my life and I've never been armed with as much info on how to catch them. I've spent all winter studying up. My lures are getting more and more expensive too. It makes sense to protect my investments.

Maxcuatro only comes in green so I'll have to go with that on my Pike Rod. I'll go with brown on my walleye rod based on what you said. I know people say it doesn't matter with a flouro leader but I just can't stop myself from obsessing over the details. It seems like it only helps me catch more fish. It can't hurt. I'm not the type of guy who could use hi VIs yellow. I am too concerned about stealth and I don't need to see subtle takes. That's why I dropped so much on a high modulus G Loomis. So I can feel it.

I don't understand the desire for a swivel to join FC and braid. Why not ditch the swivel you are going to use to connect FC and braid which locks you into a 30" leader?

Plus its to long to cast comfortably AND eventually you will likely reel that swivel up to your tip top and you risk popping your guide insert out. No good.

Frankly I am surprised that the Musky and trophy pike crowd don't use what I used the last 2 summers. I absolutely LOVE having FC leaders of at least 8ft long. I settled on that because I tow the big pike to shore and that extra long leader does a superb job of protecting my braid against sharp rocks should the pike dig a bit when I get close to shore. Having used it now for a couple of summers I will always use extra long FC leaders for both walleye fishing and pike.

I used the 80 Segaur FC my first summer fishing big pike and now consider it overkill and stick with 60lb. I to have caught some exceptional pike without a leader including one of my first really nice pike which was landed on 4lb trilene XT in a shallow hidden marsh off the St Clair river. We followed the fish for about 1/2 hour with the electric. But your not making a living fishing pike with no leader. It is surprising however just how many you can catch without a leader.

The other nice thing about the long leader is that I can change lures and cut and retie for several days without having to build anything new.

You can tie the FG knot........it is not so hard. Ditch the swivel as it will only cause you "issues". You will need fingerless gloves..........wrap the line around your wrists and pull hard. Practice until you get it down. Works great!

FG Knot / Slimmest, strongest

What does that mean to "set your drag really loose and not set the hook". I do not understand.

Manmountain8 I would go with heavier braid over lighter. 40 lb line would share more of the characteristics of 50 while 30 will share much of 20 if you get my drift. I like 65 which I find does well with a bait caster and won't bury itself easily on a reel. Plus the heavier braid joins itself to heavy FC better being closer in diameter to each other. Plus the 65 is unlikely to part with mega beast on even in the thick weeds. That was proven this past summer at Isle Royale. "

What did you catch on Isle Royale? That sounds like an interesting story, I've always wanted to go there but so far I've had to settle on Madelaine Island. Btw, I'm going with 50 Power Pro and 80 Seaguar Thanks.

manmountain8: "

Manmountain8 I would go with heavier braid over lighter. 40 lb line would share more of the characteristics of 50 while 30 will share much of 20 if you get my drift. I like 65 which I find does well with a bait caster and won't bury itself easily on a reel. Plus the heavier braid joins itself to heavy FC better being closer in diameter to each other. Plus the 65 is unlikely to part with mega beast on even in the thick weeds. That was proven this past summer at Isle Royale. "

What did you catch on Isle Royale? That sounds like an interesting story, I've always wanted to go there but so far I've had to settle on Madelaine Island. Btw, I'm going with 50 Power Pro and 80 Seaguar Thanks."

That almost sounds right..........Yes I know I am a pain in the keister. Others would be more blunt LOL. I would ditch the 80. I went with the 80 on the advice of better fisherman than myself (what I would read in publications and books). But after having used it for a month of fishing in WCPP (Woodland Caribou Provincial Park) and noticing that not a single shred occurred and the presentation was a bit like fishing with rope I decided to go lighter.

I tried 60 Seagaur and again not much fraying, just a bit more. But with the long leader I was able to retie as often as I wanted with plenty of leader left. That is not the case with shorter leaders obviously. I caught several very nice pike at Isle Royale and a bunch more that I did not think worthy of taking a pic of. Check it out, these fish were mostly caught in thick cabbage weeds. Lighter more typical tackle would of been useless. Your 50 power pro will tie to 60 FC better BTW because they are closer in diameter. You are going to learn the FG knot aren't you ;-)

Isle Royale

Where is Madelaine Island?

Spiderwire invisibraid ultra cast. 6 lb line should be enough. I use it because i enjoy wader fishing in the spring, and seems to work great. Can't say i have or havn't caught fish because of my line I was using.

mastertangler: "What does that mean to "set your drag really loose and not set the hook". I do not understand. "

Braided line does not stretch so you do not set the hook like you do with mono, or you're bound to rip the hooks right out of their mouth. A little pressure is all you need to set the hook. A violent take right by the boat can rip the rod right out of your hands or snap the line so I keep the drag loose.

Ok, I wanted to go with 60 FC for leaders but I keep getting advice to go heavier. I haven't considered the difference in diameter because it doesn't matter with a swivel. You say it's called the FG knot? I'll have to look into it. The 50 lb power pro I'm getting is actually the diameter of 40 lb, or 10 lb mono. Is that too big of a difference with a 60 FC leader? Madelaine Island is in the south shore of Superior in the Apostle islands near Bayfield Wi. It's the summer home to the majority of the Steelhead in Superior.

manmountain8: "

mastertangler: "What does that mean to "set your drag really loose and not set the hook". I do not understand. "

Braided line does not stretch so you do not set the hook like you do with mono, or you're bound to rip the hooks right out of their mouth. A little pressure is all you need to set the hook. A violent take right by the boat can rip the rod right out of your hands or snap the line so I keep the drag loose. "

Ok.......I understand where your coming from. I agree that pulled hooks are more common with braid than with mono for the very reason you describe. I see it all the time when offshore fishing for snapper. Guys get fish 1/2 up and they are gone. Yes a little snap of the wrist is all it takes to set hooks on smaller lures with thin wire hooks but even then I still have my drag set tightly enough so it doesn't slip and in fact I have set to just below the breaking point.

But hooks on pike lures (which is what we are discussing) are thick wire and usually need some very stout tension indeed to penetrate a pikes bony mouth. Wouldn't you agree? Thus my confusion. Did you clink on the Isle Royal link I provided? The cover photo fish literally hit right at the boat and splashed me a bit. I was worried about pulled hooks on that fish since it hit so close but even though my drag was fairly tight and we still stayed glued.

manmountain8: "Ok, I wanted to go with 60 FC for leaders but I keep getting advice to go heavier. I haven't considered the difference in diameter because it doesn't matter with a swivel. You say it's called the FG knot? I'll have to look into it. The 50 lb power pro I'm getting is actually the diameter of 40 lb, or 10 lb mono. Is that too big of a difference with a 60 FC leader? Madelaine Island is in the south shore of Superior in the Apostle islands near Bayfield Wi. It's the summer home to the majority of the Steelhead in Superior."

Yes indeed I have read and heard all the advice to go heavier as well. And I went with that advice having been nipped with FC at the 40lb level. And I'm not saying that they won't go through 60 but I caught quite a few pike on my last venture with many around that 38 to 40" class with the lure (swimbait) completely engulfed and me towing the fish to shore (plenty of time to work on the leader) and I had no bite offs. Not saying you couldn't lose one but they will have to prove it to me. I did not like the 80 as it looks like rope in the water despite being fluorocarbon. The 60 is much more discreet IMO.

I like your choice of 50 power pro. Sounds good to me. With the FG Knot you can tie 60 or 80 to 50lb power pro with no problems. I prefer getting close but its all good. I like the 50 which I would consider minimum for big pike fishing with braid. Even on the hook set considerable pressure can be brought to bear. Plus if you get into thick weeds that extra muscle is nice. Additionally 50 or 65 behaves better on the spool and is less likely to backlash or bury itself.

Don't make the mistake I did with lighter line. I had a big pike bury in the weeds with 25lb test mono trilene XT and broke the fish off and it caused me to lurch to the point where I rolled my solo boat. Yikes! No more messing around! Of course on the other side of the coin some of the sporting opportunities are missed..........pike on light tackle can strut their stuff a bit better.

You say you have to look into the FG knot? Are you reading the material that I am taking my time to help you with or are you merely skimming? I provided the link for the FG knot as per Utube. Take your mouse and click on the link I provided in another post. Then scroll down after reading the persuasive argument for the knot and click on the video to learn how to tie it. There are many ways to tie the FG knot and several of them are complicated and hard to understand and follow. The link I provided is the easiest and fastest way, quite simple in my estimation. I have had a few FG knots start to unravel. But you can see it happening (loose tag end) and can retie. Not common but it can happen.

mastertangler:

FG Knot / Slimmest, strongest "

You may have just changed my life. Thank you for sharing that video!

You say you have to look into the FG knot? Are you reading the material that I am taking my time to help you with or are you merely skimming? I provided the link for the FG knot as per Utube.

Lol. You've only just convinced me to consider it. I only know one knot that I learned when I was 8 years old and I've never broken off at the knot so I've never felt the need to learn a new one. My semi-pro fishing buddy gives me flack for that all the time. He says it's like a Berkley knot except the tag end sticks out for weed collecting. Like I said though, I've never had a knot fail. Not once in 33 years. Not even with big trout on 4 lb stren magnathin.

manmountain8: "

You say you have to look into the FG knot? Are you reading the material that I am taking my time to help you with or are you merely skimming? I provided the link for the FG knot as per Utube.


Lol. You've only just convinced me to consider it. I only know one knot that I learned when I was 8 years old and I've never broken off at the knot so I've never felt the need to learn a new one. My semi-pro fishing buddy gives me flack for that all the time. He says it's like a Berkley knot except the tag end sticks out for weed collecting. Like I said though, I've never had a knot fail. Not once in 33 years. Not even with big trout on 4 lb stren magnathin. "

Knots are very strange things. Due to the great variety of materials that fisherman work with these days a handful of knots in your pocket is a good thing to have. It's all about physics.

In any event I was introducing you to the concept of the FG knot so you can ditch the swivel between braid and Florocarbon leader. That swivel does not help you.

Shall we progress further down the road? How much experience do you have tying 60 or 80 lb fluorocarbon leaders to your lure? For $20 I will help you ;-) Please remit payment to MT Enterprises, 2130 Tough Luck lane, NY, NY

You will need to spring for a Tie Fast knot tying tool. It will set you back about $12 or so. They are sold in the fly fishing department at Bass Pro or you can get them on line. You will follow the enclosed instructions for the Gryp Knot. But pay careful attention to what I am about to tell you........only use 3 turns for 60 or 80lb with the line instead of the 6 turns the instructions advise. The lighter the line the more turns you use. This tool ties truly exceptional knots and I use 6 turns with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc up to around 30 lb test and then I will drop to 5 turns for 40, 4 turns for 50 and 3 turns for 60.

Makes tying 100% knots with heavy line a breeze. You know you have it right when the knot "clicks" when pulled tight and the tag end stands straight up. Use your forefinger to "trap" the line after each rotation. The truly great thing about the Gryp knot is the main line is inside the loops.

Don’t waste your money on heavy flouro. If you want heavy leader line buy the ande mono leader skeins. It’s a hard mono at a fraction of the price. You don’t need a knot tying tool for tying mono to your lure. Tie a three turn uni and your done.

Unless your throwing 3 plus ounces I would stick with 40 braid and a short steel leader. Pike are stupid and don’t fight all that hard.
65lb braid and 80 flouro is for big saltwater fish and unusually heavy lures.

Pat is probably right. You probably don't need fluorocarbon and I throw really big lures heavy lures weighing between 6 and 8 oz. so heavier braid for me is as much about handing the lure as it is the fish.

Much of canoe country is open water and even big pike can be landed on rather light line. Much depends on what sort of lures you intend using.

Where I will differ with Pat is with the Tie Fast tool. I have fished offshore with many hundreds of hard core salt water anglers for many decades. i will stack the Gryp knot up against any knot provided the tie off point is thicker than the line. And I will tie it plenty quick.

I used to scoff at knot tying tools until I fished with a world class snapper fisherman named Martin. Martin was fairly legendary amongst the 3 day head boats. He went every week, often won the pool and usually had a real pile of fish which he would sell to the local restaurants illegally. He helped me along and once I was lucky enough to fish next to him. I noticed every time he tied his knot he was using something mostly hidden in his hand. Thus I was introduced to the tie fast tool. If it was good enough for Martin it was certainly for me. I became a bit of a disciple of Martins and fished very much like he did. Using the same hooks, getting the same type of rod and reel but I digress. Would I outfish Martin now? Maybe, I have gotten good at a very difficult game due in large part to having an open mind and a willingness to be instructed.

As the years went by I experimented with the tie fast tool and found it does several things very uniquely. Things that other knots fail to do. One of the hardest things for mono or fluorocarbon to do with 100% strength is to tie to diameters thicker than the line. In this endavor the tie fast and the Gryp knot is unsurpassed, it has no equal that I am aware of. Some knots may come close but I doubt they would best it. The advantage is in the physics. The running line with the Gryp knot is inside the coils. As pressure is exerted the coils tighten around the running line. I have had not one, but 2 offshore Captains compliment me on my knots.

But it does have limitations. It does poorly when tying to diameters smaller than the mono and tends to pull through. But other knots, in fact most other typical fishing knots, perform this well.

I like throwing the Shadzillas with 65 braid and 60lb leader. I know I am going to catch a big pike and I know I will be able to place the rod in a rod holder and tow the fish to shore where I can get out of my little solo and handle it safely.

But if you are going to use typical pike lures, smallish by comparison to the Shadzilla swimbaits I like, then Pat has better advice (except his dismissal of the tie fast)

I’ve been following this “education” and banter with amusement. Just tie on a titanium leader for Pike with a palamar knot and either mono or floro leader for everything else with double uni, FG knot or whatever and fish. The configuration of your knot will knot be the weak link unless you tie it poorly. Go fishing, tight lines.

BnD: "I’ve been following this “education” and banter with amusement. Just tie on a titanium leader for Pike with a palamar knot and either mono or floro leader for everything else with double uni, FG knot or whatever and fish. The configuration of your knot will knot be the weak link unless you tie it poorly. Go fishing, tight lines."

Why always the mocking of others BnD? But let's guess, here is the way I do it and the way other people do it is "amusing"?

I have fished with lots of people who think they know it all and refuse instruction and have looked with disdain on my advice. I have spent many hours on trying to make sure these individuals had a good time and successful catch. Many, puffed up by their own pride, could not accept what I was suggesting even though I had far more experience. After all, they were folks who owned expensive sport fishing boats and wrote articles for major fishing publications and this redneck/artist fisherman from the middle of nowhere was telling them how it was done?

Results don't lie, and when one guy out of six has 1/2 the fish on the boat on every trip it's time to pay attention. He just might know what he's talking about.

1. MT I never mentioned or referred to you in my post. Read carefully, I “mocked” no one.
2. If you took it personally... reflect on that.
3. 6 guys in a canoe sounds excessive, be careful.
4. We use green and brown Power Pro Super Slick. Awesome.
5. Thanks for your heartfelt derision.

BnD: "1. MT I never mentioned or referred to you in my post. Read carefully, I “mocked” no one.
2. If you took it personally... reflect on that.
3. 6 guys in a canoe sounds excessive, be careful.
4. We use green and brown Power Pro Super Slick. Awesome.
5. Thanks for your heartfelt derision."

I can't argue with any of your points as they are all true. I did indeed take it personal. Perhaps I have some built up resentment. I spend my time, share my lifelong experiences and get unfair flack............... (Do I hear tiny violins?)

I do not understand the mentality of some who criticize that which they have no experience with. And to top it off have a dismissive attitude towards the messenger.

For example, If someone took the time to inform me that a tie fast tool is unique and exceptional and does some things which no other knot does and that person seemed to have a fairly extensive fishing background I would have that tool within the week and I would be saying thanks for taking the time for not only sharing experiences but informing me of the nuances in some crisp detail. Very unselfish. Then I would be verifying what was claimed with a critical eye. If what was stated was B.S. THEN I would have grounds to make a case and explain why I thought so. But if what was claimed is true then I am better for it. That's called having intellectual integrity.

I don't know everything. I am always listening to what others say and do when it comes to fishing. I often pick up lures or line or rods based on other peoples experiences. 25 years of fishing Head boats has taught me that. When only 3 guys are catching fish out of 25 then they are doing something different. If those 3 guys weren't on the boat the rest of us would be thinking there were no fish around or they just aren't biting. So, you learn from others, or at least the wise do.

On earth we say “my apologizes”.

BnD: "On earth we say “my apologizes”."

Always so clever. At least your not boring. I will insert the standard Politician/Hollywood type apology........."If I have offended anyone, blah, blah, blah" ............that will have to suffice.

I will try answer the original question, Green.

On a related note, I've used spiderwire in 20# strength and I could swear it's actually a black chrome or metallic color. I guess at that minimum diameter it really doesn't matter as long as the line remains relatively "invisible" to the fish.

Mnpat " Unless your throwing 3 plus ounces I would stick with 40 braid and a short steel leader. Pike are stupid and don’t fight all that hard.
65lb braid and 80 flouro is for big saltwater fish and unusually heavy lures. "

I do have one 3 oz lure I will use. It's a Savage 3D Burbot. The rest will all be 1.5 to 2 oz lures. I hear it's better to trend smaller in the early spring. I am hoping for a very large Pike though. My biggest Pike are two thick 40"ers, and an extra thick 42". The 40's actually fought pretty hard but they did give up after a few runs from the boat. The 42" was a different experience though. I didn't think I was ever going to get it in. That experience has inspired me to go heavier. That fish was probably only 22lbs. What will a 30+ be like? If I'm lucky enough to hook it I want to have a shot at landing it. I'm going with 50 lb Maxcuatro Power Pro which has the diameter of 40, and I'm already sold on FC leaders. I hear Pike can bite right through 40 lb, so 60 is minimum. The whole point of using a clear leader is so that you can go heavier. From what I've read The biggest Pike in a lake can be very old and picky. How would you know if a big fish had ever turned your bait down because it could see your steel leader? That's a just a fish that never hit and you never saw it. Steel Leaders are antiques from a bygone era.

I've always been terrible at learning knots. I'm even struggling with with the double uni so I don't know if I can pull off this FG knot. The author of that article even recommends the Uni in certain circumstances, like hybrid lines. I wonder if Maxcuatro or Super 8 slick qualify? Also wondering about the diameter difference. 10 lb mono equivalent to 60 lb FC. I do like the idea of ditching the swivel so I can reel the lure right up to the tip, and longer leaders too. I don't know about 8 feet but I'd maybe use 4 or 5. I don't know if I trust these knots either. I've never had to worry about knot strength before.