What's your favour line when trolling for salmon?

Cookie's Cutter

Well-Known Member
Going to re spool a couple of reels this winter. What is everyone using? Brand? Lb test? And why

How long do you go between changing out your main line?
 
Depends... For Salmon chartering I use 30# Berkley BG Solar main line. Variety of different materials for leaders.
IF I ever got to fish for myself again... I would use 30-40# braid w/a mono/fluorocarbon top shot on a single action.
If salmon are scarce, I will have a level wind with braid and a plastic top shot, so I can drag up Halis, Lings and Rockers.
 
braid on my MR3 with 100 feet of Berkeley big game top shot 30lbs. it costs me $3 to get 100 feet of the top shot added to my braid. i just get it done while i'm shopping for tackle at River Sportsman in CR easy peasy.
 
Main line is 50lb solid core braid. Lower than 50# braid is a pain as it digs into the spool and can cut your fingers pretty bad. Leader is 50ft of 30lb mono. I change the leader out every couple of trips. My current leader brand is Momoi Diamond in clear. Very versatile set up. Use the same 50lb spool of braid and 30lb spool of mono for salmon, tuna, rockfish, ling and halibut.
 
braid on my MR3 with 100 feet of Berkeley big game top shot 30lbs. it costs me $3 to get 100 feet of the top shot added to my braid. i just get it done while i'm shopping for tackle at River Sportsman in CR easy peasy.

Just wonder why you would put 100' top shot on ?
the only reason I use one at all is so the mono holds in the release clip.
 
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40lb ultra green for Downrigging over backing
25lb ultra green for fishing weighted rods mooching as finer diameter less drag
 
Just wonder why you would put 100' top shot on ?
the only reason I use one at all is so the mono holds in the release clip.

braid has zero stretch and you can pull a lot of hooks especially on the hook set. The 100' of mono gives me a bit of stretch ; some shock absorption if you will
 
40 lb Berkley Big Game in Electric Blue and also in Electric Green. I had heard they had stopped making it in 40 lb so I bought two 4440 yard drums in Hi Res. Green and Blue. We are good for a while. Some may think that is rather heavy test but where we fish there is a lot of current, kelp and seals etc. and sometimes we have newbies on board. Over the years I have seen a fair number of broken off tired out big Chinook towing flashers on the surface, waiting for a predator to grab them. If you ever tangle while stacking etc. having two different color lines makes it easier to sort out and it is easier to see the line in sun reflection etc.
 
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300 yds of 50 pound Power Pro with 30 feet of 40 pound mono - good for fishing deep during the winter and spring. I switch over to 250 yds of 30 pound mono during the Summer and Fall.
 
I use 40 lb Berkley Big Game mono on the reels and 30 lb for my leaders. My reasoning is I can lose a lure/hootchie and still keep the flasher. Weakest point is below the flasher. I swap end for end after a season of fishing then re-spool every 3rd year.
 
20# spectra (usually power pro) 30ft 40# mono top shot for release clip holding. The SoCal shops have been doing braid for years & reporting at least 11 years of life for braid; way cheaper than mono. Next re-spool I'll switch to hollow braid as the braid-to-mono connection with hollow is much smoother when the connection goes thru the guides.
 
20# spectra (usually power pro) 30ft 40# mono top shot for release clip holding. The SoCal shops have been doing braid for years & reporting at least 11 years of life for braid; way cheaper than mono. Next re-spool I'll switch to hollow braid as the braid-to-mono connection with hollow is much smoother when the connection goes thru the guides.[/QUOTE
I use 60# hollow braid as main line. Braid will last for years. Thin enough to reduce drag on water, thick enough not to have cut issues, and hollow braid so I can splice a short section of 40# mono that has snap swivel at the end to connect to leader. You'll need a Daho splicing needle to do the "finger trap" splice. Charkbait.com has all the hollow braid splicing stuff.
 
Phil My Boat, you should rethink one thing. As mentioned above I run 25 main and 40 leader. What would be more important to you...not loosing a flasher on a bottom snag or loosing a once in a lifetime 50 pound plus Chinook that sawed itself off the weaker leader? You can buy flashers anywhere but that fish will just be a lifelong story of the big one that got away. Just my thought.
 
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