Best Braided Fishing Line
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Whether you’re buying a braided fishing line for spinning reels or just looking for something new to try out on the water, getting the best-braided fishing line for any situation is easy. Here’s what you should know about these lines.
Why Use A Braided Fishing Line?
There are several reasons to use a braided fishing line, although the important thing to remember is that braided lines are useful in almost every situation. You can use braided lines in both spinning reels and baitcasting reels.
In the clearest waters, you can use it as a primary line and splice on a leader of your preferred monofilament line, which lets you save most of that monofilament instead of risking it all.
In more stained waters, darker braids are all-purpose, and you don’t even need to add leaders to them. In areas with a lot of covers, braided fishing lines have the durability to take hits and bend around obstacles without stretching.
Here are a few other considerations for using braided lines:
- Small Line Diameters: Braided lines are generally stronger than mono and fluoro lines of similar diameters, which means you can get a much thinner line without sacrificing any strength. This noticeably reduces weight and enhances performance.
- Better Casting Distance: With lighter weights and thinner diameters, braided lines broadly offer a longer casting distance than their traditional cousins. This makes it much easier to fish farther from your boat or the shore.
- Near-Zero Stretch: Most braided fishing lines have virtually no stretch to them, which means it’s much easier to feel what’s going on. It’s also easier to set a hook since you don’t have to worry about it stretching out of position later.
- Durability: Braided lines are much tougher than most other types of lines, which means you can use them for fishing through obstacles like wood, docks, or rocks.
Braided Fishing Line Reviews
Here is a detailed review of our favorite braided fishing lines.
#1: PowerPro Spectra Moss Green Braided Line (Best Overall)
PowerPro is easily one of the best brands in the industry. In fact, we could include nothing but PowerPro lines on this list, and it would still be both accurate and useful. We ultimately decided to include products from other manufacturers, too, but the Spectra Moss Green braided line is easily one of the best options you’re going to find.
This particular line has outstanding strength-to-diameter, with line lengths varying from 100 to 500 yards for buyers with different needs. Even the lightest variant supports up to 8 pounds, while the genuinely heavy-duty variants range from 30 to 200 pounds of line weight.
Despite its strength, this line is exceptionally smooth to the touch and doesn’t cut most guides. It also has practically no stretching, which means you can quite literally feel every movement your catch makes. The Spectra lines are also light enough to reduce their weight without sacrificing performance.
Overall, there’s a lot to love about this line, and it’s easily a top choice if you want to go fishing with a braided line. It’s more expensive than some competitors, but you’ll definitely notice the difference.
#2: P-Line TCB 8 Carrier (Best Teflon Line)
P-Line’s TCB 8 is a Teflon-coated braided fishing line with outstanding casting distance and practically no stretch. This puts it at nearly the same level of quality as our best overall choice, especially with the pleasant green color that won’t scare off most of your catches.
However, the real standout feature here is the fact that the line floats quite well as long as the Teflon coating lasts. Most braided fishing lines outside of dedicated floating fly lines don’t stay on the surface of the water, so this provides a distinctively different fishing style than most of the other products on this list.
There are two things to keep in mind about this line. First, the Teflon coating isn’t permanent. You’ll need to replace any fishing line sooner or later, so that’s not a deal-breaker, but the loss of Teflon means it won’t float, either. That’s a measurable difference in behavior out on the water.
Second, this line has fewer size choices than some competitors. It’s only available in 150-yard, 300-yard, and 2500-yard spools, so you’ll need to get creative if you want to use other lengths.
#3: Tuf Line Dacron (Best Alternative)
Tuf Line’s Dacron spool is a great alternative option for our top choices if you’re looking for a backup spool to carry out on the water. The thing we like most here is actually the coloring pattern. Unlike the first two spools on this list, which are darker, Tuf Line has a white-with-green-spots pattern here that provides noticeably better visibility.
Outside of its visual components, this line stands out for its splice-able construction. The exterior has a formulated wax that helps eliminate strength loss in different knots. That means you can use it to extend other lines if they break or even get creative while making more-complex lines.
This product also benefits from generally high manufacturing consistency. Tuf Line is one of the more-reputable manufacturers in the industry, and they’ve eliminated most kinks and hiccups in their spooling processes. That means you can buy this time after time without any significant risk of major defects.
Like most other fishing lines, this product is available in various line weights and lengths. However, we like the 100-lb, 100-yard version the most. We still think this is best as a backup option instead of a primary line, so you don’t need to get too much, while the 100-lb weight ensures it has enough strength for a variety of fishing.
#4: Dorisea Extreme Braid Multi-Color (Best Budget Option)
Dorisea manufactures this as one of the best braided fishing lines for saltwater. It’s also good for freshwater, sea fishing, lake fishing, ice fishing, and so on, all at the same high level of performance. That’s all good, but the real clincher is that spools of this are more affordable than many other competitors at similar lengths.
With practically zero stretches, this line offers excellent abrasion resistance and an extra-small diameter for compatibility with most systems, even if you need to tie knots to another type of line. It has a color protection coating that results in less fading and increases its long-term ability to stay hidden from fish in most environments.
Dorisea sells this line in several colors, but we like the green-and-black pattern the most because it can help imitate the look of shadows on plants. If you’ve never bought a braided fishing line before, this is a good place to start so you can get used to it.
#5: Tuf Line Guide’s Choice (Best Long-Distance Line)
This product is a little different from the others on this list. And by a little, I mean a lot, as in “there’s a lot more of it”. Whether you want a huge line that you can cut to size or you plan to fish over the edge of a cliff and need something that will reach, Tuf Line offers this 2500-yard spool with inline weights ranging from 40 to 200 lbs.
The braiding here is also quite interesting, with a splice-able setup whose hollow core is extremely friendly to attaching regular monofilaments.
Naturally, I don’t recommend this particular product to everyone. 2500 yards is a lot, even for serious fishers, so it’s better to get something else if you don’t need to maximize your distance. If you need a ton of fishing lines, though, this is a high-quality choice at a reasonable price for the amount you’ll get.
Tips For Using Braided Line
Using a braided line is similar to using traditional fishing lines, but there are a few things you should keep in mind before you go out.
Coloring The Lines
Many braided lines fade over time. Between trace amounts of chemicals in the water and exposure to the sun, you can expect any darker braid to lighten up over time. Unfortunately, this also means that the line will become easier for fish to spot, and therefore less useful.
While you can replace the line anytime it starts to fate, you can also use some permanent markers to darken the line again. This can give you an excellent amount of extra longevity for your fishing lines.
Learn How To Tie Better Knots
As we’ve mentioned a few times by this point, braided lines are fundamentally and intentionally slippery. This means that you can’t tie the same types of knots as you can for fishing lines with better friction. Instead, learn to tie things like a double Palomar or an improved clinch knot.
These work well with braided lines and, as long as you tie them correctly, won’t result in any slips while you’re out on the water.
Line Conditioner
While these products aren’t a focus of this particular guide, line conditioner is extremely helpful with most types of braided fishing lines. Use it the night before you go out, and you can expect a softer line without losing any of the qualities you bought a braided line for in the first place.
If you’re not sure whether a particular line conditioner will work with your product, contact the line’s manufacturer. They can generally tell you if a specific line conditioner will work well on their product. If not, they can often suggest an alternative. They might even have an official conditioner to use.
Line Size and Lure Weights
Braided lines are easy to use, but you still need to match the weight of the line with the weight of your tackle. A very light tackle doesn’t match a heavy line or vice versa. Spinning reels do best with 10-20lb braided lines.
Spooling
Most braided fishing lines are intentionally slippery. That’s good when you’re casting because it means friction won’t slow things down much, but it also means you may need to add something sticky for the line to grab when you first start spooling.
Some spools have braid-ready systems, and those are extremely useful as a first choice. Alternatively, use electrical tape or something similar to provide an attachment for your initial spooling. Don’t forget to provide a reasonable amount of tension to the spool while you’re winding it. This helps avoid digging and other problems.
Final Thoughts
PowerPro’s Spectra line stands out for its excellent balance of cost, size, and performance. The dark green color is especially useful in most environments, although you should consider looking for another color if you plan to go ice fishing or fish in other areas where a darker line is out of place.
However, if you’re new to fishing with braided lines, get the Dorisea Extreme first. Its smallest versions are quite affordable and offer the best way to practice with braided lines and get used to their differences before investing in something better.
