Topic: The Best Ice Fishing Lines of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 32 times)
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Topic: The Best Ice Fishing Lines of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 32 times)
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Known for its strength and high sensitivity, braided line is a co*mon go-to for most walleye and pike fishing applications, and PowerPro makes some of the best. PowerPro Braided line is available in a variety of poundage, so whether you’re after panfish, pike, sturgeon, or even something larger you’ll find something to suit your needs. It co*es in various colors including moss green, vermillion red, and hi-vis yellow (making bites easily detectable). For targeting walleye, I like to use 8- to 10-pound test and upsize to target larger pike. Braid is more visible, so I often pair it with a fluorocarbon leader.
Braid’s strength, lack of stretch, and great sensitivity make this braid great for jigging deep water for large fish. Also, pay attention to your drag. Braid can quickly snap, so playing your drag is key to battling those bigger fish.
Braid does collect ice quickly. However, it’s the easiest of the lines to remove ice from. Simply grab the line and slide your hand down the ice build up, and you’ll find it flies off quickly.
Fluoro is used primarily for its lack of visibility. However, it’s not its only benefit. The abrasion resistance of fluoro makes it great for leaders which often co*e into contact with the razor-sharp teeth of predator fish and the edge of the ice hole. Seaguar’s Blue Label Fluorocarbon Leader is one of the best at this. It’s as invisible as it gets underwater, and the stiffness allows control of your presentation and allows for excellent bite detection. Seaguar’s Blue Label Fluoro Leader line is made from 100% Seaguar resins with their proprietary extrusion process. It’s available in an enormous array of weights (2 to 80 pounds) that allows it to be used for just about any application. For walleye jigging, I reco*mend a couple of feet of 10- to 12-pound test at the end of any braided line.
I like to tie directly from braid to fluoro with a double uni knot, but you can also use a swivel to make things easier. If you make your own quick-strike rigs for pike fishing, go with a 40- to 60- pound weight and use a small barrel swivel to help control the line twist that often happens on with tip-ups. It is on the pricey side, but its use as a leader allows a spool of line to go a long way.
When hand-lining your catch on a tip-up, Dacron is easy to grab and doesn’t instantly turn into a tangled mess. This line can withstand a lot of abrasion from large fish circling or running parallel to the surface and rubbing the line against the bottom of your hole. Sharp teeth also cut through this heavy-duty line less often, making it essential for anyone targeting trophy pike. Although the Cabela’s Prestige Dacron soaks up water and can freeze easily when moving between fishing locations, you can pull it to break it free from a frozen spool without worrying about snapping the line. Classic uncoated black Dacron line is hard to beat when it co*es to fishing with tip-ups. You could also run a coated Dacron line like Suffix V-Coat. The coated line works well and freezes up less, but it has more stretch and memory to deal with, making it challenging to hang baits horizontally.
When I use Dacron line I like a heavier test—30 to 60 pounds. It find it works best not only for rolling off the spool smoothly but also for handling the line easier when fighting a trophy-sized fish. The thicker diameter of heavier test also bites less into the ice at the bottom of the hole. Be sure to pair it with heavy-duty tackle. For pike, a good reco*mendation is to tie on a heavy-duty swivel at the end and attach a quick-strike tandem treble hook rig. Steel or titanium leaders are co*mon on pre-made rigs, but making your own with a heavy-duty fluorocarbon leader can give you a more invisible presentation to help improve your catch rate without sacrificing much in the way of strength and durability.
Hi-vis line is good for detecting bites, but it should be paired with a clear mono or flouro leader.
Ice fishing lines need to withstand freezing temperatures and they also must be able to be abrasion resistant. But, like regular lines one type of ice fishing line won’t cover you for all scenarios. Ice anglers use dacron, mono, braid, and fluoro for different applications.
A low-stretch mono works well for ice fishing for panfish. A fluorocarbon line is best to use as a leader when using a braid main line.
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There is no one-size-fits-all fishing line when it co*es to ice fishing. In fact, you can catch fish on any line, but if you want to improve your catch rate, make the most of your rods and tackle, and spend less time trying and more time catching, then educating yourself on line beco*es essential.
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