Northwest Fishing Reports

i bought a spool of 12lb test Cajun line to try on my spinning set-up for salmon/steelhead. i also bought a spool of 12lb p-line CXX off of a recomendation from some anglers on this site. the cajun line was sold on a spool of 800 yards for about $10, and the p-line was sold on a spool of about 300 yards and was $15. i do not know if the p-line was more expensive because of the quality, but both seemed to be durable but castable line. both of them were a little stiff but i dont know if that will change after use. luckely the reel i have came with 2 spools so i can have both of the lines ready to go with me. so anybody used either of these lines and have some pros/cons to share?

P-Line CXXX is a great line. My favorite. A little stiff but it seems to loosen up....Many pro fishermen will actually go out and stretch out their line when they spool new line on it. I used to but got too lazy. Not sure where you got a 300 yard spool for $15, I've seen em around $10, but not up high like $15...

I hear that Cajun has the problem with mystery snaps and is pretty visible underwater.

Pline all the way for me...

i have notice that pline has alot of different kinds of line. what is up with the floatable drift line?? i have read the box and it says it floats, has anybody used it??

Yea P-Line does have a bunch of lines. I've only seen Pline Premium and Pline CXX in stores. I'd assume you'd have to go online to order some of the other lines...

If the Pline has a floatable drift line I'd definetely spool up with it. Would be great for float fishing...

Sam Kafelafish wrote:I hear that Cajun has the problem with mystery snaps and is pretty visible underwater.

i have had problems with mystery snaps using berkley vanish, i had spooled up with it before i knew that flurocarbon is moslty used for leader. i have lost 2 steely's due to mystery snaps, one was a little bit after i had hooked the fish and it was fighting and then the secound time i had just set the hoo and then snap it came off. anybody else had problems with cajun line?

I've had a problem almost everytime I've spooled with Trilene or any other Berkely line...

The ONE Berkely line that's actually worked, and I love, is Trilene Sensation...Sweet stuff right there...8-10lb test for bass fishing is a sweet line...

I've heard of some weird stuff happening with their flouro, all I know is that I wanna have good line, especially when chasing steelhead...It's killer when you get broken off when chasing such elusive fish...

Fished P-Line about 95% of the time this year (atleast 80 days this year) and didn't have ONE fish break my line...And I am not a guy who uses really heavy line. 4-6 lb test for trout, 8 lb test for bass, 10lb test for my saltwater spinning rod I use for silvers of the beach, and 15lb test for my downrigger rods for kings/silvers....


Good luck to ya Max in testing out all your different lines...Hope you find something your comfortable with spooling and that works out for ya...

yea thanks, i am gunna try the p-line next time i try for steely's, hopefully it works as good for me as it did for you.

Cajun (red cast) is very very strong line and dirt cheap. I have a spool of 6lb that was 1890 yards for only $7. I spool that up for my sister or other friends that I take out who aren't big on fishing. As far as the visibility I havent noticed a difference on waters like Lake WA. On the other had I would never use it on a crystal clear lake and rarely ever use it on my gear because it seems to hit and miss every 100 yards or so.

bottom line is its not that bad of a line but you get what you pay for. I would never use it in a situation where I might have to re spool and time/money was on the line.

As for P-Line I like Floroclear, Halo, CXX and Evolution is ok. $7-$9 is somewhat normal for a 300 yard spool. I dont hate it but havent come to love it either.

I have never actually used P line but that would be my choice. It costs more for a reason so its better to go with the higher quality stuff especially for steallies. The cajun red is GREAT line for the PRICE. Its not the best stuff but it gets the job done for the really cheap price. Out fishing for the weekend you tend to run out of cash on the last day, thats how I stumbled across cajun red. I started tieing up all my spare poles with it and before you know it its on my good poles. But I did kind of go threw a money drought this year lol. I wouldnt put too much thought in the disapearing underwater thing just because it takes 12 feet of water (I believe) to filter out the color red. But its good line for a cheap price. I even used it for salmon all this year. The 6 and 8 lb woked great for pinks and I landed 7 chums on the same line in 12lb test.

I've always been suspicious of bargain fishing line, so I have stayed cleared of the lower end lines, except for Trilene XL which I have been successful with for many, many years. However in the last couple years I have made a complete transition to P-Line in baitcasting rigs and some spinning outfits.

I also have a pet peave with Shakespeare so I don't use any of their products, nor will I ever.

yea Trilene XL is a good line, but i have only used it for perch and bluegill so i am not sure how it handles large fish, but then again gills fight pretty hard for there size.

hey cav have you had a bad experience with shakespeare?

Fisherman_max wrote:

Sam Kafelafish wrote:I hear that Cajun has the problem with mystery snaps and is pretty visible underwater.

i have had problems with mystery snaps using berkley vanish, i had spooled up with it before i knew that flurocarbon is moslty used for leader. i have lost 2 steely's due to mystery snaps, one was a little bit after i had hooked the fish and it was fighting and then the secound time i had just set the hoo and then snap it came off. anybody else had problems with cajun line?

Vanish was the first flurocarbon I used. I had to change leaders after every fish because they would chew it up so. I eventually switched to P-Line fluro and my abrasion problems went away.

I have a cheap friend who was so tickled I would give him a "free" spool of Berkeley Vanish.

The new Vanish may be better but what I used in 2003 wasn't acceptable.

yea i was the gullable fisherman who saw that it "vanished" under water so i bought it thinking o yea i will catch dozens of fish on this! everytime i would hook anything bigger than a stocker trout it would snap right after the hook-set. when you are fishing for steelhead and you usually only get 1-2 strong hits per trip you need the best line you can get and berkley vanish, or any berkley line is just not good enough.

Pline 12lbs breaks at about 17 pound and 10lbs breaks at 14lbs
Hope this helps

curado wrote:Pline 12lbs breaks at about 17 pound and 10lbs breaks at 14lbs
Hope this helps

I think P-Line CXX at 10 or maybe 12 lb test breaks at over 22lbs....

Sam Kafelafish wrote: I think P-Line CXX at 10 or maybe 12 lb test breaks at over 22lbs....

I agree 100%:cheers:

A fellow over at GF did a whole big line test for the strength that lines really are. Just because they say 10lb test on the box doesn't mean they are...
http://www.gamefishin.com/community/vie ... &sk=t&sd=a

Pretty interesting stuff.
P-Line CXX is darn strong....All I know trying to break off 20 lb PLine CXX is tough, had to do it the other weekend when I got snagged up going for bottom fish, it was a lot of work to get that line snapped....

That is what i mean pline cxx is one tough cookie for river fishing