Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Cortland Spectron is the best fishing line for conventional levelwind reels. Not good on a non levelwind since it will saw your thumb off and of no use at all on a spinner.

I use 35 lb on a 6500 size abu and 50 lb on a 7000 or 7500 abu. I started using it about 97 when I started fishing the canal a lot. Not to brag but I think you'll find that 90 percent of the people in this area who use spectron on surfcasting rods are doing so based on my recommendations 5 years ago (not to brag :) ) . Whiplash is thinner and so casts a little better but spectron is way tougher. My big complaint about Whiplash is that it gets damaged by an overrun. With spectron , if it doesn't break oin the overrun , its fine but with whiplash , even if it doesn't break , it leaves a weak spot where the kink was.

50 lb Spectron is about all a typical man can handle. Its so strong and tough that I can barely break off a jig when i get hung up on the bottom. If you went to 80 LB spectron , I think you'd have to cut the line to break off when snagged. To break off , I pull my sweatshirt sleeve down to protect my hand and pull with the rod straight and break off. never try to break spectron with a bent rod. the spectron is just too tough and you'll break the rod.

I have a complete system built around the spectron. I use an Albright to attach a leader. Another good option is opposing uni-knots which is what i used the season i had the broken finger cause its hard to snug up an Albright properly (very importatnt to snug it up correctly) with a broken index finger. I like 50 or 60 lb Ande for use with the 50 LB spectron and a 30 LB Ande leader with the 35 lb spectron.

I use a uni-knot at the jig. This is my weak link and that's where I want it to break when snagged. I could use a polamar at the jig but then it won't break and my next weak link is the albright at the leader. its a pain to keep tying on new leaders so I use the uni-knot to provide a weak spot to break off. I never want to break the spectron since its expensive. When i say I put in the uni-knot for a weak link , don't think its very weak. Its just the weakest link. It's still such a strong system that I can barely break off when using the 50 LB Spectron and 60 LB Ande leader.

As far as the 35 lb set up goes , which I use on a 6500 Abu at the beach , i would say it casts great. I once did a field report on the breakaway 11'9" rod and had a measured cast of 163 yards using the 35 lb Spectron on an abu 6500 reel (I forget if it was a BG6500Cl or 6500CS mag).

I do find that you got to have a good length of leader. You need a little shock absorber out there or you'll break off or rip out of the fishes lips. As long as you have a leader though , everthing works great.

Anyway , that's what line i use now.

I do use 10 lb Berkley Big Game mono on my only spinner in the spring for schoolies.