Tuff Line (Duracast) on ice review

[Drifter_016]

A couple of weeks ago I ordered up some Duracast to try on the ice.
It was waiting at the PO for me on Friday and I got to check it out this weekend.
I spooled up a couple of reels with it and used it yesterday and today.
Yesterdays temp topped out at about -3C with no wind and sunny skies.
Today it was a bunch colder -19C with 25kmh winds and more sun.
This line is nice and slick and doesn't absorb water at all. Unlike regular braids.
Power Pro Ice Braid is a good ice line and it doesn't ice up nearly as much as the regular Power Pro. Having said that, this Tuff Line is better!!   

I noticed that it is a little wirey and has some memory in the cold but not really any worse than most mono lines. It candles like any other line but unlike regular braid you can strip off the candle ice just as easily as mono.

What I really like about the line is that because it doesn't hold water like regular braid it doesn't ice up on the spool or the line roller on my spinning reels. This is a huge bonus as when reeling in a fish regular braid intstantly freezes as soon as you stop reeling and you need to pull line off by hand in order to free it up and continue reeling.

I didn't notice the line get any more wirey today with the big drop in temp since yesterday.

The only small issue I found was when tying heavy flouro to it with a back to back uni when tightening up the flouro and sliding the knot together it would strip the coating off if you were not carefull.

So far after 2 outings Duracast braid is getting    from me.
I'll try and remember to give an update at the end of the season on how it performs over the long term. But for now it is my new favorite ice line.

[Nightbird]

Interesting! I'm needing new line and hard to find many evaluations from 'real' cold weather users. Thanks for posting, and please let us know more in a couple of months.