Ice line

[Bryfish84]

Anyone have recommendations for a line I should try. Will mostly. E fishing for yellow bass and panfish.

[Dakota-Lew]

Oh boy this is a loaded question, lots of variables depending on personal preference.  i use braid and tie a 2 to 4 foot flouro leader on with a double uni knot. Only real issue with braid is it can get iced up pretty quickly in the sever cold. I don't mind cleaning my line off every so often myself. The main reason i like braid is i can feel everything and there is very little give to it, but that's my preference. All flouro drives me nuts with memory on the line and mono once it gets wet its gets to much stretch in it for me.

I use 832 suffix braid, and p line flouro.

[Bryfish84]

Thanks for the opinion. I haven't give. Braid much thought. Why the leader?

[Dakota-Lew]

"they say" that fish have a hard time seeing flouro leader and its near invisible to them... i honestly can say I feel i do have overall better hookup ratio when using it. Not only that i sometimes fish in the downed trees (stump lake/devils lake) and if i ever get hung up i would prefer to break my leader then my main line. I just prefer the sensitivity of braid to the rod, i can feel and see most everything down there and that little amount of flouro doesn't absorb much of anything. I am by no means an expert in this, and some guys on this forum have far more experience then i do, but this is just the setup i like and have better luck with.

The only issues you might have is if your a big rippin rap or jigging rap guy you may want to use a mono or flouro main line, but i use them maybe 5% of the time, and am not going to have dedicated setup for those few times, well at least at the moment.  I use spoons, buckshot rattles, and basic demon or tungsten's so it fits my style of fishing where i want that sensitivity of a braid main line.

Be warned though, braid does ice up, but it takes 2 seconds to clean off if it starts to bug you, which it will haha.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

My experiances ended up landing my preferance on clear berkley Trilene micro ice mono line, because of it being so avalible and I found it decent to use.

1. It doesn't freeze up outside like braid
2. It isn't stiff and slinky like fluro on the ice reel spool.
3. It's cheap compared to fluro or braid
4. Overall it's pretty decent in just about all ice fishing conditions
5. It can be found from 2lb line on up.
6. Not sure if it is true...but the claim the micro ice has a coating on the mono line to help with the cold and water freezing on it.

If you want the best ice line.....IMO The brand P Line  fluro ice has a copolymer ice line that has a mono core line coated with fluro......it has the best parts of mono line combined with the best parts of fluro. I've got it on a few poles, but it is a little harder to find in my area and cost at least 2-4 times what the berkley Trilene micro ice cost. I tend to put this on my expensive Rod reel combos I use a lot......if the store has it on hand when I get line to respool the rods with at the beginning of the season.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

"they say" that fish have a hard time seeing flouro leader and its near invisible to them... i honestly can say I feel i do have overall better hookup ratio when using it. Not only that i sometimes fish in the downed trees (stump lake/devils lake) and if i ever get hung up i would prefer to break my leader then my main line. I just prefer the sensitivity of braid to the rod, i can feel and see most everything down there and that little amount of flouro doesn't absorb much of anything. I am by no means an expert in this, and some guys on this forum have far more experience then i do, but this is just the setup i like and have better luck with.

The only issues you might have is if your a big rippin rap or jigging rap guy you may want to use a mono or flouro main line, but i use them maybe 5% of the time, and am not going to have dedicated setup for those few times, well at least at the moment.  I use spoons, buckshot rattles, and basic demon or tungsten's so it fits my style of fishing where i want that sensitivity of a braid main line.

Be warned though, braid does ice up, but it takes 2 seconds to clean off if it starts to bug you, which it will haha.

Hey dakota......I actually set up a Rod like that last year.....braided line with a fluro leader for when I'm fishing deeper water like 30ft plus to try and help with hookups by eliminating the stretch with mono........It works pretty good......however I hate having to retire that fluro leader when it breaks off. Just curious on how deep your usually fishing.......most the time I'm in that 10-15 ft range.....but when I'm in 30+ the braid fluro leader does seem quite better. Your right though that braid gets ice on it and looks like a line of Christmas lights.....

[spoofhoundicefisher]

that ice on your line is what ICE FISHING is all about.  it just adds to the ambience.  like the braid and hardly fish over 10 to 15 feet and most time it is in the 6 to 10 feet in ponds and really like the feel of the bite thru the braid.  but just have to trial and error and find out what works for u.

[Bryfish84]

Hey dakota......I actually set up a Rod like that last year.....braided line with a fluro leader for when I'm fishing deeper water like 30ft plus to try and help with hookups by eliminating the stretch with mono........It works pretty good......however I hate having to retire that fluro leader when it breaks off. Just curious on how deep your usually fishing.......most the time I'm in that 10-15 ft range.....but when I'm in 30+ the braid fluro leader does seem quite better. Your right though that braid gets ice on it and looks like a line of Christmas lights.....

I fish with P-Line during open water season. Very good line.

[fishonthebrain]

Berkley Nanofil in low visibility green worked very well for me last year. It's thin as thread, but very strong. Treads water and there is no stretch.

[Monticatgeek]

I have always been a fan of the Berkley Micro Ice Mono line but this year I am making the switch over to the Clam Frost line in mono. the Clam Frost line is made by Sun Line Company out of Japan. Sun Brand line has a international reputation for being a good line. Will have more feed back on the new line at the end of ice season.

http://stores.clamoutdoors.com/clam/tackle/frost-ice-line/frost-ice-premium-monofilament-ice-fishing-line-clear.html

[3300]

check stroft gtm german line .there's only one place you can buy it here in the states. it's all i use any more thanks to dustr.

compare your favorite lines to the specs on this line. this is much smaller diameter so it means it's harder for fish to see for the same diameter you use now and stronger so you can step down in strength for better results.   
starts at .9 pounds and goes up to 57.3 pounds.
makes great leaders for fly fishing too.

[icebucketjohn]

2x Dakota-Lew: Braid & Floro Leader

Berkley Fire-Line or Nano (2-4 lb)
Seaguard Floro

[Gills-only]

check stroft gtm german line .there's only one place you can buy it here in the states. it's all i use any more thanks to dustr.

compare your favorite lines to the specs on this line. this is much smaller diameter so it means it's harder for fish to see for the same diameter you use now and stronger so you can step down in strength for better results.   
starts at .9 pounds and goes up to 57.3 pounds.
makes great leaders for fly fishing too.
(Image removed from quote.)

.             This stuff is great, super thin and strong !

[Dakota-Lew]

Hey dakota......I actually set up a Rod like that last year.....braided line with a fluro leader for when I'm fishing deeper water like 30ft plus to try and help with hookups by eliminating the stretch with mono........It works pretty good......however I hate having to retire that fluro leader when it breaks off. Just curious on how deep your usually fishing.......most the time I'm in that 10-15 ft range.....but when I'm in 30+ the braid fluro leader does seem quite better. Your right though that braid gets ice on it and looks like a line of Christmas lights.....

Yea i personally like braid all the time. The trick to an effective leader with this braid setup, is to start off longer then you might think. I run an average of of 2 feet on my panfish rods, and 3 to 4 feet on my dead stick/walleyes/pike rods. I obviously don't measure, just guesstimate. So i start off with that much and as the day progresses and as i catch fish and my line starts to get buggered up by the jig, i just clip it off right above the buggered up spot and retie the jig on. I can retie a Palomar or Trilene knot in my sleep versus the double uni, so its easier to keep the leader long so i can retire the lure instead of the leader when your out on the ice. Then later that night at home, if i have had to retie the jig on a whole bunch that day (walleye/pike), i tie a new leader on in the warmth of my house versus on the ice with cold fingers. 

Some tie the leader on to the braid with a swivel instead of the double uni, but i tried that and i ended up going threw a pile of leader since i couldn't keep my leader long enough to retire threw out the day. I was really afraid of taking a barrel swivel threw the eyes in the rod in the excitement of catching a big old fish... I will be honest, i can get a little excited with a fish on and be a real dummy while in the "moment". Hence why now i pretty much go strictly to a double uni knot, i have zero issues taking that knot threw the eyes of my rod, no worries about my fancy overpriced rods taking a swivel down the eyes. There is one exception, if i am using a jigging rap or a chubby darter, i might but a barrel swivel on... but lets be real, i hardly use them during the ice season, but this year i am going to try and use a jigging rap more with all the "buzz" this year over them... but hey give me any reason to buy more tackle right?! haha.

On the icing up subject, i have found the 832 suffix ice braid, is the best for that, but not by much haha. During ice season i keep my thumb nails on the long side and just run it threw every so often. Also if its that damn cold outside and its a real problem, i am probably in my clam flip over and not hole hoping. I am kind of shocked no one has figured out how to keep a braid from icing up.