Power Pro woes

[Mike Pike]

Ok, so I've been using Power Pro braid( 15 - 4 )when drifting in the Niagara area and when I get snagged up and tug on the line, the braid just breaks. It's happened several times now. It just snaps about a foot or two from the reel. Odd because you'd think my 6lb floro leader would break first or my 6lb dropper line, but no. The braid breaks, and with minimal pull.

 

A friend of mine complained to me about Power Pro too, and said he had his break when casting pike spoons on Georgian Bay right near the spoon itself. He's getting frustrated loosing lures and says he won't buy it anymore.

 

Just wondering if anyone had a clue as to what the problem is and if you've had silmilar experience with the stuff.

 

Thanks.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Mike Pike

[Guest gbfisher]

Chech the eyes on the rod yer usin. Sounds like one might have a crack in it and making your line snap

[bassman87]

switch to suffix braid you wont be disappointed

[CLofchik]

PP, and Spectra braids in general, main (only?) weakness is they are very prone to abrasion compared to mono or flouro. One nick and you loose half your strength. Essentially they are a cable, and once you cut one strand it starts to unwind rather quick.

 

Anytime I'm drifting or bumping bottom I use a long tippet of mono or flouro and don't have any problems except getting my knot small enough to slip through the guides (Albright's Knot).

[Syn]

One theory I was reading about was constant pulling weakens the line and using a weaker leader to save your braid would make it last longer. I will find the link. brb.

 

edit: here http://www.striperso...ad.php?t=497830

 

 

Also maybe you have a defective batch, I would take it back and get it exchanged.

 

more edit: I've had pretty good luck with the power pro. Broke only once on me in 2 years. But I heard it is made with 4 strands and I will be trying 6 stranded braid like Sufix Performance Braid this year for pike fishing.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Syn

[Mike Pike]

I'll check the guides with a q-tip, GBFisher, to see if I have a problem there. It's a new rod and I've been careful with it, but ya never know til you check, right.

 

Failing that, maybe try the Suffix riverfisher22 suggests.

[ciscokid]

I ve never used power pro and after reading this i can safely say i will never use power pro.

[uglyfish]

power pro just sucks. plain and simple. used it before, and same thing, very weak line, breaks off easy, and even breaks off when tossing some baits out. and i used 30-50lb. after that, line was stripped off the reel, and tossed, never will use it again. it doesnt sit well on the reel, doesnt cast as good, and the power in it sucks... oh, and i didnt like my hands turning green after using it one.

 

i only got it cause the store had a sale on bulk line spooling. i normally would use spiderwire stealth. after that fiasco, i went back to spiderwire and thats all.

[MJL]

I use 65lb PowerPro for my ‘extreme’ carp fishing when zebra mussels are involved. I do find lighter breaking strains just don’t have the same abrasion resistance for zebra mussels. Everywhere else, I found PowerPro (15-20lb) very reliable and handled snags great (often times I pull snags to shore with it) – Still have PowerPro spooled on my reels since 2001. It sounds like you may have a cracked guide or simply a bad batch of line – Possibly a counterfit spool from China which made their rounds a couple years ago?

[torco]

I use powerpro for chucking spoons off piers for salmon and have so far been impressed. I actually thought it took a pretty good beating and never broke. I think I was using it 10lbs test (diamter).

 

Its weird that it breaks near the reel for you. I would check that something is not damaging it on the reel or like others said the rod guides.

[bare foot wader]

yep, you guys are absolutely right, horrible stuff and should never touch it...I mean who can handle a bit of green dye on their hands?...the pro's who make a living using power pro are fools

[John]

Personally I love the stuff, but only in the larger diameters. I have had 80# PP on my musky reels now for 3 seasons and except for the colour it performs the same. I tried lighter 15# on my spinning reels and hated it, but it did not break on me..

 

I am also thinking that you may have a guide problem. The other thought was do you wear a ring that could be fraying it?

[fish_fishburn]

Power pro SUCKS. Used it once before. Spooled up 50lb braid on my flippin stick. Next day broke off about 3 nice fish pulling them out of the slop. Was probably a bad spool of line but have never used it again, and have heard alot of bad things about it. I use Stren superbraid awesome line.

[pike slayer]

i love the stuff, hasnt let me down yet. alot of fishing stuff is also personal peference like a ford vs gm debate.

[musky66]

Love it- use 80 and 100 on my Muskie reels.

[steverowbotham]

lol. I use Power Pro on 90% of my setups and wouldnt change a thing

[sirfish]

I have on 12 or 14 rods for the past 3 years in various tests and have never broken off above the fleuro leader. I also use it all winter in the lower Niagara and ice fishing. Maybe you got some bad crap.could happen ...but shouldn't..I'd check your guides .

[tjsa]

I only use it on my walleye trolling rods, not for casting. You do have to watch it, it will get in behind the bail roller if you are using a spinning reel because of its smaller diameter. Never had a problem with it in over 6 yrs. I use a section of wooden hockey stick to wrap it around to break it loose from a snag if that happens. Darn near put the gunwales of the boat or canoe underwater doing it though.

[BillM]

PowerPro on my muskie setup, only time I've ever had 65lb snap is when I backlash throwing a TopRaider or similar, lol...

 

I'm glad they float

[smally21]

power pro anything over 20# no problems. strongest line ever - i can tow my boat with it!

 

pulling out snags, just wrap and pull and the hook will straighten. but i once had some flouro that broke really easy no matter what knot i tried - i kinda figured this, some cheapo buys expensive flouro, rewinds the spool with his cheap old mono and returns it to canadian tire.

[Lunatic]

This HAS to be a rod or reel issue cause nics or cuts.

i use 20 and now 30lb power pro and never had any issues with it. ever.

i have even pulled in a tree log. even broke a rod before the line.i cant say enough good things about it, would be nice if it were cheaper

[s2k4mee]

I too am very fond of power pro. Have 8 lb test on my spinning and 30 lb on my bait caster.

[MCTFisher9120]

Used 20lb PP last season and it was great. Never had a sudden snap in the line. Now this season I bought some 50lb PP and I'm using it on my jig rod...casted some pike jerkbaits with it feeling rock bottom on the entire retrieve with not one nick or cut in the line. Seemed to do well in that situation fishing.

[Mike Pike]

Just wanted to say a quick 'thanks' for all of ya who took the time to answer.

 

So, I put my glasses on, took a q-tip and inspected the rod guides and all look nice and smooth with no nicks. The spool and reel seem to check out ok too.

 

I'm wondering if chucking those heavy sinkers repeatedly with full force( Niagara River shore anglers will know what I mean )adds some kind of extra stress to braid???

 

Anyhoo, I'm gonna start using one of my other reels( incase it's a reel issue that I wasn't able to see )and if it happens again I'll switch to another line. Spiderwire or Suffix, as was suggested, will be on my list.

 

I pay anywhere from 20 to 25 bucks a spool for the Power Pro, and when I cast a mile out and it breaks close to the reel, I end up loosing a lot of line. Just looking for the most reliable bang for my buck.

 

Thanks again.

[MJL]

I'm wondering if chucking those heavy sinkers repeatedly with full force( Niagara River shore anglers will know what I mean )adds some kind of extra stress to braid???

 

Yes it can. Surf fishermen and carp anglers casting at long range often use shock leaders to minimize the probability of cracking off. It’s not about fatiguing the line with repeated casts that causes the line to break (though theoretically it can), it’s the single sudden shock experienced on the line at that one single moment during the cast. Shock leaders are a length of heavy mono or super strong braid spliced onto the end of the mainline to take the force of the cast (often 30-45lb for 3-4oz weights). I use them for my long range carp fishing at 100+ yards - I use the specialty tapered shock leaders though which taper from 45lb to 10lb (when using 30lb PowerPro or 10lb mono for a mainline). I find punching too early during the cast or not smoothly accelerating during the casting stroke can cause crack offs no matter the line you're using.