# Power Pro Line for Cattin ?



## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Guys, As mentioned in a couple other threads, I lost what had to have been my PB flathead Sat night. It was on my lighter rod, Abu Brute w/ Abu 6000, I had on 25lb Red Caujin line, new line just spooled on. Darn line broke w/in a second of hooking the fish, both Flathunter & I were in amazament. Later that same night, I had a fish hooked, thought it may have been a gar, but now I think it was a Larger Channel by the way other Channels were acting, anyways somethig happened, like th fish threw the hook and all I can say is that my line sort of exploded, I guess from the pressure of the fish letting go I had line damage from the hook to several yards back, like the line got frizzeled ended up having lot sof rough spots, twists etc..... I am thinking of trying Power Pro but have lots of questions:

How Does It Do in Rocks?

Do You HAVE To Use a Mono Backing? If So How Much Backing? What Kind of Knot Is Best To Tie the Mono To The Power Pro?

What About Spinning vs Conventional, Is Mono Backing Diff For Each?

Thanks guys.


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

Bryan, I have been doing research on it, I do believe it is less abrassion resistant than mono..Also it would cost a fortune to fill your reels without mono backing.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Well, what I wa thinking is spooling ti up on my dont laugh...... Red Rhino Baitsensor Reel then putting that on my Bg Cat Spinning Rod. I was looking at the 50 lb test / 12 lb diameter that sells for $12 for 150 yards.


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## me223 (Apr 23, 2005)

H2O Mellon,

I have been using it the past couple years for bass. I really like the yellow color, it shows up great in the light of day and with a lantern. It is less abrasion resist than mono, but i found a little trick that helps with that. Bowstring wax, believe it or not. It will tend to "float" the line a little more, though. I use it on about the last 10-15' of my line. 

Drawbacks:

Less abrasion resistant than mono
Tends to want to float, this can be very annoying with a bobber.
It will pack back into itself, you will notice this on the cast after a battle with a :B or a snag
Not very easy to break, if you are hung up

Pluses:

Sensitivity, this can also be a drawback until you are used to it
Virtually no stretch
Longer more accuate casts
Strength to diameter
Backlashes are easier to pick out, if you take your time. Believe me, I know 

I spooled up that Pinnacle I got off you with it, and really like it for cattin', so far. On the wax, make sure get bowstring wax. It is designed for up close bowhunting, so it has no odor. Haven't put it too the test on a real :B yet, but hope to soon! I caught a nice 8#, or so channel on it and it worked great. 

As a side note, it can be colored with a black Sharpie. I use one when bass fishing with a worm, jig or other slow pesentation bait to cut down on the visability of the line. I haven't been able to find the yellow anywhere, except for Bass Pro Shops. Well, I'm off to the pond. Hope this helps,

Mike


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## blance (Apr 5, 2004)

Some guys like it, some don't. I decided to give PowerPro (80#) a chance on my new combo I put together this weekend (Shimano Corvalus 400, 8ft MH rod). Havn't catfished with it yet, but plan on it pretty soon. What I have used the last couple seasons is Spider Wire in 65#. Spider wire is a little cheaper than Power pro I think. Haven't had a fish break off "the line" using the super braids yet. I have seen an oddity when hooking into a bigger channel cat though. I lost a nice fish last year when it ran into some wood. It seemed as though the combination of the wood and the roll channel cats do when they fight caused the knot to slip down the shank. Once the line slid down the hook the pressure both the fish and I were putting on it unhooked the circle hook for me. When I reeled it back in, the knot was stopped only by the barb on the hook. Didn't break off though... Not sure if it was just a bad knot because it never happened again. I've always been told to use an improved uni with 8 wraps instead of 6 on super braids. The teflon coating that some of the lines use will cause the knot to slip. I've also had some success with a palomer knot too. One trick is to carry a tube of super glue with you and put a drop on all your knots to help keep the slip to a minimum.

I do use backing. 20 or 25# heavy cover mono. Ususally only enough to cover the spool. Then tie a blood knot to join the lines together and finish filling the reel. I have heard some people say they will wrap the spool with some electrical tape and skip the backing then spool up with superline completely. I may try that next time around. Don't try spooling up without backing or the tape, the line will slip on the spool and tend to bury itself. Lesson learned the hard way.

Someone also mentioned it's harder to break when you get snaged. Wrap the line around your reel handle or a pair of pliers when you pull, otherwise you'll tear up your reel. DO NOT try using your hands, the stuff will cut you in a heart beat. I've got a 6500 C3 with a badly slipping drag as proof of this. Tried locking up my spool on a 36" fish last week to stop a run but couldn't do it without thumbing the spool to assist the drag. Did get the fish to the bank, only to have it thrash it's head bankside and snap a crappy 60# Berkly steel leader. Guy at Gander Mtn told me that if I need warranty work from Shimano DO NOT admit to running super braid on it. Shimano may try getting out of the warranty because the heavy super braids are so hard on reels. Not sure if there's any truth to that, but I won't take the chance.

Barry


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## me223 (Apr 23, 2005)

Ditto on the mono cushion, especially with a griphite or plastic spool. I cut a Shimano spinning real up pretty good with it a couple years ago. Also, I left out that I do use a 20-30# mono leader 12-24" long with it while cattin'. 

Mike


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

My three tournament rods are spooled with the 100# Power Pro, I like the stuff till I get hung, it just will not break, I carry a wooden dowel in the boat, wrap it around it and then snap it hard, it will then shear the 60# leader but the PP does not break, I use a Palomar knot and also do three wraps with the tag end after cinching down the knot.

If your fishing open water with drop-offs the stuff is great, it excels well in high current situations because of the small diameter.

It has to be packed tight on the reel or it will work it's way down into the reel, but I don't have too many problems with that because I run a fairly loose drag, I also am running a mono backing.

I've had this line on the reel for 2 years, when I feel it's time to change it I will go back to the Big Game, only because we fish a lot of timber and underwater snags and it is much easier to break off than PP when hung up, if I lose a fish then so be it, won't be the first time.

I have noticed that when I use it with live bait that as soon as the clicker starts going off they will dump the bait, never had that happen with Big game, my theory is like the cans with the strings attached that we used as kids, pull the string tight and you could talk back and forth, figure the PP is telegraphing the clicker noise to the fish and it sounds different so they dump the bait.

Lynn uses nothing but Big game and she handles big fish well in any type of structure or current, only reason PP is still on the reels is because I paid so much for it and I want to get my moneys worth out of it.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

> I use a Palomar knot and also do three wraps with the tag end after cinching down the knot


I will start doing that myself now... THANKS for the tip!!


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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

I love power pro. It is all that I use on my cat rods. Of all super braids power pro is superior because of its ease of use, strength to diameter, and abrasion resistance. I just got done dragging a 10lb plus channel cat through the logs literally over under and around less than 15 hrs ago. There was barely a microfiber out of place on this amazing stuff. Also that channel was one of probably 75 or more channels I have landed this year out of heavy cover and I am nowhere near needing to respool either of my cat rods due to abrasion problems. :B


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

PowerPro has about half the abrasion resistance as mono of the same diameter. I did a test with some 8lb mono vrs 8lb diameter PP. Using some sandpaper, a doorknob, a table edge, and 4 oz weights (please dont ask). Anyway, the mono lasted about twice as many pulls across the sandpaper as PP. It is good stuff, but you might want to look at a mono/co-poly alternatives for rocky conditions. Ill second what Doc said about breaking the stuffno fun especially when it is a moving snag like a tree branch.

You DO need to use mono or tape backing. If not, you will be asking about drag issues in the tackle talk section (the PP will just pull off (slip) the spool as if your drag is not working without backing).

Polamar knot for terminal tackle. Uni to Uni knot for connecting PP with mono. Directions for both knots come with the PP.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

H2O Mellon said:


> I had on 25lb Red Caujin line



Bryan I didn't want to say anything about that stuff when I was fishing with you a few weeks ago, but it has to be pure garbage. As far as I know only Wal-Mart carrys it. It feels like crap, looks like crap, so it has to be crap 

Seems like most of the catfisherman here prefer Trilene Big Game or something made by Berkley. Stick to the classics, and hopefully, never fail


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

I had carp busting everything I tried till I went with Trilene Big Game 20lb...
Now I am happy again...
I don't catch the brutes you guys on the river do catfish wise so I cannot comment for them...


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## flathunter (Apr 5, 2004)

> It feels like crap, looks like crap,


Well Bryan is a pretty crapy fisherman


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## dip (Apr 5, 2004)

i dumped the power pro line off my big reels and replaced it with trilene BIG CAT mono. if you forget ONE time you could lop off your fingers if you grab power pro when snagged. if you do use it bring a welding glove and wrap the line around it and PULL when snagged..... saw jigger straighten out a gamakatsu 8/0 circle doing this. just don't see any advantage to big buck line. get BIG CAT line from catfish connection only about 5 bucks for 330 yards.


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## me223 (Apr 23, 2005)

Doctor said:


> I have noticed that when I use it with live bait that as soon as the clicker starts going off they will dump the bait, never had that happen with Big game, my theory is like the cans with the strings attached that we used as kids, pull the string tight and you could talk back and forth, figure the PP is telegraphing the clicker noise to the fish and it sounds different so they dump the bait.


I was wondering about that, with the great feel we have, what do they feel/hear on the other end? Makes sense to me. That is one reason I use a mono leader.

Mike


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

The type of structure you are fishing around and from the shore, stick to MONO...........In fact , I use Silverthread co-poly and it has 10 times the abbrasive resistance and mono . You can get it from Cabelas . It's the only line I use for bank fishing around rocks..... Power Pro will be cut by the rocks with a big fish on ........Had it happen a few times... But I've never had a problem with Silver thread 25# test............... THE CATKING !!!


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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

dip said:


> i dumped the power pro line off my big reels and replaced it with trilene BIG CAT mono. if you forget ONE time you could lop off your fingers if you grab power pro when snagged. if you do use it bring a welding glove and wrap the line around it and PULL when snagged..... saw jigger straighten out a gamakatsu 8/0 circle doing this. just don't see any advantage to big buck line. get BIG CAT line from catfish connection only about 5 bucks for 330 yards.


I'm not trying to offend anyone when I say this? You really get what you pay for and tackle for big catfish is definitely not the place to get cheap. I was plagued by the need to buy the cheaper more economical tackle and equipment, until time after time after time and 100's more literally lost because I went the cheap route with my line. Since switching to power pro I have lost 0 big cats no matter what they run me through, I know its not foolproof but It has given me great confidence in knowing I will land 99.99% of well hooked fish.


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Don't get me wrong . I have two reels spooled with Power Pro, and my otheres spooled with Silver Thread. But the fact is if you use Power Pro at say places like Alum Creek , the zebra Mussels will cut that line in a heart beat . I use my two spooled with Power Pro at lakes that have heavy cover and are mainly a mud bottom.... Also I've found using Power Pro in extremely heavy rock areas, it breaks off easily.......But when you add it all up , you are going to have break offs no matter what you use where... To each his own when it comes to line.... THE CATKING !!!


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## mastercatman (Jan 30, 2005)

I agree 100%. Most places that I fish are in fact mud bottom or sand with generally weedy or woody cover.


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## Abu65 (Apr 17, 2004)

I've used all kinds of mono from Bass pro excell to big game and my very favorite line is Cajun Red. I get it at Cabelas or Bass pro. Its made by shakesphere and its really good stuff, knots tie great very low memory and super strong and abrasion reseistant.....Abu65


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