Braided lines are stronger per diameter than monofilament - you can often get 60 pounds of breaking strength in braided line that has the same diameter as 30-pound test monofilament. For this reason, the best braided fishing line for saltwater will cast farther and cut through the water faster than mono.

Salmon, steelhead trout, bluefish, and redfish can all be caught using lines on the lower end of this range with 20-30 pound test lines. On the higher end, black sea bass, striped sea bass, mahi-mahi, fluke, cobia, tarpon, and mackerel need braid test weights of closer to 50 pounds.

Examples for Selecting Fishing line

Traditionally, bronze and green are great line colors for inshore saltwater fishing, says Mark Schindel, director of sport-fishing and outdoor products at Cortland Line. Muddy substrate, sea-grass flats, oyster bottom and off-colored water help the line disappear, offering a stealthy approach to stalk fish.

Today's braided lines work well in heavy cover while flipping or casting, eliminating most chances of line breakage while setting the hook or retrieving fish from these areas. Braided lines are also excellent choices for fishing in thick aquatic weed mats allowing anglers to muscle the fish out of this heavy cover.

You may already be aware of the advantages of using braided line, specifically when freshwater fishing or inshore saltwater fishing. Braid can help you achieve greater distance when casting, gives you the ability to hold more line on your reel due to smaller line diameter, and little to no stretch for solid hooksets.

Like camouflage, green line blends into its surroundings and makes a good choice for anglers looking to keep their line invisible to fish. On the other hand, green may be more visible than clear in very clear water. Overall, green is a good line color choice for many different situations.

Braided Line to Equivalent Monofilament – Diameter & Strength

Braid has little or no stretch. This is the biggest advantage of braid and makes it brilliant for deep water fishing in particular. As most readers will know, monofilament has mountains of stretch - up to 30%, I believe. With braid you can and will feel bites in very deep water.

The machines are called maple graders because the spools spin like dancers around a maypole. As they spin they weave the strands into a tight braid. Producing a tight braid is slow.

Braided fishing line colors are broken down into high-visibility or low-visibility categories. Bright yellows, greens, pinks, and whites round out the most common high-visibility varieties, while hues of greens and grays tend to blend best with the water and cover.

Like camouflage, the green line blends into its surroundings and makes a good choice for anglers looking to keep their line invisible to fish. On the other hand, green may be more visible than clear in very clear water. Overall, green is a good line color choice for many different situations.

Braided lines are typically constructed from long, tightly woven strands of one of several different polymers, frequently Dacron, Dyneema or Spectra fibers. These are distinctly different from the nylon polymers used to manufacture monofilament and the fluorinated polymer resins extruded into fluorocarbon lines.

Braided fishing line colors are broken down into high-visibility or low-visibility categories. Bright yellows, greens, pinks, and whites round out the most common high-visibility varieties, while hues of greens and grays tend to blend best with the water and cover.

The SpiderWire Stealth Blue Camo-Braid fishing line earned top marks in our testing, boasting a perfect combo of feel, strength, and low visibility when cast in the water. We tested a 20 lb line, but it has a fine diameter and felt more like an 8 lb test mono line.

The Best Saltwater Fishing Line of 2023