Texas Tested - Texas Fish & Game - February 2013
 Texas Tested - February 2013 By Texas Fish and Game Staff
P-Line CX Premium
Where did the P go? You might be asking yourself that very question if you’ve spooled up with P-line. I filled up a reel with P-Line’s CX Premium Moss Green and found that, as advertised, this stuff seems to disappear where it hits the water.
The trick to CX Premium Moss’s ability to turn nearly invisible in the water is a fluorocarbon-silicon coating. Underneath the coating, the monofilament line gets a backbone created from a copolymer core. But the coating also gives the line some characteristics that make it easier to hook and fight fish. It forms a water barrier around the line, preventing absorption, so cold weather and wind doesn’t have as much of an effect on the line as it does on regular monofilaments. Plus, the line stretches about 30-percent less than some monos, so both hook-setting and sensitivity get a boost. Castability was good and the line proved its abrasion resistance when I hooked a fish under a pier and had to drag it out across a barnacle-covered piling.
P-Line CX Premium
In my neck of the woods, where most of the waters we fish are a murky or tannic color, Moss Green is the natural choice. But P-Line also makes CX Premium in a clear fluorescent version for clearer waters. And for anglers who like to keep an eye on their lines and add a top-shot of flouro to the end of a high-vis spool, they have Hi-Vis Flourescent Green.
CX Premium is available in two to 30 pound test, in spool sizes that can fill your reel, or in larger bulk sizes. For more information, check out www.pline.com.
Feel the Power
From the other end of the spectrum, when it comes to fishing line, standard Spectra fiber braid is a top choice among lure anglers. Its no-stretch characteristics give it sensitivity that can’t be beat, and a hook-setting power that can’t be matched. So, why mess with success? Power Pro thought of a way to make it even better, with Super 8 Slick. This stuff is an eight-yarn line which is braided under high tension that gives it a smoother finish, eliminating the rope-like feel some braids have. The slicker surface also means you get a reduction in friction, boosting casting distances and enabling more line to fit on the spool. Added bonus: It also makes less noise as it passes through rod guides.
Power Pro Super 8 Slick Photos: P-Line; Power Pro
Power Pro calls their line construction "Enhanced Body Technology," or EBT, which sounds to me like marketing talk. So let’s cut through it. The real desire here is to make a smoother, rounder braid. Not only does a rounder line give you more of the advantages mentioned earlier, it can also help cut down on wind knots, it’s easier to tie in actual knots, and it has less of the band-saw effect that can cut into guide-liners and (ouch!) your skin. The use of thinner fibers wound tighter, is what gets the job done. This construction also cuts down on one of the biggest problems with braids, friction resistance that goes to heck, when the line begins to fray. Because the surface of the line is smoother, it doesn’t seem to have as many uneven surface areas to snag on obstructions. As a result, it doesn’t fray nearly as easily or nearly as often. In fact, Power Pro claims a 50-percent increase in abrasion-resistance over traditional braids.
Super 8 Slick is available in four colors: marine blue, timber brown, aqua green, and hi-vis yellow. It comes in eight different sizes, including 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 65, and 80 pound tests, and can be purchased in 150 yard, 300 yard, and bulk spools. To find out more, go to www.powerpro.com.
Do You Get My Drift?
It’s not an overstatement to say that the Power Pole revolutionized the way anglers anchor their boats---at least, competitive anglers in relatively shallow water. Power poles, which lower at the press of a button, stick into the bottom to hold your boat in place while you cast. They’re easier, faster, cleaner, and more accurately deployed than traditional anchors, and if you want to keep your boat in the same spot while fishing, they can’t be beat. But now, Power Pole has come out with a new attachment that can also help you catch more fish when you’re on the drift: Drift Paddles.
These paddle-shaped attachments mount to the lower half of your Power Pole, and turn it into a drift sock. By lowering the Drift Paddle, you can slow your drift by as much as half the speed, direct it to keep the boat parallel to the shore as you cast, or get it tracking properly as you blow down a shoreline. They have seven quick-change locking positions, a tapered design, and are made of a tough, flexible polymer. All hardware is made of marine-grade anodized aluminum, stainless-steel and bronze. They’re compatible with both eight and 10 foot Power Pole models. And yes, you can still use the Power Pole to anchor when the Drift Paddles are installed.
Power Pole’s Drift Paddle Image: Power Pole
Maybe it shouldn’t come as any surprise, but the Drift Paddles essentially replace your drift sock with the exact same improvements that the Power Pole provides over an anchor. Drift socks are time consuming to deploy and retrieve. The Drift Paddles are not. Drift socks are messy (or at least wet and then they grow mold). Drift Paddles are not. Drift socks cause a commotion that can spook the fish; Drift Paddles do not---and so on. If you have a Power Pole installed on your boat and you take your fishing seriously, these provide one more way for you to get a leg up on the competition. And, just what did the experts in the fishing community think when the Drift Paddle was introduced? They gave it a 2012 ICAST award for best boating accessory in the show.
Watch Power Pole’s video, at www.power-pole.com.
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