I recently received a spool of Field and Stream braided fishing line to field test. After putting the line through a tournament and some abuse fun fishing, I was very impressed. However, I must admit, my expectation was not high. My first thought, this line will be cheaply made and possibly a knock off. I’ve not seen Field and Stream braided line on the shelf at any sporting goods store, much less even heard of it. Needless to say, my starting expectations were low. As I used it and performed some basic testing, my appreciation grew. I now have a new braided line in my arsenal.
Field and Stream braided fishing Line Review
I signed up to field test products for Ultimate Bass, so I figured I better give this line a fair shake and put it to the test. I spooled the Field and Stream 20-pound test braid on my Okuma Trio spinning reel. The Field and Stream braid replaced 20-pound Power Pro I normally use, so this was going to give me a good comparison. My initial thoughts were very positive. The first thing I noticed was how smooth the Field and Stream Braided line is. It appeared to be tightly woven and was not rigid at all. When I researched the line on the internet, I found the manufacturer puts a coating on this braid. I would imagine this accounts for the smoothness. The next thing I noticed, it slid through the rod guides quietly, at least by braid standards. Lastly, I really like the line’s olive color, which is pretty close to the Power Pro green. This olive color camouflages well in slightly stained water. So far so good, however, I was still a little skeptical of the line simply because I had never heard of it.
I had it on the reel and I ready to test it out. What better way to test something than to fish it during a tournament? The tournament was on Henderson Swamp in South Louisiana. The line was spooled on my ultra-light. Unfortunately an ultra-light isn’t used much in the swamps of Louisiana unless things get tough,. Fortunate for this field test, things got tough, and out comes the spinning gear. The line performed great in all aspects. It cast just as good if not better than Power Pro. I only caught one fish on the braid in this tournament which wasn’t sufficient to consider a solid strength or durability test. However, the line handles well in casting, knot strength and guide noise. Since I didn’t use it as much as I would have liked for a field test, I wasn’t ready to give it a thumbs up just yet. Next, I took it to explore the Calcasieu River. With the river being high from recent floods, I knew the fishing would be tough and as I mentioned before, when it’s tough the ultra-light rod gets used. I used it quite a bit on this trip and caught several bass with it. It performed well and surprised me just how good it was.
I pulled up some stats on two of the most popular brands of braided line and compared them to the Field and Stream braided line. These two lines are probably the closest braid to the Field and Stream based on price, size, and properties. Below are the specs for the three lines:
Field and Stream – Diameter .0079in
Color – Olive
Price $12.99
150-yard spool
Coating gives the line a smooth feel
Power Pro – Diameter .009in
Color – Green
Price $15.99
150-yard spool
No coating
SpiderWire – Diameter .009in
Color – Moss green
Price $9.99
110-yard spool
I have used numerous brands and types of braided lines over the years. Some lines are stiff and sound like a steel cable running through a rod’s guides. Others fray easily; I’ve noticed this fraying occurring not only where the line rubbed on a stump or rock, but also down in the spool. Most of those braids seem too loosely woven. I have not found one bad thing in the Field and Stream braided line. It is smoother than any other braid I’ve used; it hasn’t shown any signs of fraying, and has a smaller diameter than most other comparable lines. Out of all the braids I have tried, I always go back to Power Pro. However, I have found a new go-to braided line. Field and Stream braided line gets a thumbs up from me, and I will purchase more in the future. I can easily recommend Field and Stream’s braided line to anyone wanting a quality product for a fair price.
Jared LeBlue
