Not all weighted steel is created equally.

[rolmops]

After having sworn off copper because of all the birds nests if created, I moved on to Torpedo weighted steel ,mostly the 30 pound test and now also the 45 pound test. I wanted some 500 foot lines, but Torpedo had only the 400 foot available so I looked farther into the field and found 600 feet offered by Reaction Tackle. It is the same thicknes ,weight  and color, but that is where the comparison ends. It started with the way the line came off the roll . The wire was wound very irregular with tighter and looser windings. Then some off the wire fell loose onto the ground and it started twisting up around itself creating... you guessed it, a birdsnest  but not the fairly easy undoable mess that copper causes. 

I honestly expected the Reaction wire to act just like Torpedo wire, but where torpedo is soft and does not knot up when it accidently comes off the reel, this Reaction stuff is just plain bad.

Just try and see for yourself

I do not work for or get commission from Torpedo for writing this, but my advice is to stick with Torpedo wire until the quality of the competition improves.

It would be nice if toredo would make 500 foot rolls.

Edited September 30 by rolmops

[ifishy]

you can back the weighted steel with the torpedo 19 strand.  you can than let out the 19 strand and the overall line will keep the same dive cure at least for the first 100 feet of so. I do this with a 200 weighted steel with 200 feet of 19 strand.   it takes less reel capacity to get those leangths that way and as a weekend warrior at best the user friendliness of the weighted steel is real benefit.  i also use 19 strand on my dipseys for the same reason it is less picky than 7 strand and more forgiving to mistakes though you still have to pay attention to what your doing.  

[sherman brown]

19 hours ago, rolmops said:

After having sworn off copper because of all the birds nests if created, I moved on to Torpedo weighted steel ,mostly the 30 pound test and now also the 45 pound test. I wanted some 500 foot lines, but Torpedo had only the 400 foot available so I looked farther into the field and found 600 feet offered by Reaction Tackle. It is the same thicknes ,weight  and color, but that is where the comparison ends. It started with the way the line came off the roll . The wire was wound very irregular with tighter and looser windings. Then some off the wire fell loose onto the ground and it started twisting up around itself creating... you guessed it, a birdsnest  but not the fairly easy undoable mess that copper causes. 

I honestly expected the Reaction wire to act just like Torpedo wire, but where torpedo is soft and does not knot up when it accidently comes off the reel, this Reaction stuff is just plain bad.

Just try and see for yourself

I do not work for or get commission from Torpedo for writing this, but my advice is to stick with Torpedo wire until the quality of the competition improves.

It would be nice if toredo would make 500 foot rolls.

 

 

Have you thought about using the haywire twist and adding 200 more feet to the 400? You could even use a micro swivel to connect them. And I would use a short piece of shrink tubing to have a smoother connection going through the rod eyes. Just a thought I had!!

[rolmops]

5 hours ago, ifishy said:

you can back the weighted steel with the torpedo 19 strand.  you can than let out the 19 strand and the overall line will keep the same dive cure at least for the first 100 feet of so. I do this with a 200 weighted steel with 200 feet of 19 strand.   it takes less reel capacity to get those leangths that way and as a weekend warrior at best the user friendliness of the weighted steel is real benefit.  i also use 19 strand on my dipseys for the same reason it is less picky than 7 strand and more forgiving to mistakes though you still have to pay attention to what your doing.  

I tried that, but the 19 strand has a very peculiar problem. you cannot put your finger on the line to slow the line a bit when you let it out, because the single wires are so fine that when they even get slightly pressed by a finger, the line changes shape and then the single strands start breaking off. Mathew, the owner of Torpedo wire told me this.

Edited October 1 by rolmops

[rolmops]

4 hours ago, sherman brown said:

 

 

Have you thought about using the haywire twist and adding 200 more feet to the 400? You could even use a micro swivel to connect them. And I would use a short piece of shrink tubing to have a smoother connection going through the rod eyes. Just a thought I had!!

The haywire twist does not work well on  wire, but I did do a 300 + 100+100 with a few feet of 50 pound test mono in between. This gave me the choice of running 300, 400 or 500 of the boards all with  one rod instead of three. The mono is not only a marker but it is  also the place to put in the clip so the wire does not get damaged

Edited October 1 by rolmops

[sherman brown]

16 hours ago, rolmops said:

The haywire twist does not work well on  wire, but I did do a 300 + 100+100 with a few feet of 50 pound test mono in between. This gave me the choice of running 300, 400 or 500 of the boards all with  one rod instead of three. The mono is not only a marker but it is  also the place to put in the clip so the wire does not get damaged

 

 

That's the reason I added using a micro barrel swivel. I used both when I was using 15# wire for walleye on the central basin on Lake Erie, and after using shrink tubing over the connection, I had very little trouble when it was going through the top eye of the rod. But the micro barrel swivel does work better!!

 

And I do understand that 15# is much easier to work with than heavier wire.  But I was just giving you a suggestion that you might want to try.

[ifishy]

17 hours ago, rolmops said:

I tried that, but the 19 strand has a very peculiar problem. you cannot put your finger on the line to slow the line a bit when you let it out, because the single wires are so fine that when they even get slightly pressed by a finger, the line changes shape and then the single strands start breaking off. Mathew, the owner of Torpedo wire told me this.

i have not had that specific problem yet but i will keep an eye out for it.  with the weighted steel out you can always put your thumb against the side of the spool to slow it or use the drag to let it out but i understand not wanting to deal with extra steps.