Red Ice line

B

BigLoada

Well-known member
Just wondered if any of you guys have had trouble with this line? Mine has only been on the reel for about four sessions and twice I have lost a shock leader due to it snapping at the knot connecting it to the shockleader. I use an allbright knot and havent had any trouble with this knot previously.

Last night I tied it again and tested it by giving it a pull. It snapped clean off. Tied again, connected the mainline to my scales, and though its 20lb B/S, it was snapping at under 10lb.

Have decided to strip it and replce so has anyone got any recommendations for a decent mainline but with a fairly low diameter? I was thinking of the Ultima F1 as that is quite thin for the strength.

Cheers
Dean
 
without wanting to sound daft, you are wetting the knots before pulling them tight ?? i use this line and have no problems
 
I've used Red Ice 30lb with and without shockleader haven't had any major problems with it.Obviously it will and dose snap but usualy after a good tu of war trying to get un-snagged.
 
treeboa said:
without wanting to sound daft, you are wetting the knots before pulling them tight ?? i use this line and have no problems
Click to expand...

Yes I am wetting it. I tried using a brand new spool as well which I keep as a spare, same thing happened. Took about twenty yards off the spool and the line underneath was fine. Maybe it was a dodgy batch but it seems a bit inconsistent.
 
ive used red ice for years and ive never had any problems at all with it, everyone should use it.

i dont mean to sound cheeky but i think your problem could be the knot you use, or like treeboa said are you wetting the line whe you pull the knot.
 
tonynufc said:
ive used red ice for years and ive never had any problems at all with it, everyone should use it.

i dont mean to sound cheeky but i think your problem could be the knot you use, or like treeboa said are you wetting the line whe you pull the knot.
Click to expand...

Yes definitely weting it, using an albright knot. Going to try some different line tonight, I'll see how I get on.
 
or you might have bought a poor quality one, contact the shop where you bought it or ultima. im 100% confident you shouldn't be having knot problems with red ice.
 
Used Red Ice for a few years now and never had any bother (touch wood), 35lb on my slosh 30, and 18lb on my fixed spool reel.

I don't usually have a shock leader on the slosh when I'm fishing the rough stuff close in, but always do on the fixed spool, using the Albright knot.

You might have been unlucky with a dodgy batch.
 
tonynufc said:
or you might have bought a poor quality one, contact the shop where you bought it or ultima. im 100% confident you shouldn't be having knot problems with red ice.
Click to expand...

Yeah its an odd one mate. I have two spools (buy one get one free) One spool was fine, the other seems to break at random. Maybe thats why it was two spools for 6 quid.
 
Can't comment on the Red Ice I'm afraid; I've never used it, but from things I've heard it does seem to be one of those "love it or hate it" lines.

I've been using Trilene for a while and find it very good, the one minor grumble is that it does have a tendency to "lift" a little when casting. So recently I got some Suffix Tritanium and am now converted - so far I've only used it in 30lb, but have bought some 15 & 20 as well. The 30 is super-tough; was out today and three times when pulling from a fast-had it was the 60lb leader that snapped, and it's very smooth on the cast. If the 15 & 20 are as good, it's probably all that I'll use.

I did try the Ultima F1 for a while & found it OK but the abrasion-resistance of the 15lb was very poor. At the moment I'm using the Powersteel in 15lb and find it really excellent, but it's expensive & wouldn't want to waste it (in 30lb) over rocks where you can chuff up your line after only one session.

Cheers, Gary :)
 
had same problem last winter with 15lb red ice and i could snap it with a gentle pull after three snap offs but went upto 20 lb b/s and had no probs. must have been a bad spool. still with red ice on 3 reels of various b/s between 15 and 20
 
Apparently "Red Ice" is some bog standard - i.e. decent line with a bit of dye in the mix and some marketing around it. A well kent tackle dealer told me that, his line, with his own name on, came from the same factory, same formula. He sells it a lot cheaper under his own name - I think!
 
Got a spool of Ultima F1 on the way out tonight. Just back from Cambois beach and so far I love it. I find it easier to knot, it also feels great when casting. Think I will stick with it, it seems pretty good up to now.
 
main thing is your happy with it and confident with it

i either use a uni knot or as i use a lot of braid on my multis i also use a knot thats really meant for joining braid to mono, works for me, just a bit of a pain to get used to tying it, its called the alberto knot if you want to give it a go

Alberto's Knot - Fishing Knot Article
 
I don't think the problem will be your knot Dean, I used Red Ice for years and couldn't understand why some people hated it. That was until I got a bad spool of it and it kept snapping on me too. I stopped using it much after that but still had a couple of full spools, I carried one in case of an emergency lol. I did eventually use one of them and it was fine but it did put me off it a bit. You could use it for years before you had another problem or it could happen again soon but who knows mate.

As Treboa says the main thing is that you have to be happy with what you are using, if not you will always have doubts in your mind about it. I forgot to say, I only ever had problems with the lighter lines (about 15lb or 18lb) I never had any bother with the 30lb that I used for the rocks.

Jim.
 

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