Looking for the best fishing line for walleye?
We’ve got you covered. Our buyer’s guide will help you find the perfect fishing line to suit your needs and budget. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert walleye angler, we have something that will work for you.
The right fishing line can make all the difference in catching fish! With so many options out there, it can be hard to choose which one is best suited for your needs. That’s why we created this buyer’s guide – to help make things easier for you! If you want more information about any of our products, click on them, and they’ll take you straight to their product page, where they’re available for purchase.
Keep reading to learn how to choose between mono, fluorocarbon, and braided and what makes the best fishing line for walleye.
Types of Fishing Line
Most walleye fishermen and women have four general line types from which to choose the best walleye fishing line. Those four types are:
- Monofilament
- Braided
- Fluorocarbon
- Leadcore
Each has its advantages and helps to make it easier to successfully target walleye in a variety of fishing conditions. That is great because year-round walleye fishing requires targeting them in a variety of bodies of water and locations, from shallow tributaries to very deep freshwater lakes.
Considerations for the Best Fishing Line for Walleye
The best fishing line for walleye depends on the type of fishing you have in mind. If you are targeting walleye in relatively shallow waters in a river, stream, or lake, monofilament and fluorocarbon lines generally provide the best options. Both types are thin, relatively invisible – unless you want a highly visible line, and affordable.
Others who like to fish for walleye from boats and prefer jigging or trolling deeper waters for walleye will find a braided line and leadcore more to their liking. Both are very strong and very thin, which enables you to spool more onto a reel for deep water jigging and trolling.
The kind of walleye fishing you are going to do and which Walleye fishing rod you choose will play a part in which fishing line is right for you.
Best Line for Walleye: Monofilament
Monofilament line has a good stretch factor that makes it harder to rip the hook out of a walleye’s brittle but hard mouth. Monofilament fishing line is very affordable and highly proven, with its only negatives being its relative buoyancy and line memory compared to the other best lines for walleye fishing. the following are some of the best monofilament lines for walleye:
Berkley Trilene XL
Berkley Trilene XL, which continually ranks among the most popular monofilament lines due to its high strength, relatively thin construction, available colors to match water conditions and affordability.
Stren High Impact
Stren High Impact monofilament fishing line, which has the toughness needed to withstand hard strikes and damage caused by targeting walleye that are holding close to cover.
Sufix Elite
Sufix Elite monofilament fishing line delivers superior tensile strength that makes it harder to snap when fighting a big walleye or fishing near cover. Micro resin technology helps to improve casting range as well as tensile strength by making this monofilament fishing line thinner and stronger.
KastKing World’s Premium
KastKing World’s Premium, which benefits from paralleled roll track technology that greatly reduces line memory. Greatly improved tensile strength makes this monofilament line thinner with less limpness so that you can reel faster and get in more casts.
Best Line for Walleye: Braided
Braided line is thinner and stronger than monofilament line. It helps you to feel the strike, but its tensile strength makes it a strong candidate for ripping the hook out of the walleye’s mouth when setting it. It helps greatly to use a rod with fast action to make it easier to set the hook without yanking it out of the walleye’s fragile mouth. These are five of our favorite braided lines for walleye:
PowerPro Spectra
PowerPro Spectra, which is made from ultra-strong Spectra fibers that PowerPro infuses with its enhanced body technology to make the fishing line extra smooth, round and sensitive. You can cast farther and feel bites more readily.
PLine TCB 8
PLine TCB 8, which uses a tight weave of Dupont Teflon-coated 8-carrier braided line to create the smoothest braided fishing line available. You get much greater accuracy as well as more distance with each cast.
KastKing SuperPower
KastKing SuperPower, which uses strands that are incorporated dynamically to create a highly durable fishing line that withstands abrasions much better than most competitors while enabling stronger knot strength.
SpiderWire Stealth
SpiderWire Stealth, which offers superior strength and the thinnest braided line on the market. Its no-stretch design enables you to set feel strikes and set the hook more readily. Its very thin design also reduces visibility to make it less obvious to the walleye.
Best Line for Walleye: Fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbon is thinner and generally stronger and less buoyant than monofilament line, It also is less visible and has much less line memory than monofilament line, which helps you to feel more strikes. Many walleye fisherman and women tie on fluorocarbon leaders to absorb punishment, hide the fishing line affixed to the lure better and break sooner than braided when hung up on the bottom or underwater structures. Here are five of the best fluorocarbon lines for walleye:
Trilene Professional
Trilene Professional, which is made from 100 percent fluorocarbon so that walleye cannot see it while enhancing the line’s strength. The very thin line spools more readily and enables reels to hold more fishing line for longer casts and deeper trolling.
Seaguar Blue Label
Seaguar Blue Label, which offers superior abrasion resistance and excellent tensile strength. The fishing line sinks faster than most and enables anglers to make leaders from it while using lower test-strength lines.
Sunline Super FC Sniper
Sunline Super FC Sniper, which is a 100 percent fluorocarbon line uses the latest in fluorocarbon line technology to produce a superior fishing line that works well with jigging and other walleye-targeting methods.
PLine Floroclear
PLine Floroclear, which uses co-polymer line technology to create a very thin and strong but supple fishing line that resists abrasions, provides excellent knot strength and a good feel for strikes.
Seaguar Tatsu
Seaguar Tatsu, which is the top-of-the-line offering by the original maker of fluorocarbon fishing line. Seaguar Tatsu gives you superior line strength and good feel for the strike with greater sensitivity.
Best Line for Walleye: Leadcore
Leadcore fishing line is the line of choice for trolling. It has a very thin strand of lead in the center that is surrounded by braided fibers that make the line thin and exceptionally strong for trolling. The weighted line and its great strength easily make it the best line for walleye when trolling for big ones in deep waters.Multicolored sections make it easier to accurately estimate how much fishing line is out and the lure’s depth at a quick glance. These are five of the best leadcore lines for catching walleye:
Sufix 832 Performance
Sufix 832 Performance, which is the first leadcore line to combine HMPE and Gore performance fibers to create a fast-sinking and incredibly strong leadcore line that is stronger and resists abrasions better than any other fishing line on the market. The UV-protected line sinks fast and delivers excellent line sensitivity – even while trolling.
Tuf-Line Micro-Lead
Tuf-Line Micro-Lead, which wraps a Spectra braid around the lead core to deliver an exceptionally strong and very thin fishing line that enables you to use a lower pound test line and greatly reduces line visibility to walleye.
Woodstock Metered
Woodstock Metered, which uses a color-coded nylon weaver over the soft leadcore to create a very strong and abrasion-resistant walleye line that is smaller than others but still provides exceptional strength. This fishing line is more hydrodynamic and enables you to run lighter lures and other presentations at deeper depths.
Blood Run Tackle Micro
Blood Run Tackle Micro, which uses a nylon braid over the leadcore wire to produce a line that gives you outstanding knot strength, superior tensile strength and sinks quickly at consistent rates. Every 10 years is another color so you can tell how deep you are fishing at just a glance. This fishing line if very pliable, easy to deploy and excellent for consistently catching walleye and other species at specific depths.
Where to Buy the Best Fishing Line for Walleye
Virtually all the best fishing lines for walleye are available at well-supplied tackles stores and big-box retailers that specialize in fishing, hunting and other outdoor sporting activities. All the best lines for walleye are also available from online retailers and discounters who can ship to your home. Others might offer the option of shipping to a local store free of charge so that you can pick it up at your convenience and save money on shipping fees.
Wrapping Up
Walleye are outstanding freshwater game fish that occupy a variety of waters and grow to a potentially large size. You can catch walleye in streams, rivers, and lakes in many parts of the United States. And they taste great when caught and cooked for shore lunches or at home for dinner. The best walleye fishing line will help you to put one or more in the frying pan at the end of your walleye fishing excursion.
For more guides on choosing a fishing line, check out the pages below:
