Cortland
Master Braid Muskies
By:
Andrew Ragas
Date Posted: November 16, 2011
Braided
lines often bewilder anglers. We either
love them or we hate them and there is
never a happy medium. From a personal
standpoint, I often get frustrated by
braided lines. This is a consequence of
having endured bad experiences with
their casting and handling, as well as
their frays and damage caused by rod and
reel components. Many of today’s newest
braids feature precise weaving processes
and state of the art coatings that
improve performance. Cortland Master
Braid is one of Cortland’s finest
flagship lines that is designed to cast
with ease, exhibits zero stretch, is
strong like bull, and has proven to be
more efficient than most competitor
lines.
Utilizing
nearly 100 years of braiding experience
and technology, Cortland Line, of
Cortland New York, has introduced a
“next generation” of premium super
braided line, Cortland Master Braid.
With only 4% stretch, a small diameter
pound/test ratio and a unique
hydrophobic coating, Master Braid slices
through the water and comes back dry.
Constructed using all the best features
of Cortland’s legendary Spectron braided
line, it includes a unique coating that
makes it permanently stiff, and is also
rounder than other braided lines. These
properties lead to less twist, greater
accuracy and longer casting. In
addition, Cortland Master Braid features
a proprietary Cortland process that
permanently bonds the color and finish
to the fibers of the braid, eliminating
the fading and flaking that is prevalent
in competitive braided lines
Last
January at Chicago’s Outdoor Sport Show,
I was privileged to have formed a
relationship with Cortland Line. This
company wasn’t on my sport-show hit-list
until a former grammar school classmate
of mine notified me that her father, a
Midwest Sales Rep., would be in
attendance along with an exhibit. As it
usually goes with presenting a media kit
and selling myself, my abilities, and
reach to other anglers, Cortland was
impressed enough to supply me with line
to use on most of my reels for the 2011
season.
Within
days, I received my shipment of Master
Braid. Along with that, I also received
spools of Cortland Camouflage and
Endurance, co-polymer lines for bass
fishing. Note – their reviews will be
posted separately.
I
received over half a dozen spools of
30lb, 50lb, 65lb, and 80lb Master Braid.
Every spool except for 30lb was used
exclusively for muskies and other big
game fishing.
In the
last few years I have dedicated myself
more and more to muskies, hence why a
solidly performing braided line was on
my priorities to have. This year alone I
fished for muskies more than I ever had
by logging over 30 days on the water.
Impressions
Like
most other braided lines, Master Braid
is available in either moss green,
yellow, and bronzeback brown. Each color
works well for a multitude of freshwater
and saltwater applications. For my
fishing, I used both green and
bronzeback brown. This line possesses
the appearance of a minimally-weaved
rope with
NO WAXY RESIDUE. Instead of
utilizing a protective wax coating,
which only leads to a mess on your
hands, rod and reel, Master Braid
features Cortland’s signature
advancement. This is its superbraid
Fiber Tech protection treatment
which is scientifically developed and
tested to ensure constant performance,
color retainment, life-long stiffness,
and extreme abrasion resistance and
durability. Fiber Tech
penetrates through the entire braided
material rather than just the surface to
ensure that the braid is treated and
protected throughout.
In
comparison to all the competitor lines I
have used, which includes Power-Pro,
P-Line Spectrex, Spiderwire, and Sufix,
Masterbraid is among the most smoothest
handling and durable super line I have
ever used.
Click
to enlarge diagram.
Under the Gun
Over the
years I have employed a multitude of
braided lines for a variety of
multi-species freshwater fishing. In
order to properly administer my testing
and to determine whether this line was
“award-worthy,” the bases of my tests
were on factors such as durability,
casting, and handling.
All of
my musky fishing presently takes place
in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Muskies are a
game of cat and mouse. They require
excessive casting, loads of mental
focus, super-hero amounts of stamina,
and time-dedicated trivial pursuit. In
the past, I have never lost a musky due
to line failure. However, I have
experienced malfunctions and anger with
braids that developed backlashes, knots,
weak points, discoloring, and fraying.
Throughout the year I was hoping that
Cortland’s Fiber Tech
properties would give me a trouble-free
line in every way imaginable.
Casting
& Retrieving
Certain
musky anglers claim that greater casting
distances are achieved with braided
lines that are protected by slick and
waxy coatings. However, these views are
complete misrepresentations. In
comparison to waxy-covered lines such as
Power Pro and Spiderwire, which were
used in testing with identical gear and
lures, I have found that a non-wax
coated line such as Master Braid
achieves longer casting distances. Spool
Master Braid onto any big game reel and,
without question, the casting distance
of this line in comparison to the
competitors improves by 10 to 25%. To
Cortland’s credit, Master Braid is
amongst the minimally-weaved and
smoothest, roundest, and most
residue-free braid that is produced by
any manufacturer in the world.
In terms
of retrieve, Master Braid is easy and
effortless to reel in. It is most
definitely the quietest of all available
braids when passing through rod guides
and the line roller. The Fiber Tech
protection did nothing to damage the
guides on any of my musky rods.
Musky
anglers fish with a variety of lures and
presentations. From heavy bucktails, to
rocket-casting topwaters and water
absorbing plugs, Master Braid has
endured everything. Five of my six musky
combos were equipped with Master Braid,
and casting distances on all was
respectable. I was able to cast with
accuracy and retrieve my heavy baits
with effortless comfort.
Strength &
Durability
When it
is time to set the hooks into powerful
and elusive muskies, Master Braid
encompasses everything an angler wants
in a strong line in order to complete
the task of landing big fish. This braid
is comparatively smaller in diameter
than other braids, but is built with
strength and durability in mind. While
monofilaments and traditional braided
lines become water-logged if left
underwater for extended periods of time,
Master Braid is so completely wound and
treated throughout by its Fiber Tech
finish that it resists water
exceptionally well. It’s so completely
constructed that if you were to nick the
line with a sharp hook point, only some
of the exterior line would fray while
most of it remained fishable.
Applications
Although
most traditional and old-fashioned
braided lines are no longer in
production, advanced line such as Master
Braid is a superb alternative for
species-specific applications. The
reduced diameter of the line allows
anglers to spool it onto just about any
reel. Musky anglers have found braided
superlines to be amongst the best tools
ever developed for the sport as they
possess incredible durability,
longevity, and have a knack for bringing
in big fish. Cortland Master braid meets
the demands of all musky anglers and is
an exceptional line for everything such
as casting, trolling, and live baiting.
During
my tests what I enjoyed most was the
line’s smoothness, easy casting, and
durability. In comparison to all other
lines, nearly all of my muskies this
season were caught with Master Braid.
In the
last decade and a half, the evolution of
braided lines has come a long way.
Thanks to Cortland’s development of
Master Braid, this line is proven to be
amongst the best that is presently
available to musky and other big game
anglers alike.
MSRP: $17.99 – $20.99
39″
topwater / 65lb Masterbraid. June 2011.
42″
bucktail / 50lb Masterbraid. August
2011.
36″
swimbait / 80lb Masterbraid. September
2011.
38″
jerkbait / 80lb Masterbraid. September
2011.
40″
glider / 80lb Masterbraid. October 2011.
42″
live bait / 80lb Masterbraid. October
2011.
