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.

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

www.cortlandline.com

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.