9 Best Fishing Line for Walleye in 2022
If you're fishing for walleye, you need good bait, a good rod and reel setup and good line. Without decent fishing line, the rest of your gear isn't going to do you a whole lot of good. We've compiled a list of some of the best fishing line for walleye fishing on the market today.
Before we get to the list, though, there are a few things you should know about picking the best line for walleye fishing. The best line is going to depend heavily on whether you are jigging, trolling or spinning. Your particular rod and reel setup is going to be very important when deciding on a line.
For example, if you're using a trolling setup, you'd be safe with a good mono line; however, it has quite a bit too much stretch for jigging or spinning unless you're jigging in shallower waters.
Differences in Pound Tests
- 12-18 pounds for lead core line.
- 10-12 pounds for fluorocarbon.
- 8-10 pounds for braided line.
- 6-8 pounds for mono-filament.
These are the general rules of thumb for us, but they aren't set in stone. Every now and then, you may need to go with a heavier braided line or a lighter lead core line if the occasion calls for it.
What's the Difference?
For those of you who may be relatively new to the sport of fishing, we also made a breakdown of the differences between each specific type of line.
Mono-filament Line
Mono-filament, usually just referred to as mono, has the most stretch of all the line types. In fact, because it does have so much stretch, you have to put a little more power behind your cast in order to set the hooks and get the lure to fall the way it needs to fall. This line is also best used with bigger lures that come equipped with treble hooks.
Finally, because it is so light and has an extra amount of stretch, mono is also the best line for floating, so if you're top-water fishing for walleye or any other type of fish, mono is probably going to be your go-to line.
Braided Line
In contrast to mono, braided line doesn't have a huge amount of stretch and is only about half the size in diameter as the equivalent breaking strain of mono line. This line is best when paired with lures with single hooks, and it's also great for fishing in water with lots of weeds.
Braided line also makes it very easy to move your lures around by jerking and twitching your rod in small movements. However, there is a downside to using braided line: It's very visible. You can somewhat combat this by pairing it with a leader line of mono or fluorocarbon.
Fluorocarbon Line
Although fluorocarbon is not a line usually used by itself, it does make for a great leader line. It's incredibly translucent, making it almost impossible to see, and it has amazing resistance to abrasion. Furthermore, if you're deep water fishing, this is the line to use. It sinks, rather than floating like mono, and can allow you to get your lures down deep in the water. A combination of braid and fluorocarbon is great for deep water walleye trolling.
Lead Core Line
Lead core line is unsurprisingly the heaviest line because of its leaden core. This makes it the absolute best line for trolling for walleye because it allows your lure - even if it isn't very heavy - to sink down into the deepest possible depths.
Lead core line is also marked with different colors to indicate different depths; that way you can tell how deep your lure is simply by taking a quick glance at the depth markings on the line. It's very convenient.
Now, onto the list of the nine best walleye fishing line brands.
#1 P-Line TCB 8 Carrier Braided Line
- Low stretch
- Abrasion-resistant
- Extremely quiet
- Still somewhat visible
- Some customers complain of easy knotting
If you're looking for an excellent main line to pair with a leader line, the P-Line TCB braided line might just be the thing for you. This line is spectacular if jigging for walleye is your thing. With this line, you can jig in water with thick weeds and other plant growth, or you can use it for deep water vertical jigging.
The line is coated in Teflon, which really cuts down on any friction, and it's very thin, making it harder to see than some braided lines and allowing you to spool up a whole ton of the stuff without running out of space.
It works best if paired with a high-quality leader line made of fluorocarbon. This combination makes for a smooth-gliding, minimal-stretch drag that is absolutely perfect for jigging of all types. It's also an incredibly quiet-moving line.
#2 Power Pro Spectra Fiber Braided Fishing Line
- Relatively inexpensive
- Works well with either mono or fluorocarbon
- Made in the USA
- Moss green color is still pretty visible
- Can be prone to tangling
If you've been fishing for any time at all, then you already know what a popular brand Power Pro line is. Their braided line is some of the most heavily sold line on the market. It has a low stretch, casts fairly smoothly and most importantly, it's pretty inexpensive.
This line works best when used for walleye spinning. Something about the spinning setup just works well with this particular line. For one thing, this is the perfect choice if you're fishing in heavy weeds. Also, if you're using it for spinning, there is less of a chance that you'll end up with wind knots.
Still, this isn't a line to be used by itself. No braided line truly is. While it is a fairly decent main line, you're going to want to pair it with a leader line for best results. The good thing about this particular line is that it works well both with mono-filament and fluorocarbon leader lines. You'll have to play around with them both and see which one works best with your particular setup.
A few other great things about this line are that it's made with Spectra fiber, which makes it incredibly abrasion-resistant, and it has great handling performance due to a feature known as Enhanced Body Technology (EBT). It's also made right here in the USA.
#3 Berkley XL906-15 Trilene XL Smooth Casting Service Spool
- Extremely strong and durable
- Smooth casting ability
- Resistant to twists, kinks and abrasion
- Some customers complain it knots on the spool
- Too lightweight for some people
Berkley Trilene is another insanely popular fishing line that most fishermen have bought and used at some point in their lives. This particular type of line is, in our opinion, hands-down the best mono line for fishing for walleye. For our money, there's no contest and none better.
Pairing this line with lightweight bait and lures gives you some of the smoothest, longest casts possible. It also has a lot less stretch than many other mono lines. Because it is both thin and durable, it makes for a great trolling line.
Another thing that makes it great for trolling is that it knots easily, tightly and securely - three things that are imperative for a good trolling line, which is often paired with things like planer boards and swivels. It's also quite resistant to abrasion, which is important.
According to the company, the line is also resistant to kinks and twists and is both the strongest and the smoothest mono line they've ever made. Because of its light weight and maximum durability, it's also a very versatile line that works well with many different types of bait, lures and tackle, and it doesn't just have to be used specifically for walleye fishing.
#4 Sufix Elite 6 lb Fishing Line
- Very little tangling
- Advanced G2 Precision Winding practically eliminates line memory
- Perfect balance of strength and durability
- Line color is not optimal for fooling fish
- Strong, but not as strong as heavier line
This is a great mono-filament line to use with lightweight bait or lures. It works particularly well when paired with small crank baits and light jigs. Like most mono line, this particular line is excellent for walleye jigging, especially if you are jigging in water less than 20 feet deep.
It's much less visible than braided line, as is most mono line, but it's also better than braided line at casting when you're casting lightweight bait. It has quite a bit of stretch to it, but if you're fishing in shallower waters, you won't notice this as much. This line can actually be used when spinning for walleye, too.
It's also made with a Sufix J7 Micro Resin formula. This gives it a very precise balance of both durability and strength, which is unusual in a line so lightweight. This also helps ensure that both casting and handling the line are a breeze.
The line also comes equipped with something called Advanced G2 Precision Winding. This particular feature makes line memory a thing of the past, allowing for uncompromising knots that tie just as tightly as if the line were brand new each and every time.
#5 Seaguar Blue Label 50 Yards Fluorocarbon Leader
- Extremely strong knot strength
- Abrasion-resistant
- Great tensile strength
- Invisible in water
- Goes deep in water - great for trolling
- On the expensive side
- Does not work well with incredibly lightweight lures and bait
- Line can potentially break if you catch very large fish
If you're looking for an exceptionally good leader line, look no further than the Seaguar Blue Label. This little spool of line is, admittedly, on the expensive side, but it's also really great line. It is super resistant to abrasion and has superb knot strength, which is hard to beat.
It has a double structure fluorocarbon design, which gives it some of the best tensile strength of any fluorocarbon line on the market. It also has almost no stretch at all. Furthermore, it sinks super fast and has incredible impact, and it is all but invisible when it hits the water, which is an excellent feature to have in a fishing line.
It is quite a bit stiffer than you'd get from using a lighter line, such as mono-filament. Because of this, it works best with heavier bait and lures. This makes it great trolling line for walleye, but it isn't quite suited to jigging or spinning. You'll also want to stay away from using light lures with this particular line because it will not work well.
#6 Sufix Performance Lead Core 100 Yards Metered Fishing Line
- Ultra-fine diameter
- Excellent tensile and knot strength
- Perfect for trolling in deep water
- On the expensive side
- Prone to line twists
Although using lead core line to fish for walleye isn't exactly the most common or popular thing to do these days, we still enjoy it from time to time. There is nothing quite like trolling for walleye with lead core line. No other line sinks as quickly and as wholly as this line. When it comes to hitting the deep water and hitting it fast, lead core line just can't be beat.
Our favorite lead core line is Suffix Performance Lead Core. There are just some times when we want to troll, but we don't necessarily want to be required to use a down rigger. Lead core line, particularly this lead core line, is great for trolling in those situations where you don't want to rig up a down rigger.
The Sufix line is quite thin, especially for lead core line, which can make it a little more prone to twisting than other lead core line brands. You have to be careful when swiveling. If you maintain good control over your line, though, you should be fine. However, if you're not careful, you can destroy your line with too many line twists.
You can go a long way towards avoiding this problem if you take the time to set your trolling rig up correctly to begin with. So be sure to take extra care during your initial setup. This can save you a ton of time, trouble and money in the end.
In addition to being ultra-thin, this line also has exceptional tensile strength, superior knot strength and almost no stretch whatsoever. It's also made of 100% HMPE Dyneema fiber, meaning it is both high-quality and durable.
#7 Berkley Fireline Micro Ice Fishing Line
- Cold-, ice- and abrasion-resistant
- Thermally-fused for a super smooth glide
- Extremely sensitive
- Can potentially be quite expensive
This line is both thinner and stronger than mono line and is also incredibly resistant to abrasion, which makes it the perfect fishing line for ice fishing for walleye.
When it comes to ice fishing, your line is suspended into a fishing hole for hours on end. It's only natural that it will be rubbing up against the edges of that icy hole for many of those hours. This can wreak havoc on a normal fishing line. Think of it like running a piece of rope over the pointy end of a nail for hour after hour.
That's what the ice can do to your line.
However, with this particular line from Berkley, that fraying doesn't happen because the line is so abrasion-resistant. This line is also resistant to the cold, as well, which is another aspect that makes it perfect for ice fishing for walleye. In freezing temperatures, regular fishing line can become brittle and prone to breaking or fraying. This line doesn't.
It's also thermally-fused, which helps add to the cold-resistance but also makes the line super smooth for a gentle glide through the water. It's incredibly sensitive, allowing you to feel even the smallest of nibbles on the bait. In addition to all this, it's also super strong.
For all these reasons and more, this particular line by Berkley is our absolute favorite when it comes to ice fishing for walleye. Its price fluctuates every now and then, and it can sometimes become expensive, but for our money, it's worth every penny we spend on it.
#8 SpiderWire Stealth Superline Braid Fishing Line
- Low stretch
- Super thin diameter
- Extreme sensitivity and feedback
- Visible in water
- You must be careful with the knots not to damage the line
Although it is traditionally used for bass fishing, the Stealth Superline by SpiderWire is actually an excellent walleye fishing line. It is extremely versatile and makes for an excellent main line.
The line has very low stretch, and its incredibly thin diameter allows it to cut through the water like a knife through butter. The line is also very sensitive, allowing you to feel small nibbles as easily as you feel big bites. The intense feedback is also perfect for fishing in deep waters. The line is also perfectly balanced for an exceptional cast and a deep dive with proper bait.
Because this line is braided, it shows up quite a bit in the water. It's moss green and treated to keep the color locked in so that it doesn't fade or lighten, but even so, it is noticeable, meaning you definitely want a translucent leader line to help cut down on that somewhat. You also need to be very particular about the knots you use to hold the braid and the leader line together.
#9 Piscifun Onyx Braided Fishing Line
- Super smooth and quiet glide through the water
- Four-strand fiber construction makes it very durable
- High visibility in the water
Although it isn't specifically designed for walleye fishing, we still love this braided line. Like all braided lines, it's visible in the water, but it's available in several different colors to help you better match the water in which you're fishing. Still, this doesn't cut down on the visibility factor entirely, so you'll want a good leader line to help with this.
Regardless of the visibility, this line is great line for walleye fishing. It's made with four high-strength strands of precision braided fiber, making it incredibly durable. The epoxy coating also makes the line resistant to abrasion. The knot strength of the line is very strong and durable, also thanks to the four-strand fiber.
The outside of the line is super smooth, allowing it to cut through the water smoothly, quickly and quietly. It also cuts down on backlashes. There is very little stretch to the line, but it's extremely sensitive to even the smallest of small bites and has almost no line memory.
