Ultima Power Steel fishing line – Long-term Test Review

I’ve used Ultima Power Steel for 12+ years. In short, I think it’s absolutely fantastic stuff for all legering & feeder fishing, from carp & barbel to predators; by far the best mainline I’ve ever used. It’s clear, very abrasion resistant, has low memory and a very low stretch for nylon line.

Power Steel used to be marketed as a coarse & carp mainline but it’s now sold as a sea and predator line. It’s still the same stuff on the spool though! I can’t fathom why it’s no longer pushed towards specimen anglers. With the properties it has, it’s ideal.

For the first few years I used Power Steel purely for hooklinks – predominantly for barbel and perch – I was really impressed with how tough it was. I had previously experienced many breakages of mono, braid and fluorocarbon hooklinks when fishing for barbel – especially around snags. It was the part of my set up I had least faith in so I chopped and changed regularly, hoping I’d find something I could trust. After reading good things about Power Steel (back when it was still marketed towards coarse & specimen anglers) and, being familiar with the Ultima brand for several years, I gave it a go and haven’t looked back since. In fact it’s the only barbel hooklink material I’ve used in over a decade; such is the confidence it gives me.

Power Steel is a copolymer line, which means there are two or more types of different nylon filaments used in the line, which results in a better strength to diameter ratio than monofilament (think braid – numerous woven filaments give a vastly improved strength to diameter ratio). However, copolymers are still regularly referred to as “mono”, so I’ll follow convention in this review. There’s an added bonus in copolymer lines – they don’t absorb anywhere near as much water as mono, which helps retain their wet knot strength. Power Steel is also fluorocarbon coated, which gives it a slight stiffness but primarily a vastly improved abrasion resistance.

My previous favourite mainline for predators and barbel was a similar fluorocarbon-coated copolymer line by Daiwa, called Infinity HT Clear. This too was awesome line and was inexplicably dropped by Daiwa. Once I’d expended my stocks of it I was left with a quandary over what to use next. Line colour is a personal preference but I favour clear lines and copolymers have a closer light refractive rate to water than regular mono lines (although not as close as fluorocarbon), so I wanted something with similar properties. I realised I already had line that should be up to the task, so I ordered some bulk spools (which was another thing I liked about the Infinity line) and took the plunge with Power Steel as a mainline.

I’m not sure what I expected, but of course this stuff was just as good used as a mainline! Having low memory it behaves itself coming off the reel. If I do happen to get a tangle the line is usually unscathed, so I can fish on with confidence that there isn’t a nick or kink in the line that could weaken it. Nowadays if a fish snags me, I will usually give the line a good pull from as many angles as I can and if the fish isn’t moving I’ll slacken off completely for a couple of minutes and wait for the fish to move away from the snag. It’s rare I won’t at least get my rig back and more often than not I land the fish too!

A couple of seasons back I tried using GR60 on a barbel rod, after seeing the impressive breaking strain stats for it. Yes it’s very strong but the stretch is ridiculous! I don’t have confidence using it because of that stretch. Trying to turn a fish ahead of a snag, it feels like a fish could run an extra 2 yards before the line stops stretching! It’s generally good line for coaxing fish out of snags, but when your rig becomes snagged on the cast, or without a fish on, it’s a pain pulling for a break because the line stretches so much you can end up 30 feet back from the water before it snaps!

With Powersteel I feel like I know what hooked fish are doing. It’s not like using braid – it’s more forgiving and robust – but there is certainly more “feel” through the line than than with most other nylon lines and monos I’ve used.

It’s available in breaking strains from 2.5lb to 30lb test. I use 15lb or 18lb for pike & zander fishing, 10lb on my barbel quivertip rods, 12lb on my beefier barbel rods, 15lb on my floodwater barbel rods, and I have a number of reels spooled up with 5lb, 8lb & 10lb Power Steel which covers most of my perch, tench, bream and chub fishing scenarios.

All breaking strains of Power Steel are available on 300m spools, plus the breaking strains 8lb and above can also be purchased on 600m and 4oz bulk spools. So whether you want to spool up a single reel or replace the line on a whole host of reels, there’s a suitable option available.

As with most copolymers, Power Steel is a sinking line so it’s not ideal for trotting or floater fishing. Waggler fishing, on the other hand, it’s ideal for – when you need to sink the line quickly through the surface film. The lack of stretch gives a fast pickup on the strike too.

If you’re looking for a strong, clear line, for use as a mainline or hooklink, that you can rely on – look no further than Ultima Power Steel.

https://www.ultimauk.com/predator/products/Power_Steel.php

https://www.ultimauk.com/sea/products/Power_Steel.php

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