Early History

Ray Smith founded the Cortland Line Company in the summer of 1915. Ray, an expert in braiding technology, designed and produced a unique selection of braided silk fishing lines that soon made Cortland Line Company one of the major players in the fishing line business.

During World War II, the production of parachute and bomb cord became first priority. Cortland Line developed many advanced manufacturing methods and technologies to help the war effort. Following the war Cortland Line Company used this new technology to introduce braided fishing lines that are still the benchmark for quality in the world.

Cortland Line Company continues to employ state of the art advanced braiding technology to produce the finest most sophisticated lines for the serious angler along with trusted products for the medical, aerospace and national defense industries.

Quick Guide to Braid Properties

Super Braid (Spectron, Micronite)- super low stretch (3-4%), lowest diameter per pound test, high abrasion resistance. Low stretch means increased sensitivity and hook setting power.

Dacron (Micron, Musky Master, Green Spot)- minimum stretch (12-20%) - excellent abrasion resistance- ideal trolling line, easily spliced, superior knot strength, lends itself to many special uses including fly lines core and backing.

Nylon (Camo, Black)- most stretch- most abrasion resistance- economical, extremely tough lines used where some "give" in the line is needed and maximum abrasion resistance required.

How Our Braid is Made

As we begin the 21st century as the only major employee-owned corporation in the sportfishing industry, we are excited to see the new trend toward an old product- braided fishing line.

Why are braids becoming so popular? Braided lines offer a combination of characteristics that cannot be matched by single strand lines. By mixing and matching the materials, the braiding sequence and the method of manufacture we can craft a braid that will fit perfectly to any style of fishing.

Why are Cortland Line's American-made braids the best?

To answer this question let's take a look at how braids are made and how the braiding technicians at Cortland Line Company use nearly a century of braiding experience to craft the finest lines available:

To build the best lines you must start with the best components. We choose only the finest UV resistant, high tenacity Dacron (so strong it's used for belting auto tires), premium Nylon, select denier Spectra fibers and a variety of materials specifically chosen for traits that make them the best for each application.

Raw fibers are loaded on to "bobbins" then installed four to sixteen at a time on to our Patented Precision Braiders. Each braider is set to the ideal speed by our technicians. Our braiders are run slowly in order to lay down and lock in the fibers. This process takes longer and is more costly but creates a braid that it is more uniform and as a result stronger, rounder and tighter.

Critical to successful braiding is maintaining the optimum number of "picks" per inch (ppi). The term pick describes where one fiber crosses another in the braiding process. Too many picks and the line will break easily on impact, too few and the braid becomes loose, stretchy and weak. Each type of line, each material and each individual application that the line is to be used for will require an appropriate number of picks per inch to perform correctly.

The proper material, the number of strands, the correct tension and the number of picks per inch must be calculated for each type of braid. The ideal balance of properties makes the perfect braid. This translates into better performance and greatly reduced break-offs on the cast.

After being constructed the raw braid is taken from the braiders and put into skeins or spooled on mill spools. Selected braid is then thermal set for controlled elongation, locking in the optimum amount of stretch for the material and its final use.

Individual types of braid are specially treated with our environmentally responsible proprietary coatings and dyes. Some are waterproofed to shed water, reducing line weight and helping to keep hands dry in cold weather. Anti-rot agents and other specialized treatments are applied at this time to achieve the desired results.

Colored lines are treated in our state of the art high pressure dying bath. Pressure in the bath opens the tiny pours in the braid allowing the colored material to flow deep inside creating finishes that are color fast and bright.

Finished lines are then inspected and hand spooled by our employee-owners to assure that only the finest lines are given the Cortland label.