I would look at going with a braid or a hy-brid.Look to fire-line or Power pro.I have caught and landed many Norther's and large Brown's using 8lb dia. 16 lbs test fire line.My bigest salmon was a King 68 lbs.I caught him using a 9 ft salmon/steel head rod using 15 lb dia. 60# test power pro.

If you don't wanna use a braid,consider using it at as a leader.For my walleye rigs I use 4lb dia. 12#test fire-line backed by 10# stren mono.
BBJ