Sunhearth used to make a Profitt-syle banjo (here's one from Elderly: http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/60U-1742.htm), which is what I play. Good tone and really fine woodwork, but the skin head needs a lot of adjustment for playing in humid summer weather. Wunder makes minstrel style banjos, a different format and different sound.

For fishing line in place of nylon strings, Pete Seger had gauges listed in How to Play the 5-String Banjo, but, as he notes, the strings take FOREVER to stretch out, which means retuning between (and sometimes during) a tune.