what is the best fishing line
As its name implies, monofilament is composed of a single strand of tough material. As Berkley explains, this material is often a blend of nylon polymers with varying attributes that together make a pliable, strong line. A traditional choice that’s been around for a long time, it’s better suited for a variety of fishing tasks than advertising copy and fishing websites might lead you to believe.
Pros
Stretch – as a result of material used to help make monofilament, it stretches a beneficial bit under load–sometimes as much as 25 %! Troy Gibson, a professional angler and lure designer, put this towards the ensure that you found that typical monofilament lines stretch about one-inch per foot, or roughly eight percent. Obviously, the longer the length of the line, the more this may matter, but how much your mono will stretch hinges on brand, diameter, and exactly how wet it is.
Stretch might not look like a benefit, but consider that this gives mono awesome shock strength. When a monster hits your line, you desire some share with cushion that force. Otherwise, the total brunt of all that energy sources are used in for which you don’t want it–your knots!
Low and high visibility options – Monofilament comes in a broad variety of colors to match your conditions, including very low-visibility options for clear water. As well as people who fish with techniques that demand easy-to-see line, like nymphing, mono is available in bright yellow along with other high-vis colors.
You’ve probably heard the hype about fluorocarbon’s “invisibility” to fish–and there’s some truth to this, as we’ll discuss shortly. That low visibility is a function of how water refracts light, its “refractive index.” The closer the refractive index of your line comes towards the water’s number, the less visible it is (hypothetically). A fantastic match would mean near invisible in water, like clear glass.
Water has a refractive index of 1.333. Clear monofilament has a refractive index of just 1.53 to 1.62. This means that clear mono, at worst, is about 21 percent more visible than water, and also at best about 15 percent more apparent into the human eye.
Superior abrasion resistance – This may be a genuine surprise to many of you–and it was to us–but mono is really quite abrasion resistant when comparing to braid and fluorocarbon. The key reason why is pretty simple. Mono is an individual filament of relatively thick diameter; moreover, it is round. Together, this means mono usually takes abuse without losing its strength, while also being able to roll across abrasive surfaces. Nylon is pretty tough material, too, also it’s forgiving of tiny scratches and nicks.
By contrast, braided line is stronger–diameter for diameter–in terms of weight holding, but its multi-strand composition leaves it a lot more in danger of abrasion. Strength is one thing; abrasion-resistance is yet another. Nylon monofilament, diameter for diameter, is generally the essential abrasion-resistant choice.
Stretch might not look like a benefit, but consider that this gives mono awesome shock strength. When a monster hits your line, you desire some share with cushion that force. Otherwise, the total brunt of all that energy sources are used in for which you don’t want it–your knots!
Low and high visibility options – Monofilament comes in a broad variety of colors to match your conditions, including very low-visibility options for clear water. As well as people who fish with techniques that demand easy-to-see line, like nymphing, mono is available in bright yellow along with other high-vis colors.
You’ve probably heard the hype about fluorocarbon’s “invisibility” to fish–and there’s some truth to this, as we’ll discuss shortly. That low visibility is a function of how water refracts light, its “refractive index.” The closer the refractive index of your line comes towards the water’s number, the less visible it is (hypothetically). A fantastic match would mean near invisible in water, like clear glass.
Water has a refractive index of 1.333. Clear monofilament has a refractive index of just 1.53 to 1.62. This means that clear mono, at worst, is about 21 percent more visible than water, and also at best about 15 percent more apparent into the human eye.
Superior abrasion resistance – This may be a genuine surprise to many of you–and it was to us–but mono is really quite abrasion resistant when comparing to braid and fluorocarbon. The key reason why is pretty simple. Mono is an individual filament of relatively thick diameter; moreover, it is round. Together, this means mono usually takes abuse without losing its strength, while also being able to roll across abrasive surfaces. Nylon is pretty tough material, too, also it’s forgiving of tiny scratches and nicks.
By contrast, braided line is stronger–diameter for diameter–in terms of weight holding, but its multi-strand composition leaves it a lot more in danger of abrasion. Strength is one thing; abrasion-resistance is yet another. Nylon monofilament, diameter for diameter, is generally the essential abrasion-resistant choice.
Check out this head-to-head test:
To be fair, this is one brand in one test–this is science that is n’t! But it does display something you should know about mono: it’s far more abrasion-resistant (when dry) than you may expect.
How much of that attribute it retains when wet will vary by brand, but the very monofilaments that are high-end extremely resistant to abrasion.Knot friendly– Monofilament is easy to tie and holds a knot better than the alternatives. That’s not a minor advantage, as all line tends to break at the knot, which is in all cases weaker than the tensile strength of bare line.
When TackleTour tested the knot strength of even average mono like Trilene XL, they found by them to be 10-pound test held 9.7 pounds at the knot that it was exceptional: line verified! Fluorocarbon and braid aren’t even close!
Floating – Nylon isn’t particularly dense material, and it tends to sink very slowly. That can be an advantage when fishing top water, for instance, but it’s not ideal in all situations and for all techniques. That said, as you’ll see below in our discussion of fluorocarbon, the differences in sink rate are really pretty minor.
Cons
Memory – Monofilament “remembers” the shape it’s been pressed into, and especially on ultralight reels, this can lead to line twist. Especially if you jig, this is a real problem. Here, braid is vastly superior and fluorocarbon much, much worse.
Absorbs water – Mono also absorbs water. As Berkley notes, this means that it will get a little easier to handle, cast, and tie as it loses much of its memory. But it will also encourage even more stretch, and it reduces its otherwise awesome abrasion-resistance.Low sensitivity – If mono has a real weakness, it’s low sensitivity. Because it’s not very dense, and because it stretches well, mono can make it hard to detect bites and feel details, especially if you have a lot of line between your rod and lure.
Both braid and fluorocarbon are superior on this front.
Fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbon is actually a monofilament as well, but rather than being made from nylon, it’s composed of–you guessed it–fluorocarbon. As a result, it’s harder and much denser than nylon monofilament. This gives it some unusual properties, but the chief selling point of fluorocarbon is its supposed “low visibility.”
Pros
Waterproof – Fluorocarbon is inherently waterproof, and even after fishing all day, this line won’t absorb water or change its handling characteristics.
Fluoro’s density can be an asset still when jigging, for instance, so don’t discount this feature, but you’ll grow old watching it sink to the bottom!
Sensitivity – that density that is high gives fluorocarbon better sensitivity than mono, and this characteristic is further enhanced by its relative stiffness.
Maybes
Low-visibility? – The manufacturers or fluorocarbon claim that its low index that is refractive 1.42, ensures that it is nearly invisible to fish. A simple test with this property that you’ll see online recommends that you dip clear fluorocarbon and mono of the same diameter in one cup of water together to discover that is more visible. If you do this, the fluoro is normally the less visible.
But that is not really the story that is whole. As fishing photographers can let you know, fluro and mono look more or less alike in real conditions. And given that fishes’ eyes aren’t like ours, what we see and whatever they perceive will differ.It’s also worth noting that scientists insist that fluoro just isn't nearly invisible in water. They’ve done the physics, as well as the answer is pretty clear (when you can follow very, very math this is certainly advanced that is!). Jeff Thomson’s “Mathematical Theory of Fishing Line Visibility” is a example that is good of we mean.
So what’s the verdict? Let’s just say that we’re not sure, but we have serious doubts. Given that this can be touted once the advantage that is primary of, we’re not sold–and we don’t think you ought to be either.
In reality, when TackleTour tested Seaguar’s fluorocarbon into the real life, they found that it made a big change with salmon, increasing strikes over mono, but found the opposite result on striped bass.
“Flouro [sic] is a material that is brilliant a number of reasons, but assuming that it is invisible is a recipe for disaster.”
Low-stretch? – Fluorocarbon, like nylon monofilament, stretches under load. When this is put to the test, fluoro demonstrates slightly less stretch than comparable nylon mono, though it tends to retain that elongation, permanently deforming as a result.
Take a look at these charts:
The results: fluorocarbon offers a cushioning effect like nylon mono.
Do not take our word for it; trust Berkley! According to them, fluorocarbon “actually stretches more than nylon mono. The difference is, it takes a greater force to get fluoro stretching in the first place. As a result, fluoro makes a fine choice for situations where controlled stretch is helpful, whether as a mainline or a leader in conjunction with low-stretch superline.”Clay Norris, the senior product manager for Pure Fishing, the parent company of Berkley, Stren, and SpiderWire, agrees. “From a design standpoint, what mono and fluoro have is stretch, and that can be a positive and a negative.”
And Rapala says much the same thing. “Fluorocarbon does have less stretch (average 25%) than most nylon monofilaments (average 28%) but the difference is nearly [in]discernable by anglers until the nylon begins to absorb water and become more elastic.”
Cons
UV resistant – When you strip fluoro, you can’t just dump it in the water. It presents a hazard to fish because it doesn’t break down readily in sunlight.
Cost – Fluoro is expensive to manufacture, and that cost is passed down to consumers. Given how pricey it is to use as a main line, we’re just not sure that what you get for your money makes this choice a good buy.Hard to tie and low knot strength – Fluorocarbon monofilament is harder than nylon; that makes it stiffer as well. As a result, it doesn’t knot and bind on itself as easily as nylon mono, making it a lot harder to tie well. This is a big deal. Remember–whatever the strength that is tensile of line, if a knot gives, it’s game over!
In TackleTour’s testing, various fluorocarbons that are high-end knot failure at an average of 63.5 percent of their tested tensile strength. That means that for the average 20-pound fluorocarbon, you can expect to start seeing knot failure at just 12.7 pounds of force!
There are exceptions, however, and the chemistry wizards have accomplished some real magic. Take Seaguar Invizx, for example. Our top choice for a fluorocarbon line that is main its knot strength can actually exceed its tested tensile strength! That’s simply incredible for any line!Casts poorly – That stiffness also translates into poor casting compared to both braid and nylon monofilament. Moreover, as it passes through a rod’s guides, it creates more friction than comparable diameter mono or braid because it’s exceptionally hard.
All other things being equal, both alternatives outperform fluoro for casting distance and handling that is easy.
Not as abrasion resistant as people think – Fluorocarbon is tough stuff, and in some cases, may be tougher than an equal diameter of nylon monofilament. And like mono, it’s round, allowing it to slide over abrasive surfaces.
That said, even the manufacturers don’t claim that fluoro is generally tougher than mono. Instead, they suggest that because of its supposed “low visibility,” anglers can run heavier weight line, resulting in greater abrasion resistance simply because of increased diameter. But diameter to diameter, pound for pound, nylon monofilament is tougher when dry.
mono vs fluoro
IWhen wet, high-end coated nylon monofilament is at least, if not more, abrasion resistant and about ⅓ the cost.
Deforms under load – “Elasticity” describes just how much a given material will stretch under load; by contrast, “plasticity” describes how easily that material returns to its pre-load length.
IAs you are already aware, nylon monofilament is quite elastic. However it’s also quite plastic, time for its pre-load length after stretching. That’s not true for fluorocarbon, however.
After a heavy load, fluorocarbon permanently deforms, retaining the stretch it absolutely was forced into to a maximum of about 5 percent. That will weaken the line’s tensile strength, demanding that you respool a lot more often with this particular expensive line.Braid
Braided line is just that: a carefully woven, multi-strand “rope” of spun polyethylene fibers. They are either Dyneema or Spectra, differing only in how they’re processed. Braided lines vary in what amount of such strands they employ, which range from a minimal of three to a high of eight. In any case, these strands are braided together, providing very high tensile strength for diameter.
Pros
Strength – Braided line has a greater tensile strength for diameter than just about any for the alternatives. In practice, this means that you need to use relatively heavyweight braid on ultralight reels. For example, 20-pound Sufix Performance Braid has got the same diameter as 6-pound monofilament.
For a few applications, that increased strength for diameter is important. And it may allow you to spool very strong braid as your main line, with a mono or fluoro leader for impact moderation and low-visibility. That may offer massive advantages, helping to give an explanation for interest in braided line. For instance, when angling for large fish that may run, having more line on the reel can be the difference between elation and frustration!
Low stretch – you might have heard that braided line doesn’t stretch. That’s simply not true–it just stretches less than mono or fluoro, indeed much less! As a result of its composition, braided line will typically stretch from 1 to 8 percent of their length.
Sensitivity – That low stretch translates into increased sensitivity, additionally the longer the line, the greater the bonus in “feeling.” Here, braided line excels, easily crushing both fluoro and mono.
Especially while you have more line between your rod and lure, that added sensitivity could make a real difference.
Casting – Braid is quite, very limp and has very little memory. As a result, it casts quite well, though exactly how much much better than mono is still an open question.
Take a look at this video to see one of these of braid’s superiority in casting:
Cons
ILow shock strength – Because braid does not stretch much, when it’s suddenly put through shock, it can’t give to cushion that force as mono and fluoro do. That can result in sudden failure, usually in a knot.
Tangling – Thin braid tangles like nothing else on the planet, and when it does, it’ll leave you cursing your day you bought it.Poor tying and low knot strength – The polyethylene fibers that make up braid don’t bite on themselves very well, ultimately causing poor knotting and relatively low knot strength. We recommend a Palomar or Surgeon’s knot, since these work nicely with braid. But this is a critical issue, and poor knots will negate the strength advantageous asset of braid.
TackleTour’s tests revealed the average knot strength of 49 percent–even significantly less than fluorocarbon. For 20 pound test, then, this means that average braid will quickly experience knot failure at just 9.8 pounds!
That’s simply a giant disadvantage, largely negating the superior strength of braid.
Visibility – Braid is difficult to dye. Most of the time, you get darker shades that quickly fade in the sun. It’s the absolute most visible line type, rather than a great choice for pure water.
And to help prevent these colors fading, manufacturers coat braid with materials that, especially during the low-end, flake and impair handling and casting.
Poor abrasion-resistance – You’ll often hear that braided superlines are abrasion-resistant. That’s not really true. As Berkley explains, “Due to their exceptionally thin diameter, not all superlines remain true as well to abrasion.”
Other experts agree. “The undeniable fact that braided line is manufactured by wrapping multiple strands within the top of each other implies that those strands can separate. If they do separate–and they will certainly whenever something hard scratches the top in only the best way–they allow water to enter the thing that was a sealed surface. When they open up, the water that gets in wears them, and that wear can end up in breaks. Trust us when we say that those stresses can lead to big fish getting away.”
Following its basic composition, the smoother the braid, the higher its resistance to abrasion.
but after all this I use red trilene big game mono 90% of the time, I have proven to my self that I get more bites and more fish, if I do go for large fish with sharp teeth, I will use a small steel leader about 6-8 inches
Thank you hope you learn what you wanted about fishing line..
Monofilament Fishing line
Fluorocarbon
Braided
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