Line, Line, Everywhere There's Line

Long before the Fishwrench.com Tackle Shop existed, I strolled into the retail shop of my favorite tackle supplier, Bass Pro Shop to buy fishing line. There I was greeted by the more than friendly sales associate who walked me toward a back wall in the fishing department. Amazed and stunned, I glanced from left to right, up and down, and quivered as I saw the amass of line covering the wall from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. "Why so much?", I had to ask.

With a sly grin, the sales associate rattled off a laundry list of considerations to be aware of when looking for line. "Test, mono, fluorocarbon, braided dacron, Spiderwire, Stren, Trilene, generic, low-stretch, ultra-low stretch, super sensitive, low-vis green, virtually invisible..."

"Holy cow! Where do I start?" My quick in-and-out purchase quickly became a long nightmare of confusion, doubt, and despair. $1,043 dollars later, I had the opportunity to test a good portion of the lines available today. And now I pass on my new found wisdom to you, so you can avoid this expenditure in the future. Sit-back, relax, and get ready to spool that reel - it's line buyin' time.

I won't bore you with details of how different line weights are made, tested, compared, and marketed, but I will give you a couple of tips. For bass fishing, I'll run anything from an 8lb-test line on up to a 25lb-test. The deeper I want my lure to run, the lighter of line I will use. However, I will take into consideration the type of cover I'm fishing. If I'm working logs and stumps, I'm going to cast with a heavier line, something that can handle the abrasions lines often suffer from fising in these fishing conditions. If I'm in clear water with little cover, a lighter line will do just fine. The lighter the line, the less visible it is in the water, so use the lightest line possible for your fishing application.

Why didn't I get into too many line weight specifics? 12lb-test can vary in line diameter, stretch, and strength as much as a bulimic can fluctuate in weight. Most of this is due to the various types of line available in today's market. Instead of writing an anthology of all the different types of lines available, I'll stick to the most common - monofilament, braided dacron, and fluorocarbon.

Monofilament line has been around longer than humans have roamed the earth, or at least since 1958 when Dupont invented it. Yep, the sponsors of that sissy-painted car driven by Jeff Gordon are the same people that brought us monofilament. Of course, not wanting to emasculate fishing line, they marketed their newfound treasure under the name of Stren. In its 40-plus year history, monofilament really hasn't changed in the way of design, look, and feel. However, new monofilaments have emerged in the last decade promising lower stretch and higher test-lines at a smaller diameter. Both offer advantages over the monofilament of yesteryear.

There was a time when 20lb-test line looked something like a long piece of rope that could be used to support a 350 small block engine handing from an oak tree. Times have changed however, and today's monofilaments aren't much thicker than the superlines claiming to be the smallest in diameter. Of course, old monofilament never would have been used to support an engine, because it would stretch so much the motor would never be lifted from the car. The line would just stretch, stretch and stretch until it would finally snap, leaving that finely tuned 350 small block in pieces and the owner in shambles. To counteract this, manufacturers have pushed monofilaments to the limits by providing the fisherman with a line with much less stretch, a smaller diameter and greater strength. What little stretch is left in the lines can actually be beneficial when fighting fish, particularly when the beast makes a sudden move toward the boat. Instead of snapping the line in two, there's a little bit of give allowing the fisherman some more reaction time, and saving him from losing the day's catch. Still, monofilaments have their downfalls, particularly in the aging process.

When wet, unlike fluorocarbon line, monofilament loses it's strength. This is due to a 10-15% water absorption rate in the line. Ultraviolet rays also weaken a mono line, making fishing on a sunny day one of the line's worst enemies. Combine this with fishing in heavy cover where mono gets more abrasion than other types of line, and you're just asking for a break-off. Still, with the advancements in the line, monofilament is still the best buy for the price. However, line manufacturers continue to push their more spendy products toward the average-Joe fisherman.

Braided dacron lines took off in the early nineties. The promise was a no stretch, strong as steel line, at 1/2 or more the diameter of mono. It also comes at twice the cost. When not being spooled on fishing reels, braided dacron also doubles as stitching in Kevlar vests - I kid you not. The new superlines, with all their benefits, are not without their unique problems. Most noticeable was a significant increase in the number of lost lures. Get a backlash using braided dacron, and you can plan a trip to the tackle store, because your $7.00 lure is gone. Not only is the line strong as steel, but it can cut through itself like an Exacto Knife. Without that little bit of stretch, there's no give when the line fouls. There's nothing more than a "phuuuuzzzt" of the line, "snap", "zzzzzzzzzzz", "bloop" - bye, bye lure.

One more downfall of the line is its buoyancy. Braided Dacron floats on the surface allowing it to tangle with top water lures, and making it difficult to see where a jig or Carolina rig is located in comparison to the structure you are trying to fish. On the other hand, if you really hate the guides in your fishing rod, buy braided dacron. Nothing will chew your guides faster. Following the introduction of Kevlar brand of line, rod manufacturers had to start producing expensive titanium guides, one of the only guide materials able to stand up to the abrasion of braided dacron. The same applies to your trolling motor and outboard props. You're likely to bend and knick and aluminum prop with braided dacron long before the line breaks. And those plastic trolling motor props mixing with dacron are just going to earn you another trip to the tackle shop.

Now I know I'm going to get dozens of e:mails from dacron users telling me how it changed fishing for them, and how they would never us anything else - especially those muskie fishermen. That's fine - to each there own, but it just doesn't work for me. Well, maybe it works when flying a kite. No stretch, small diameter, strong as steel - yep, seems like a heckuva good kite string.

Enter fluorocarbons. Around since the 1960s, fluorocarbons are just now increasing in popularity among inland fisherman. Prior to being introduced at local tackle shops with the other spools of line, fluorocarbon served as leader material for offshore fisherman, mostly due to its extraordinary price tag. With advances in production and increases in sales the price has dropped considerably, but it is still near three times as much as similar sized monofilament. It may, however, be well worth the money.

To the naked eye, fluorocarbon doesn't appear much different than monofilament. It even has the same feel. The advantages, though, are in the water. Upon the first cast you'll notice that fluorocarbon line is lest resistant to the bending of light rays than mono - in local moron terms, that means its near invisible underwater. It's even more impressive than mono underwater in that it does not weaken when wet. It's strength characteristic does not change at all. Being denser also means the line can sink faster. This is particularly helpful when crankbaiting, but could be a disadvantage to finesse fishing. However, it's abrasion resistance more than makes up for the inconvenience when working Carolina rigs and jigs through heavy cover.

Although more prone to memory than monofilaments, fluorocarbons can be "retrained" in a sense. Hook on to something in your driveway, let out enough line to get past the spot with the memory, and give a tug - memory gone. Brought together with its high abrasion resistance, fluorocarbon can easily last a season of fishing for the weekend angler. It's this reasons that are making fluorocarbon a popular choice of anglers today.

Great...now you have fishing line overload on the mind, and you're still not sure what to spool on your reels. I can't point you in one direction over another, but I can offer you this. I like my monofilament line. It serves me well, comes off the spool nicely, and I'm comfortable with its characteristics - I know what it's going to do and how it's going to act. It's also cheap; I can't argue with cheap. On the other hand, fluorocarbons have their place, and I'd really like to use them on a more regular basis...I just can't get past that price tag. So, it's a toss up. Pick monofilament, and have a couple of minor disadvantages, but at a heck of a price, or get a superior fluorocarbon line, but pay through the nose for it. The best bet is probably to spool your reels with the line you're most familiar with. Butt set one aside to be spooled with the line type you do not regularly use. Give it a shot, weigh the advantages, and make your choice from there. I know that if the price continues to drop, I'm sold on fluorocarbons.

Oh, one last note. Don't buy superlines and/or Braided Dacron. Your just asking for trouble and your money is better spent on fluorocarbon - the friendlier line.

Happy Fishing,

Bob Wood

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