Outdoors: Fishing line more than a piece of string
By Charles Johnson (Special to The Star) March, 2014
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ot all fishing lines are created equal. The different grades of line and special lines are made for certain types of fishing conditions. There are several different types of fishing line on the market today. Most major brands of line provide good quality and a sound product for any fishing situation.
Some lines provide an advantage to other types of lines when fishing certain lures. Also, certain lines offer better performance depending on the fishing situation. Each type of line has its advantages and disadvantages, and anglers must weigh each to find a line that suits their requirements.
DuPont introduced the first monofilament nylon fishing line in 1939. This synthetic fiber line was very stiff, wiry and difficult to cast. Anglers held on to their Dacron line, a woven type of line, for 20 years. The new line did have good knot strength and low visibility underwater.
In 1959 DuPont tried again with a different formula of nylon line called Stren. This time, the line was smaller in diameter and softer. It could be used on any type of reel, including the new spinning and spin-cast models of that day. Stren became popular among anglers and other companies began to try and imitate this new line.
Simple fishing line
Here’s what 86 brands of fishing line looks like. Photo credit blog.syracuse.com
The monofilament fishing line used by anglers today is much better quality than the line used just 10 years ago. New spooling processes and tougher quality regimes help make monofilament lines stronger and more abrasive resistant than earlier versions. Mono is probably the top line choice for general fishing conditions for most weekend anglers, and many pro anglers continue to use it for certain lures.
Co-polymer line designations can be confusing to anglers, but it is basically the same as mono. Line manufacturers can use different formulas to reach their desired specification requirements. They may elect to call it a co-polymer because of the chemical formula and different blends.
“There are different mixes in monofilament lines to manipulate the desired results,” said Jeff Martin, president of JBS Fishing makers of Vicious line. “Different formulas will affect the stretch, abrasion resistance and castability.”
Monofilament line offers many advantages to anglers. It is relatively inexpensive, can be spooled on different type of reels and used in almost any fishing situation. Mono is versatile, but it does have some drawbacks. Over time, mono will absorb water, which will cause it to weaken.
Monofilament line stretch can be a disadvantage or advantage depending on the angler and fishing situation. The stretch in mono can be from about 18 to 35 percent. This stretching characteristic helps prevent the line from snapping under pressure and cushions the shock on a hook set. However, the stretching can also prevent a good hook up on a long cast.
Moving up
Fluorocarbon line has been around for a while, but recently line manufacturers have discovered methods to make it more manageable and affordable. Early versions of the fluoro lines were stiff and broke easily. Also, fluorocarbon lines are subject to “burning” when tying a knot, so wet the line before tying.
“Make sure the line doesn’t cross when tying a knot in fluorocarbon,” Martin said. “Also, do not allow the line to cross over a loop on the reel spool.”
Anglers jumped on the band wagon with fluorocarbon lines because of its refractivity index being near zero, about the same as water. They thought the line would be invisible under water. But, no one fully understood the light refractivity. The refractive index is how an object bends light. Fluorocarbon bends light at the same level as water, but that does not make it completely invisible.
There are different types of resins used to make fluorocarbon lines. Better resin produces a higher quality line. Most of the quality fluorocarbon resins are from Japan. Vicious fluorocarbon line has about 22- to 23-percent stretch while other fluoro lines may be up to around 35 percent.
“Our new Pro Elite fluorocarbon lines use resins from Japan,” Martin said. “Also, the way the line is spooled it never overlaps.”
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