Getting a Line on Line
Your fishing line represents one of the most important parts of your fishing system. It is literally what connects you to the fish, maybe to a personal best. It is the part of your system that wears out the fastest and is subject to the most abuse. Why then does it seem it is one of the least talked about and last considered pieces of most peoples’ fishing tools? I say most people because one of the ways that I can tell the experience and level of expertise of a new fishermen is the emphasis they put on their line choices. Our very best fishermen are conversant in the different makers and colors. Whose line casts the best, whose is the toughest against the rocks, etc? At the other end of the scale are the guys that brag about how much money they saved buying their line at WalMart. Not to cast aspersions towards ol’ Sam, but he ain’t known for his fishing acumen. Choosing line is important, and can be confusing. Here’s what we’ve learned, and what we think, and what we’ve talked ourselves into.
Bait Fishing – By this I mean if you either still fishing with live or dead bait, or slow trolling live bait. For years we here at Fishermen’s Fleet recommended Maxima Chameleon Green. It is absolutely the best mono filament for catching the very touchy fish like pargo. I’m not sure if this is universal from a geographic point of view, or if it is specific to here, but year in and year out I’ve proven to my own satisfaction that this line was the best mono for fishing the pickiest fish we have. I say was because there have been some changes. Even though the Maxima is expensive, and their factory personnel very difficult to deal with, it caught the most fish, and all other things even not being equal that has to drive the choice. Nowadays, with the advent of fluorocarbon line, it’s different. A couple of meters of fluorocarbon tied to the end of your mono make a big difference in any of our shallow water situations. Tuna, pargo, yellowtail all hit the fluoro on days when no mono will do the trick. An positive externality of this development is that we no longer have to deal with the high price and low attitude of the ever teutonic folks at Maxima. There are many companies that sell premium quality lines at very reasonable prices. We here at Fishermen’s Fleet have chosen to deal with the folks at Izorline. The emphasis is on the folks, they are very nice guys who all fish. Their products are developed by fishermen, for fishing. They have different kinds of mono, and a palette of colors. If you are at all confused by their plethora of products, call ‘em and ask ‘em. While many of you may have other favorites, and I’m sure that your choice is based as unscientifically as mine that is our thinking on the mono issue.
NonMono – Here is starts to get pretty detailed. In the last few years there has been a lot of people experimenting with “alternative” lines. Spectra, hollow Spectra, Hi Vis, and FluoroCarbon all have their jobs to do in your fishing system. Spectra was originally used, as I understand it, as a means to provide gre