dacron, monofilament and fluorocarbon

[fin]

Everyday of our lifes when one mentions the words fishing line everyone thinks immediately at that long hard thin gel like line popping out of a reel or a long line used for commercial fishing. Its technical term is called monofilament.?

However i hope to share some knowledge about lines with you and give you a wider spectrum towards fishing line especially with regards to big game fishing.

It is only in the last few years that huge progress has been made in the composition and production of this product. Every mono differs! A spool of 50 pound test mono from manufacturer A, can be completely different from manufacturer B. It may differ in diameter, shape, and in overall handling. For those of you who stick to one brand of line i say don't! You might be missing out on some products which perform much better and have a better feel.

Feel seems to be the key element from which a shore angler assesses his line whilst in big game alot is taken into consideration by noticing its stretch, how much one can pack on his reel and its durability under immense pressure. Lets understand a bit more.

We'll start with diameter. You will notice than when you purchase around 100 yards of line you will see some figures on the side of the roll denoted in millimeters (actually tenths or hundredths of a millimeter), the average thickness of that pound test line, from that company. With that said, if thin is truly what you want, then select the pound test that suits your fishing, then set out comparing the millimeter numbers to find the truly thinnest line. Remember thin means you can pack more, however normally speaking thin means at the expense of strength. Next, comes the issue of stretch. IN the last 5 years line stretch has been banished from nearly every brand of line, replaced by the words "ultra-low-stretch" or "no-stretch". While all of this is very true, is some stretch better than no stretch at all? I feel yes. Yes for two reasons. Number one, because some stretch provides for shock absorption, which can be a sports fishers best friend if the circumstances provide. Example: tuna making its last minute dash at distance very close to the boat, where only a very shot length of line is out. That line stretch will buy you those precious extra few seconds to re adjust your drag or the spool release to get some more line out, thus avoiding the one that got away story entirely. Number two i beleive that stretch actually gives certain lures an action enhancement mimicking swimming quickly and then a little slower, this theory purely up to a certain extent.

Next, ?Braided lines? consist of inter-wined strands of nylon material, making them a multifilament line called Dacron. Dacron was once the primary line for fishing before the discovery of Nylon. Nylon proved to be so superior to braided Dacron which had poor knot strength, low abrasion resistance, and little stretch, that Dacron almost disappeared from the market. Today it is used primarily as a backing material on most big game reels. Infact i am definetely of the idea that one who wants to fish seriously for that prized trophy big game fish a mix of dacron and monofilament should be used. Infact a suggested mix by many professional sport fishers is three quarters dacron and a quarter monofilament of the total reel capacity. This mix is ideal for the evident scenario where one would want to pull the fish "fast and furious" initially and when it comes to the bit where the fish is getting closer to the boat one will be utlising the mono filament with that little stretch to compensate for that fish last minute dash. Note always have equal line pound test strengths for the dacron and mono.

Next is ?Fluorocarbons?. This line is made from polymer of fluorine bonded to carbon. This super line has several advantages over the others. This line comes the closest to the refractive index of water so it is virtually invisible under water. The invisibility is needed in clear waters. One thing I know is that the suns ultraviolet rays do not affect this line, and it will last longer, saving you money. This line has ultra low stretch and your hook sets are positive. This line doesn?t float and allows your lures or bait to fall faster and deeper quicker. This line doesn?t absorb water like monofilaments and this makes it much stronger.

Please note as still many possess mono or dacron, stroring your lines properly and not exposing them constantly when not in use to excessive temperatures or UV rays shortens the lines life immensely. Not mentioning as for dacron constant humidity softening its texture and allowing it to lose its strength.

With a little more info and awareness of your lines i am sure you will have tonnes more fun allowing you to use what is necessary with longer lasting lines.

YOURS FIN

[skip]

Interesting post fin, perhaps a couple of things to note:

Dacron is the preferred backing for big game fishing 50lb+ in two main situations only that I see:

1) If you have a Wide reel, usually designated by W, and having a much greater line capacity than a standard reel. This is important because the diameter of dacron whilst marginally smaller (depending on brand) that equivalent rated mono is still not as thin as Spectra.

2) If you're on a budget and can't afford to spool Spectra as backing, which is considered as the best backing to have.

Spectra on the other hand is the newest type of backing, 80lbs Spectra for example has an equivalent mono diameter of 18lbs. This allows the use of more cost effective non Wide reels yet still giving you the flexibility to spool large line capacity as backing. It's properties are also far superior to dacron, but at a serious price increase!!

Dyneema on the other hand is a type of next gen braided line, with similar qualities to Spectra, although in terms of diameter rating per equivalent lb rating and price it sits somewhere in between Dacron and Spectra, a happy compromise perhaps! Spectra isn't currently readily available on the local market, however we have recently found out that Mister Fish is stocking certain lb ratings of Dyneema and a wider choice is available on request.

Concerning fluorocarbon lines, this tends to only be used as a leader (last 25 foot as per IGFA standard) between the mono top shot and the bait/lure. I haven't seen many using fluorocarbon line as a top shot, possibly again due to cost?

Skip

[AJAX]

Hey Guys,

I've heard great things about Spectra, especially power pro. Another good one to watch out for is Jerry Brown Spectra.

They are both very expensive, but hey I guess you get what you pay for.

AJ

[fin]

Any idea where i can find out more about this JB spectra?

YOURS FIN

[AJAX]

Just do a search in google, Jerry Brown spectra!

www.jerry-brown-industries.com
www.bluemarlinchronicles.com/jerry_brown.htm

[fin]

Not a bad site, interesting too, who knows maybe they will become something big in the near future, definitely worth considering.

FIN

[Simon G]

Hi guys
One thing about spectra fibre (power pro) i have been using it for about four years since it came out
it is brilliant at first but when it starts to loose the outer protective coat it starts to come apart  although this can take years it still happens
One of its biggest advantages /disadvantiges is stretch      it does not stretch !!!

for big game you want your line to stretch it helps absorb the head shakes and sudden jumps (dolphin fish)

for bottom fishing you do not want stretch this helps alot in hooking fish as you can feel every movement which is going on .

Simon G

[skip]

Simon,

Valid points, but if you take a look at the Tips and Techniques section "How to Spool your reel" you will see that for Big Game Fishing you always use mono top shot. Power Pro as backing and then around 100 yards of mono top shot to give you the shock absorbing effect.

For bottom fish, Indeed Power Pro all the way for the feel

Interesting about the protective coating, but I heard that has improved and should take even longer now.

Skip

[gottie]

I have bought power pro locally from that Naxxar tackle shop. I have not used it yet. I have spooled it on my reel and there is still loads of room for more line left. It costs around Lm 19 for 275 Metres of 50 pound line. Should I fill the rest of the reel with Mono ?

[skip]

Hi Gottie,

If you're going trolling for Bigger game fish then add some 50lbs Monofilament, say 100-150 yards which will give you that shock absorbtion you need. What is important is the knot you use to join the Spectra with the mono, and here Fin can guide you as he spooled up our reels. The cirtical factor is using the right knot to give the strength but at the same time it still passing through the guides.

What reel do you have and also what Rod? Is it all rollers, all guides, or rollers top only or top and bottom and guides in between?

425 yards of line will be plenty for most. Most ppl don't do this, but you should always set your reel. Warm up the drags but getting someone to pull out line with the drag on and winding it back in. Then use drag/fish scales (in your case up to 50lbs) to set the drag at Strike. Calculate 25-30% of the rating line (ie 30% of 50lbs) would mean you need to set the drag at strike to 15lbs on the scale. That is the scale will read 15lbs before the reel starts letting out line. You set the reel from the small dial, once set don't play with it as some ppl do!!

As soon as you hook up the fish, move to strike. Once its does its first run start fighting the fish, when its done its second run move to 3/4 and start fighting again. If it goes for a 3rd run move to full drag. Most ppl are scared of this and back off their drag as the fish runs, NEVER do this, or you'll be out there wasting time for nothing. If you are confident in your reel, rod, lines and knots and you've selected the right snap swivels, tried them and your hooks well you will have no problems.

[gottie]

I have a 30 lb rod, woth rollers, top only and an Abu 1000 big game reel. Thanks for the tips they were quite useful.

Also, would it be a waste of time if i troll for Albacore this week? Or is there any other gamefish I can troll for?

[skip]

Not familair with your reel, Is it a 30lb model too or a 50lb? Ideally don't have a 30lb rod if your reel is 50lbs especially if you're got it backed with 50lbs Spectra. Simple reason, if your reel and line can exert more than 30lbs pressure on the fish, you'll snap your rod and if you're close to that and the fish makes a run or you in a serious fight, your rod will go.

You can have a bigger rod with a smaller reel but not the other way around.

As for the Albie's usually it would be the right time of year, but with the crappy colder weather we've had I would say don't waste your money. For us we use 5Litres of unleaded an hour at trolling speed so not spare change, Placebo mentioned a small number have been caught on the west coast, but all the commercial purse seiners are complaining about a lack of fish around, and on the West Coast of Malta within 20-30 miles there hasn't been anything in the past week.

If you want to test your equipment out and maybe just get out, I would choose Wednesday as the best day so far and head over as Placebo said in the Filfla area. But if you're only gonna have one or two rods out pulling single lures you might be disapointed.

One thing you might try is to choose a spot when you're 7-8 miles offshore and perhaps in a favourite spot normally for Albacore and then start chumming like crazy. What would be ideal would be some nice oily fish bits, or maybe off cuts of tuna and various other fish, the heads etc, mince/grind those up and create a nice slick around you. Aside from possibly attracting the Abacore directly, if you get lots of bait fish around you feeding on your chum, the scent of the chum plus the bait fish in the area might also get the Albi's to the surface feeding. It's something I've been wanting to try but we didn't. the 11-12c Cans of Cat Food (Fishy ones) are also supposed to be quite good to use as chum.

If you do get Albi's around you, reduce the amount of chum you put in the water, just put the occasional scoop in to keep them in the area. Then either troll for them or cast (if you have a non level wind reel) a piece of mackeral or something else into the feeding shoal. If you have a chunking rig, you could put a cube on and let that dift out to them.

We had 5 rods out, with large spreaders bars, daisy chains will multiple squids etc and even one jet head daisy chain runing deep for the whole of yesterday and we didn't see a single thing, nor get a single strike. If they're not in the area I reckon you could have 100 rods out and you still wouldn't catch.

Perhaps chumming is the way forward at the moment as the cool sea temps reduce the chance of bait fish at the surface so the Albi's and tuna bypass Malta for warmer waters. They will transit deep down below, so the theory is that if there's a food source on the surface which they can sense they may come up.

You could slow troll with live bait for Amberjack as they're around, but I'm know nothing about that type of fishing except a little I heard from SimonG.

[sergio]

hi i was wondering about spooling up my spinning reel with spectra for bottom fishing from a boat . where can i buy it as i asked Mr Fish and they dont have powerpro !

[skip]

Hi Sergio,

Only place I know offering Power Pro at the moment is Fishing World in Naxxar. Important to note that Powerpro is a brand name, the material Spectra is made by various ppl and can be found in various places online. If you follow the link to tackle bargains online http://www.tacklebargains.co.uk/cgi-bin/at.cgi?a=417504 you can find it there, they do Powerpro in the 8-50lbs range.

Mister Fish has Dyneema from Grauvell, a type of braided line that is a little thicker than Spectra but more affordable, and Shimano do various types of specialist line. All depends on what the application is, what reel you intend to spool on to and the lbs rating you are looking for.

For Big Game applications if I had to do it again I would purchase hollow core fibre not solid strand, for the simple reason of being able to splice the monofilament directly into the braid, but passing it up inside the hollow core. You then don't have any knot joints.

Skip

[sergio]

thanks skip !!! i have a Lineaeffe Rapid reel which takes 195 yards of 0.30mm monofilament. i have a spare spool for the reel , so im hoping to wind one up with about .25mm or .30 power pro for boar use ( bottom fishing in ports and maybe some light trolling for cudas (hopefully) ect )  , and i would like to wind the other spool with thinner spectra ( maybe 14mm ) for fishing for mullet or other sensitive fish. any suggestions are appreciated as i dont know too much and my fishing expirience is limited . but i would like to use spectra for bottom fishing as i've heard it's really good for feeling bites.