Fishing Line
About Fishing Line
Fishing Line Tips
Fishing line is the critical link or connection between the reel and your bait. TEST or strength of your line is determined by which species of fish you are going after. Replacing the line often is the cheapest insurance an angler has in securing his catch! There are several reasons for your fishing line failing: Unseen nicks, cuts in the line from abrasive surfaces; Knot failure - poorly tied/incorrect knot for line or situation; Poor match of diameter/lb. test to species or lure; Reel drags set too tight; Rod action too stiff - not rated properly for line weight. Replace/Refresh Fishing Line- Check your line regularly for signs of wear and refresh (cut off worn section) whenever necessary. When to re-spool your line: At the beginning of each fishing season; Before any tournament or contest (pros do!); Before any long-distance Fishing Trip; Anytime your line has been subjected to extremes of sunlight or heat.
Types of Fishing Line
- Nylon monofilament (Comes in standard and premium)Has the highest knot strength. the density is slightly higher than water. It is a great shock absorber with good stretch qualities. This is a popular choice for general fishing with the weekend and casual anglers
- Fluorocarbon monofilament (Main line and leaders) The fluoracarbon attributes are: Refractive index is close to water. It is virtually invisible to fish. It is more abrasion resistant than many nylon mono lines. This coupled with the invisibility makes it a great leader material. It has the highest density allowing it to sink and have the lures running deep
- PE braided superline (Fused and non-fused) The PE superlines are gel-spun polyethlene lines. They are three to four times stronger than nylon and fluorocarbon with no stretch. They have extremely small diameters at the same break strength and allow for lures to run deeper and more natural with greater line capacity.
Fishing Line Knots
The knot is the critical link between you and the fish and is the most common cause of line failure. Wet the knot before tightening, to reduce heat friction. Pull knots tight to prevent slippage. Then trip the "tag end" closely to the knot to keep from catching weeds and snagging. Three commonly used knots are the clinch knot, palomar knot, and the trilene knot.
Fishing Line How-Tos
Fishing 101 Selecting the Right Fishing Line (Video)
Here is a video teaching you how to choose the best fishing line depending on the type and enviroment of fishing.
Video Transcript
How do you pick the right fishing line for the right situation? There are four key attributes to three major types of fishing and I will go look at those today. We'll look at monofilament line, fluorocarbon line and braided line.
Monofilament line is the most traditional of the lines. I love to use monofilament line with spinnerbaits and with crankbaits. There will be a lot of stretch in that line. It's not an invisible line underneath the water so that the fish might see it if I don't move the line or lure quick enough. In addition, I might break that line if I throw a bait underneath the dock or next to a rock or next to a sharp object.
In that type of situation, I might go to braided line. If I'm going to skip under a dock or throw into heavy grass, the braided line is like a rope. And when the fish strikes and I set the hook, I can get that fish out of that heavy cover without breaking my line.
If I'm fishing in clear water and I don't want the fish to see my line so I'm going to maybe make a cast and I don't move the bait very much, I'm going to go to fluorocarbon line. And the reason is the fluorocarbon line is invisible to the fish.
So if I want invisibility, I'm going to go with fluorocarbon. If I want strength and power, I'm going to go with braid. If I'm going to be throwing moving baits and I'm not afraid that I'm going to break off on a grass bed or on a dock, I'm going to go with monofilament line.
Connecting Wire Line to Dacron Backing (Video)
A demonstration of how to connect a wire line to a dacron backing line, presented by Boating Local/New England Boating.
Video Transcript
Tom: Hi. I'm Tom Richardson for BoatingLocal and welcome to another Dock Talk Quick Tip.
I'm here with Jeff Miller. He is the owner of Canal Bait and Tackle in Sagamore, Massachusetts.
Jeff puts together a lot of wire line outfit for his customers. So, he gets pretty good in tying knots especially the knot use to connect Dacron to wire.
What knot do you like to use, Jeff?
Jeff: Just the standard Albright knot.
Tom: What about that knot do you like?
Jeff: Well, it's very strong and plus it goes through all the rod guides very easily.
Tom: Yeah, very important.
Jeff: Especially when you let go all the wire and when the Dacron comes up. Just that, very easy.
Tom: It's very strong, very simple to tie and you can reel it in through the rod guides, sounds pretty simple.
Jeff's going to show us how to tie that Albright knot, right now.
To get started, Jeff likes to secure the separate spools of Dacron and wire to keep them in place while he ties the knot.
Next, he wraps the end of the wire line a few times around a stationary object leaving a roughly 1 foot tag end.
He then folds the tag end of the wire back over itself, creating a tight bend. It's important to leave at least 6 of tag end to work with after folding the wire. You'll see why in a bit.
Now, Jeff takes the end of the Dacron, passes it through the wire bend and holds it alongside the 2 strands of wire.
He begins wrapping the tag end of the Dacron around both strands of wire and the standing section of Dacron, working its way back towards the wire bend.
You can see that Jeff is very careful to keep the wraps tight and closely spaced.
When he has completed 6 or 7 wraps, Jeff takes the tag end of the Dacron and passes it through the end loop of the Dacron, then back through the loop of wire line. It's very important that both the tag end and the standing section of Dacron end up on the same side of the wire loop.
To tighten the knot, Jeff then pulls on all 4 sections of wire and Dacron.
To secure the tag end of the wire, Jeff makes 3 tight barrel wraps around the standing section, then wraps the tag around his index finger and twist it quickly around and around until the wire breaks near the base of the wraps. This eliminates any burst.
Lastly, Jeff snips off the tag end of the Dacron to make a clean, snag-proof connection that will pass easily through the rod guides.
Jeff: Alright.
For more how-to boating videos, as well as news and information on boating and fishing in New England, visit NewEnglandBoating.com. (Permission given by Tom Richardson.)