Mono or Braided Fishing Line

 

Mono or braided fishing line...which one?

 

If you have watched outdoor tv or opened a fishing magazine in the last umpteen years, chances are you have been bombarded by ads for all types of fishing line promising everything from "thinnest on the market" to claims they'll help male inhancement.

 

What is the unsuspecting consumer to believe? Well, in this article, I"ll be outlining the major differences between mono and braided line. I'll probably be telling you a few things that the marketing departments of the fishing line companies don't want you to know, so stay tuned.

 

 

Monofiliment fishing line, otherwise known as Mono, has been around for over 50 years. In the simplest form, Mono is nothing more than nylon string. It's made by a high pressurized process that shoots heated nylon polymer through a series of progressively smaller openings while it is being cooled. This is where we get our Mono line from.

 

 

So are all Mono lines the same? Not only "No", but Hell No!

 

The process for making Mono has stayed the same over the years for the most part. Many mono line manufacturers advertise their line is "Thin." But, if you haven't guess, thin can mean many different things. One thing you should look for is the actual diameter of the fishing line you'll be using. For example, let's say you want some 17lb line. Beneath the poundage marking on the spools is the diameter of the line. Compare line diameter of each brand of line and you'll see a big difference.

 

Another thing that should be considered when choosing fishing line is what type of fishing reel it will be going on. Mono line on a spinning reel needs to be thin and "soft." Stiff line on a spinning reel will mean trouble for you. Fishing line such as Berkley's Trilene XL is a soft (or limp) fishing line that works great for spinning reels.

 

Casting reels on the other hand can use stiffer lines. These stiffer lines are normally more abrassive resistant, meaning they're tougher.

 

You generally get what you pay for in a fishing line. The el cheapo line in the discount bin at Wal-Mart is usually a large diameter for the poundage rating, high stretch junk.

 

 

Braided lines, or Super Lines, as they are sometimes called, are made by braiding line material into one compact line. Generally braided lines are stronger than the same diameter of Mono. If you're using 17lb test, you can get much more braided Super Line on a reel than you can the same 17lb's of Mono.

 

Other differences include the fact that Mono lline stretches. Even the "low stretch" mono stretches to an extent. On the other hand, braided lines have little to no stretch and are very abrasive resistant.

 

This can be a good thing and bad thing. The low stretch of braided line allows you to set the hook hard when you have a lot of line out. On the other hand, most of us have seen the demonstration of one person placing a fishing hood point into the hand while at the other end of the line several hundred feet away the other person sets the hook as hard as they can. The Mono line stretches so much that it can not bury the hook point into the hand of the person holding it.

 

Don't try this with braided line (or Mono for that matter..lol).

 

However, the fact that braided line has little to no stretch means that the line can pop at weak points, mainly knots, due to sudden shocks or when a sudden force is applied. Much like when a fish makes a last ditch run at the boat and the drag is set to tight.

 

Some stretch in a line is a good thing.

 

On offshore fishing trips, I know a lot of guys who use hundreds of yards of braided line but use a Mono leader so there is some give. They're capable of setting the hood on a Tuna or other tough fish in 200 feet of water, yet the leader allows enough stretch as to not pop the line when the Tuna is at the boat. Grouper anglers love braided line because once you set the hook on a Grouper, you have to get him (or her) up off the bottom quick before they bury up.

 

Braided line can also damage rollers on Spinning Reels and guides. Since braided lines are so small campared to the same test of Mono, the braided line can be sucked down into the spool if not spooled correctly.

 

So which line should you use?

 

It all depends on the way you fish and the equipment you use. I wouldn't think about using braided line on a Spincast reel or Spinning Reel. On the other hand, if my fishing includes fishing in tough places linke timber and rocks or requires me to have a lot of line out such as in Striper fishing or Big Game fishing, I'll be using braided line along with a Mono shock leader.