Fishing lines: The critical link

I once read that someone had done a study and found that more accessories have been invented for golf than for any other sport. As a duffer whose handicap is about the same as his waist size, I have no doubt that’s true. As a lifelong angler, I also believe fishing has got to be right behind golf on the gadgets list. There are more bells and whistles offered to help put a bass or a perch in the boat than most folks can even imagine, much less use.

Fishing line is one piece of gear that, in some respects, has changed very little and, in others, is incredibly different than it used to be. Modern line is stronger, more durable and more productive than ever before. That’s because of improvements and innovations in the materials out of which it is made and the way it’s constructed.

No one is sure when the first innovative fisherman figured out that a strand of some kind with a baited hook on one end would enable him to reach fish that previously had been inaccessible. It had to have been an “aha” moment. That forward-thinking, if primitive, outdoorsman changed the fishing world.

The first written reference to fishing line was in Chinese literature in the 4^th century where, it was said they used silk line attached to long poles. Using silk to make fishing line might seem a bit ostentatious until you consider that silk worms were indigenous to the Far East and eventually produced the material for everything from parachute chord to women’s hosiery.

Silk was replaced by plaited horsehair in the 1300s. It was probably not as supple as silk but was certainly more readily available and durable. No one knows what the horses thought about providing the raw material for fishing line but it’s a good bet that the donors of the next innovation were not overly enthused about it. In the mid-1600s, Izaak Walton, writing in his classic “The Compleat Angler,” described fishermen using “gut string.”

Sometime in the 1700s, horsehair and silk lines came back into favor. (Perhaps an early version of PETA had something to do with that.) The latter, coated with linseed oil, cast more easily than earlier lines and floated well if greased heavily. If left uncoated, they quickly sank. That innovation, along with the development of the split bamboo rod, revolutionized angling, especially with a fly rod.

Fishing lines entered the modern age during the 1940s. It was found that nylon could be made into a long, slender strand that was strong and durable – and monofilament line was born. At first it was woven into braided lines and then produced as single strands. Modern monofilament line is formed through an extrusion process in which molten plastic is forced through a die. Its raw material is crude oil. While all mono lines are similar in most respects, some have different properties that make them more suitable than others for specific applications. Depending on the brand, they may be more abrasion-resistant, be more flexible, have less stretch or disappear in the water more readily.

Danny Joe Humphrey of Kinston, a well-known bass tournament angler with over 50 years of fishing experience, uses monofilament lines in most situations. He said recently that he started using Stren “EZ Cast” line in the 1980s and has seen no need to change. He said it’s durable, casts well and has just the right degree of stretch. Humphrey pointed out that some anglers seem to change their fishing lines as often as they do their socks but, in his experience, when most fish are lost it’s not the fault of the line but rather a mistake by the person holding the rod.

Another noted sport fisherman, Capt. Jerry Dilsaver of Oak Island, NC, prefers one of the new “superbraid” lines for most of his inshore, saltwater fishing. Dilsaver, who has been the SKA Angler of the Year, said that he likes braided line because it’s very strong for its diameter. He typically uses 10 or 15 pound test braid, which has the same diameter as 5 or 6 pound test mono. Capt. Dilsaver noted that the lack of stretch in braided lines allows him “to finesse lures better.” He recommends a monofilament leader on a braided line, however, to act as a “shock absorber for the hook.”

Braided line is also preferred by George Poveromo, host of ESPN’s “George Poveromo’s World of Salt Water Fishing.” He uses Suffix “Superior,” a line he says is “tough and highly abrasion resistant but also smooth and easy to fish on conventional and spin tackle.” He does a lot of trolling and live bait fishing for king mackerel and sailfish and likes how the line holds knots and resists “wind knots.” Poveromo said Suffix “Superior” line seems to be less prone to the twisting that causes problems in some braided lines.

Some manufacturers maintain that braided lines are as much as 10 times stronger than steel and are super sensitive. Critics say they have some drawbacks, though. They claim that braids don’t hold some popular fishing knots well and require a dab of super glue to keep them from coming untied. The Berkley company, who produces several types of braided line, offers a list of knots that they say will hold on braid as well as any other kind of line.

Capt. Gary Dubiel, a popular guide on the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound, uses both monofilament and braided line. He prefers the latter, most often Berkley “Fused Crystal,” when fishing for speckled trout or other shallow water species in cold water. Fused lines are sort of a marriage between braids and monofilaments. They are constructed of layers of spun polyethylene fibers thermally fused together to produce a single strand that is thin, strong, sensitive and easy to cast. The Spiderwire company makes several versions of fused line.

Regardless of what the main line is on their reels, many anglers (including Dubiel) nowadays use fluorocarbon leaders on the business end. Fluorocarbon line is made from a polymer comprised of fluorine bonded to carbon. Its proponents maintain that its refractive index is almost the same as that of water so it is virtually invisible under the surface. It is also, pound-for-pound, extremely strong and has very little stretch. How much value those properties have in putting fish in the boat is a matter of debate and depends on who you’re talking to.

As in women and beer, anglers’ tastes in fishing lines vary. That’s one of the intriguing things about the sport, not everything works all the time the way you wish it would. If it did, we would call it “catching” instead of “fishing.” And it wouldn’t be near as much fun.