SUPERLINES
Some swear
by them, others swear at them! That, in short, is how people seem to feel about
superlines.
Over the years,
I’ve used Gorilla Braid, Fireline, Whiplash, Stealth, Spiderwire Braid and
Fusion, PowerPro and TUF-Line Regular and Plus, and probably a couple others I
forget about. While this doesn’t make me an expert, at least, it gives me some
points of reference and a basis for comparison. I’ve drawn some conclusions,
come up with some hypotheses and made some plain observations that may not be
sufficient for conclusions. Here they are, in no particular order.
Ever since
superlines came out, some people have been saying that it cuts the guides and
tip tops of their rods. While there may have been some truth in this at the
time (the first superlines were made out of Kevlar), today, it’s pure nonsense!
The belief
probably came from the noise superlines make as they move through the guides;
of course, all manufacturers that didn’t make a superline jumped in and made
the most of this myth to discourage people from moving away from their mono.
As I
recall, in those days, guides were made of pretty soft, cheap materials and the
Kevlar fibres may have worn grooves in them. More likely, the guides were
already worn, damaged or cracked and as the superlines were of a much smaller
diameter, they rapidly made things worse and the blame was placed on the line
with no thought given to the original problem.
Today, all
superlines are made from either Spectra or Dyneema, which are just about the
most slippery materials in existence after Teflon. On the other hand, even the
cheapest rods made today come with guides made of reasonably hard materials and
the guide cutting stuff is a non-issue. I have used superlines on dozens of
rods, including some real El Cheapos and have never had the problem, whereas I
regularly had to replace tiptops that were grooved from mono in the good old
days.
So don’t
start worrying just because you hear noise as the superline goes through the
guides, it’s just the nature of the beast to transmit sound (vibration) more
efficiently. The only rod I have that doesn’t make any sound when I use a
superline happens to be my cheapest; the guide material is probably so soft
(low quality) that it absorbs all sounds. I haven’t got the scientific
equipment to be sure of this, so it’s only a hypothesis, but it seems to make
sense. Anyway, I have yet to see any trace of premature wear on these guides
either.
It’s still
possible to damage guides today, whatever line you use: I believe the three
most frequent causes are the following:
1 - Using
the guide rings as lure holders when you store your rods is a great way to do
it.
2 - Being
much harder than before, the materials used in line guides today are also more
prone to cracking when the rod hits an object.
3 – Picking
up sand and debris with your line and then running it through the rod guides will
give a very good impersonation of a metal saw… The slightly sticky coating on
some superlines may also be conducive to picking up this kind of small stuff.
The very
fact that superlines are strong, slippery and of low diameter
makes pulling on them with your bare hands a big no-no!
It is
recommended that you wrap your line around a piece of solid material (ex: a
stick of some kind) if you’re going to exert much force pulling against
superlines. Maybe it’s been just dumb luck, but SO FAR I’ve managed to unhook
my lures and/or bend the hooks while wrapping the line 3-4 times around my arm
OVER MY SHIRT and using a slow, steady pull. Another thing that probably helps
me stay out of trouble is the fact that I never use any superline that’s
stronger than 20-pound test; something always gives before my arm. I’m passing
this one along without any guarantees, but I find it helpful since I always
have an arm on hand (!), which is more than I can say about sticks…
When I
first started using superlines, I found that they would sometimes snap when
bringing the lure to a brutal stop. This would happen when really giving a cast
the Mark McGuire heave-ho and creating a backlash. I eventually understood that
this was a direct result of the no-stretch characteristic: no stretch = no
shock absorbing = break off on a sudden shock. The solution proved to be easy:
Just ease up on those hyper-casts and stay away from backlashes. I also found
out that I could get better distance by making smooth casts. Duh! So what else
is new?
Superlines
have been criticized for preventing deep-running lures from getting down to
their targeted depth because they float and people “logically” came to that conclusion
without really trying them out. While this line (!) of reasoning makes sense,
in real life, another factor comes into play that has much more impact on the
running depth of a lure: LINE DIAMETER. While the slight buoyancy of superlines
may work against achieving depth, their comparatively small diameter will more
than compensate and actually give you more depth for an equivalent line test.
Water resistance from the line is really the main factor that prevents a lure
from diving to its designed depth and the superline’s small diameter helps a
lot in this respect. Don’t take my word for this, go out and measure it for
yourself. But don’t take any incomplete theory at face value either!
While some
mono and fluorocarbon manufacturers will call some of their lines “no-stretch”
or “low-stretch”, recent tests have shown that even quality mono can stretch up
to 40%, with the average being around 25%. While fluorocarbons fare better in
this respect, we’re still talking about a major loss in the connection between
you and the fish. No wonder the “cross-their-eyes” hook set is often considered
the norm when using mono. If you consider that superlines have less than 5% stretch, you’ll begin to understand why
their manufacturers suggest you change the way you set the hook!
A solid
hook set with superlines requires nothing more than a sharp wrist snap, with
all the motion getting transmitted to the hooks, without loss of amplitude,
force or speed. This means that if you’re using really sharp hooks, you need
only use slightly more motion than if you were jerking bait, and the fish is
solidly hooked. If you really must prove that you’re stronger than a fish 1/10th
your size and insist on a “cross-their eyes” hook set, stay away from
superlines, else you’ll either take the lure right out of their mouth or break
your rod.
With the
no-stretch characteristic comes sensitivity: instead of being absorbed into the
line, any slight movement or resistance by the lure gets transmitted without
any loss along the line. In turn, this means you can feel minute things that
would otherwise go unnoticed. The difference with mono, and, to a lesser degree
fluoros, is really quite apparent. The best test I’ve found for this is working
a weightless worm on the bottom: as you crawl it
along, you can readily feel every bit of vegetation and/or pebble the worm runs
into. And should a fish get interested, you can be sure it won’t go unnoticed.
When I first started using superlines, I was astonished to find that I could
actually feel very small nibbles even as my line was lying on top of the water
in loose curves. The surface tension of the line on the water was enough to
transmit even those subtle vibrations!
Some people
have said that “if you can feel the fish, the fish can feel you”. While this is
certainly true, one should consider the amount of vibrations and resistance
that gets transmitted back and forth: if you’re really paying attention, you
can figure out the ticks and pauses for very small movements, while what little
resistance the fish feels is easily mistaken for a live
bait’s natural tendency to pull away. I’ve repeatedly played a very delicate
version of a “tug-of-war” with dinks for long periods of time before they
figured out the morsel they were trying for was just too pig-headed to be real.
Many
anglers, when trying out superlines, don’t pay enough attention to their knots.
Sloppy knots or the wrong kinds of knot are bound to slip, because of the
materials used in superlines. The two most popular knots that WORK are the
Palomar and the Uniknot. As long as you’re careful to get your line wet before
you tie them and cinch them using a smooth steady motion, these knots will not
slip. They will, however be weaker than the line itself unless you use the
“double” version of those knots, essentially using a doubled line where the
original calls for a single line. Once doubled, the knot will be as strong as
the line itself! The Powerpro site (WWW.POWERPRO.COM) gives nice illustrations
under the PowerPro Advantage heading. Superlines being so thin in the first
place, even a doubled knot will not be too bulky, and will also prevent the
line from slipping through the small gap where the eye is not closed properly
on some hooks.
While I
NEVER get a backlash myself (yeah, sure!), I’ve been told that it’s very easy
to untangle them with superlines. A very (!) close friend of mine has even
bragged that he could undo the mess just by feel, even in pitch darkness. Just
a matter of picking at the loops delicately and in no time flat, you’re back in
business. Even in real bad cases, the old “apply strong pressure on the spool
with your thumb while cranking” will get you out of trouble. No kinks, no
damaged line, pure bliss. Of course, this also applies for those who, like me,
get the occasional “professional overrun”. I will only get such a bad one that
I need to bring it home to clear it about once per season.
One point
brought up frequently against superlines is the fact they’re not transparent
like mono or fluorocarbons, and therefore more easily visible to the fish. I
don’t doubt for a second that the fish can see them very well indeed, but
that’s not the point. The point is DO THEY CARE? As far as I’m concerned, bass
haven’t got the brainpower to understand what the line means in terms of danger
to them. I was using
The only
time I will use a leader is when I’m fishing in an environment (rocks or
boulders) where I’ll need it for extra abrasion resistance. This poor abrasion
resistance is a fact of life when fishing superlines. Considering that the main
factor in abrasion resistance is the diameter of the line (notwithstanding
advertising hype), superlines' small diameter becomes a minus in this case and
has to be compensated for. The coating on the superlines that have it may
provide additional protection in this case, but since it seems to wear off
rather quickly, I wouldn’t want to rely on it too much.
If you’ve
ever tried a superline, you’ll never again call a mono limp or say it has no
memory. Otherwise, do these simple tests with lines rated for the same pound
test:
1- Take a
six-inch length of line and try to hold it horizontally while holding just one
end. A straight piece of mono will stick out just fine, while a superline will
simply droop. That’s limpness. (I suggest not doing this test in sight of your wife, otherwise, you may be in for some heavy sarcasm)
2 - Take
six feet of mono off your spool and let it fall in front of you: what do you
see? Springy coils of line that give a fair imitation of a Slinky, similar to
its previous arrangement on the spool: that’s memory. Do the same thing with a
superline, and whatever coils you see will be random and they’ll be pretty
loose, with no relation to its previous position on the reel’s spool. That’s
even worse than my own memory, except that in this case, it’s a good thing.
This
limpness and lack of memory of superlines makes for very much less friction against
the guides as the line goes out, not having to flatten coils to make them go
through the eyes of the rod. In turn, this will give you a substantial amount
of extra distance compared to mono and fluoro.
With
limpness and small diameter comes the chance of guide wraps. Now this can
really be a problem if you’re not careful never to let your line get too loose
when casting or retrieving. Guide wraps are what happen
when your line gets wrapped (!) around one (usually the tiptop) or more of your
rod’s guides. Even if you’re really careful, guide wraps do happen sometimes
and you have to stop and undo them occasionally. In my experience, this happens
mainly when I get hung up: when the lure finally breaks loose and comes flying at me, guide wraps are almost guaranteed. Most
of the time, just flicking the lure directly in front of me while pointing my
rod in the same direction will undo them. Sometimes I do have to stop and do it
by hand, but hey, it a small price to pay for all the advantages. It’s really a
question of compromise: the smaller the diameter and the limper the line, the
more likely you are to get guide wraps. If it really bothers you, get heavier
line (larger diameter) with a coating (more stiffness) and the problem just about
disappears.
Getting up
on my soapbox now....
Power Pro
is the rage right now, and has almost become a religion, so saying anything
negative about it is like waving a red flag at a bull, but here goes: After
spooling with Power Pro Hi-Vis Yellow and finding waxy flakes of the same color
as the line all over my fingers and reel, I threw the whole thing away. I then
got a very old spool of Moss Green PP to double-check, and it was the same
thing again. I’ve since seen many others mention the same problem on
various forums, so I can only conclude that the people who neither
see or feel the gunk are either not very observant or sponsored by
PowerPro. Now this in NOT specific to PP as I’ve noticed it to various degrees
with all the coated superlines I’ve tried so far, so I’m not saying the PP’s no
good, just that it’s not the “perfect” line it’s touted to be. Even the newest
generation superlines like Stealth and Stren’s Super Braid aren’t immune to
this problem.
Even though
everybody agrees that coated superlines cast better after the line gets
"broken in", this is simply the coating wearing off. Coincidently, as
the coating wears off, you'll also notice that it looses its' color.
That's why people recommend re-coloring it using Sharpies, Magic Markers, etc.
So the conclusion is clear: worn away coating = better casting. In my book,
there’s something wrong with lines if they become better as a feature (the
coating) touted by the manufacturer disappears.
Now then,
why do so many manufacturers put this coating on the line in the first
place? I've heard it was to give "body" to the line, so that it
wasn't so limp as to get wrapped around the guides and rod tip when
casting. I mentioned this above and have made my choice. If I really want “body”
to my line in order to avoid guide wraps, I’ll use 15-pound mono and be done
with it. “You pays your money and you take your
chances…”
My personal
choice among superlines is Western filament’s TUF-line PLUS (not to be confused
with XP, which is coated) in 18 and 30 pound test. This line is a non-coated
braid that has no memory and is extremely limp and thin (I can live with the
occasional guide wrap). To put things into perspective, you have to consider
that I fish from shore, so distance is of great importance – as everybody
knows, the fish are always 10 feet further out than what you can reach. If I
were fishing from a boat, my choice may be different, but I suspect I’d be sticking(!) with an uncoated braid, while upping the size
somewhat. TUF-line Plus is also one of the most economical superlines out
there, but it would also be my line of choice for my needs even if was sold at
twice the price.
So there
you have it, warts and all. Any comments short of a flame war are welcome!