Fishing Line
Fishing line is the piece of equipment that connects you directly to the fish. It is an incredibly important and necessary item when gearing up for fishing.
Fishing lines comes in a variety of materials, with the two most common being either extruded nylon monofilament fishing line, and braided Polyethylene (PE) fishing line (generally known as Braid).
Each of these have their advantages and disadvantages, but when starting out fishing, most people will be familiar with monofilament.
Monofilament fishing line (or Mono for short) in itself can be made to showcase a number of attributes, some are designed to be more supple, which will enable it to lay much nicer on a reel's spool and be much easier to tie knots with. Others will be harder, and more abrasion resistant, which will be better when fishing around structure, such as off the rocks. Mono generally has up to 10% stretch in it, which helps when cushioning head shakes, or leaping fish, but again, some brands make mono line with less stretch, which will thereby increase the sensitivity of it.
Mono fishing line is a fantastic choice when estuary bait fishing, shallow water float lining, or when trolling for game species such as Marlin and Tuna.
Braided Fishing lines have revolutionised lure fishing. By braiding together strands of polyethylene fibres, you end up with a much thinner and stronger fishing line than traditional mono.
The biggest advantage of braided fishing line is that there is zero stretch in it. This allows the line to be much more sensitive, thereby allowing the angler to feel every bite or bump transmitted through it, while also allowing the angler to impart action to their lure without it getting drowned out like it would with stretchy monofilament.
The number of strands or carriers the braid is made up of will dictate the smoothness of the braid. The more strands that the braided fishing line is made up of, the smoother and rounder it will be.
Basic braided fishing line generally starts as a four carrier braid (4 strands woven together), and then generally goes up to 8 Strand braid, 12, and so on. Often the more strands in the line, the more expensive it becomes.
Leader material is used at the pointy end of your fishing rig. It is a comparatively short section of line of either monofilament, or fluorocarbon material that connects your mainline to your terminal tackle be it either lure or bait rig. Monofilament leader as described above will generally display characteristics such as high stretch, or harder abrasion resistant coating. Fluorocarbon (FC) on the other hand is mostly utilised alongside lure presentations, as it has the ability to absorb light making it virtually invisible underwater. FC however, is stiffer and harder than mono and is also more dense, which makes it sink and can be harder to knot for those just beginning.
We stock a huge range of high-quality fishing lines, both braided and mono in store.
Talk to our professional staff about which type of fishing line will best suit your fishing application if you are unsure.