Monofils with Muscle
Do they still have a role
to play in lure-fishing ?

In contrast to some of our other angling writers and reviewers, Ralph Walker reckons that, despite the massive swing to braids for lure fishing, monofils with muscle still have a role to play in lure-fishing, and not least as far as your wallet is concerned! Here's what he's got to say as a follow-on to his earlier article on the subject:-

Monofils are safer, softer on your fish, tackle & wallet !
What about monofils for lure fishing? Well, firstly they are cheap compared with braids and they are tough too, but more of that in a moment! I also like the safety margins for my fish and my tackle that the stretch of my monofils gives me.

Monofils may not have quite as much sensitivity as braids, which have very little stretch, but for me monos have this very comforting built-in shock-absorbing property which to my mind is kinder to fish and tackle alike. I should add that anyone who says that monos regularly stretch up to 20% in every day use is talking out of the hole in their spool !

Monos are also very much kinder on your wallet which, unless you've got more money than sense, has to be a big advantage compared with braids.

Monofils have much more muscle too!
For the same BS, nylon or copolymer or hybrid monofils have a much larger diameter than a Dyneema™ or Spectra™ braid and this means that monofils are better able to take the nicks and knocks that every lure fishing line inevitably gets.

If any of your lure fishing is anything like some of mine, certain venues call for a much tougher main line than you can get with braids. Of course, fans of braids will rightly say that all you have to do is to fish with a braid of 4 times the BS of your mono and it still won't be as thick as a mono and will be just as tough.

In all honesty, I can't really argue against that except to say that you'll pay an even bigger price penalty compared with mono, and, whatever the braid, I find that they do tend to fray after a while. Also, whether you use monofil or braid, I think it always pays to check the first few yards of your main line during and after every trip, and to cut off and burn any that looks a bit dodgy.

Yes, I'm still convinced that my meaty, stretchy monofils still have plenty of muscle for my lure fishing — they're really good in and around abrasive snags, gravel river beds and sharp reed stems.

I also prefer to use my monofils when I'm trolling from a boat because casting and line visibility isn't nearly so critical, and when a nice fat pike grabs my lure or I get snagged and everything very suddenly stops solid, I'm always extremely grateful for the "give" in my line that my mono provides — even though I always try to set my drag sensibly, I've broken a rod with braid, but never with my monofils!

It's when you suddenly snag-up especially while you're trolling that you're eternlly grateful for the stretch of monofils, because this tests them to their maximum, albeit not to the 20% pr more that some people suggest.

With monfils, another big bonus for me is that I don't suffer from cracking-off when I'm using big lures and I suspect that this is also down to the fact that my monos have plenty of "give" in them. Also when necessary, I improve my casting distance with my monofils by using one of those neat little line lubricants that carp anglers use.

I must admit though that for jerkbaits and other big lures that need plenty of direct action put into them, there's no doubt that a low stretch, high BS braid is better and its comparative thinness and suppleness do make casting easier.

Brilliant for Beginners! No "Birds-Nests" !
Monos are also much less prone to tangling and making those terrible "birds nests" that you just can't undo: this is another reason why I prefer monos because they're easier to use for youngsters coming into the sport, like my son.

Another couple of disadvantages of braids is their tendency to bed-in and to slip on the spool of my reels: I know there are ways around these problems, but I prefer not to have them in the first place, don't you?

My Monofils
By now I expect that you're keen to know which monofils I use for my lure fishing; I hope so! I like my monos to be nice and supple even in cold conditions and this means that you really have to go for a monofil that's specially designed for lure fishing even though they inevitably cost a little bit more than basic bog-standard nylon monos.

Of course I've used all the old favourites but a lot of them get too stiff and wiry in the winter. I've also tried quite a few carp and sea fishing lines and got on quite well with a couple of them.

If I'm honest, my most favourite monos are Berkley Trilene ones, XL and Big Game. The XL is supple, tough, performs very well and doesn't break the bank. This means that I can easily afford to turn it round on my reel in mid-season and/or to replace it all whenever and as often as I need to. I never use anything less than about 12 or 15 lb BS and often quite a bit heavier, depending on where I'm fishing and what lures I'm using.

These properties make for easy casting, good sensitivity and lure presentation. Before you get the wrong idea, I'm a user of braids myself, but they are expensive!

Brickbats
Unfortunately there's no getting away from the brickbats of many nylon and co-polymer monofils that they are more easily weakened by water, oxygen, UV-light etc. than Dyneema™ or Spectra™ braids, but as I've just said, monos are so much cheaper that you don't need to run any risks if you think they've been weakened by any of these factors — just change your line because with monfils you can easily afford to.

Unless it's had a particularly hard time, I usually turn my line round on the spool in the middle of the season and throw it away (i.e. burn it) at the end of the season. But please be warned, your nylon mono line will get weaker just sitting on its original spool in the tackle shop or on your reel; and don't think that bulk spools will last for ever, they won't. Wrap your bulk spool in aluminium foil and store it somewhere that's cool, dry (i.e. low humidity) and dark: that way, you'll help stop it loosing too much of its original strength.

Berkley Big Game is probably top of my list for most of my day-to-day lure fishing. It's a mono I can rely on for the toughest tasks and from what simple checks I've been able to do, even when knotted, it seems to break above its claimed BS. There are tougher lines around as far as abrasion resistance is concerned, I know, but they're usually more expensive and not that much different in other respects, and sometimes worse eg. less supple.

I have spooled up my son's couple of reels with Fox Soft Steel which is good value for the money and performs extremely well into the bargain — it's mainly designed for carp fishing, of course! As for other monos that I've tried and quite like, there are three or four, some of which I got via friends in the States which either aren't available over here or are very expensive, SpiderLine SuperMono for one.

Sufix's TriTanium and Synergy lines are OK, perhaps not quite as supple as I would like but with their very high degree of abrasion resistance you can't have everything, can you? You can get them in the UK through Relum stockists. TriTanium is mainly used for sea fishing but the lower BSs are great for freshwater lure fishing and I find that their high abrasion resistance gives me great confidence, and that's half the battle don't you think?

Fusion Lines
I have tried out a couple of fusion lines which are supposed to give you the best of both worlds i.e. of monofil and braid, but for me the reality was a bit different: they do behave more like monos in that they're not nearly so supple as braid but I found that the fusion coating seemed to wear off fairly quickly, exposing some of the filaments inside and the line quickly became rather "hairy" — I can't believe that this doesn't weaken it, so I went back to my monos because fish welfare always comes first with me, and I just hate taking any unnecessary risks with my line or the rest of my tackle for that matter.

More Monofils
Also, very occasionally I've treated myself to some more expensive monos but that goes a bit against the grain as one of my main reasons for using monos is their low cost compared with braids.

I tried some fluorocarbon mono once: it's supposed to be invisible to fish. I didn't like it that much and it made a big hole in my wallet at the same time! And I'm not sure that it fooled many more fish either. I suppose in a very heavily fished water it might well give you the edge: oh, and you have to follow the manufacturer's advice for knots to the letter though, and wet them very thoroughly indeed before pulling them tight, or they may give you trouble.

I've also seen and read about a couple of other specialist lines that are now being marketed by two well-known lure companies, Yo-Zuri and Rapala, and I hope to try them out before too long; they're quite expensive though.

Defending Monos
I guess that guess that some lure anglers might say that I'm wasting my time trying to promote and defend the use of monofils for lure fishing but to my mind it's all a matter of what you personally prefer and what gets you the best results, at the best price!

That's why I feel that for some situations my monos with their muscle, forgiving stretch and the other factors I've mentioned, have just got the edge over braids, for me anyway.

However, I'm the first to admit that braids have got a firm grip on the main line market for lure fishing and a lot of other forms of fishing too! This is for good reasons too — braids are light and very strong for their diameter.

And I can't disagree that low-stretch braids do give better sensitivity and therefore are supposed to give you more "hook-ups" but I'm not sure just what percentage more! I should think that many more fish are lost at the net. I keep my hooks really clean and sharp, and my net at the ready, and I can honestly say that I lose very, very few fish indeed.

On-the-Button with Monos
So, if you're alert and your finger's on-the-button, as they say, I don't reckon you lose many fish through using monos instead of braids, but I'm not going to fall-out over it though — if braids suit you better and you can stand the premium price, then that's fine, it's your choice — call me careful with my cash if you like, but I'm going to stick mainly with my low-cost monofils, for the time being anyway! Good monofil fishing! Ralph Walker.

Nick's Notes: I guess that there's no getting away from the fact that monos do still have a role in lure fishing but it's also true that braids have a huge following nowadays.

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