Monofilament fishing line

What I will try to do is give a basic outline of the different types of line that are used in sea fishing

Commonly referred to as ` main line `

Monofilament fishing line

This is the most commonly used fishing line, is fairly cheap to buy there are hundreds of brands on the market Daiwa Maxima and the list goes on. They most commonly come on plastic spools with lengths from 100 meter lengths up to 1000 meter lengths . 300m being the most commonly sold as it will fill most reels with a bit to spare





Monofilament fishing line strengths

Measured in ever LB (pounds) or KG (Kilograms)

This is the rating of what the breaking strain of the line is i.e. what pressure it will take before breaking or snapping. Monofilament fishing line has a certain amount of give before it will break which is an advantage when setting hooks or casting but the slit downside to this is that you are less in contact with your hook

There are lots of breaking strains on the market from 0.6 LB right up to and past 800lb (big game fishing) when selecting the line you must think of what type of fish you might be going to catch and select the appropriate line. Say if you are fishing from the shore and are going to catch fish up to 15LB it would be a waste of time and money to fish with 100LB line

As a rule of thumb

Shore Fishing = 10 LB to 35 LB (please always use a shock leader)

Boat Fishing = 10LB to 40LB (general boat fishing - for conger and game fishing it can go up to 400LB plus)

Quick tip
When comparing two lines of the same braking strain always check the diameter of the line as this can vary quiet a bit from make and price of the fishing line

The reason why you should check this is because the thinner the line (diameter ) the better the casting will be plus the less resistance the line will have in the water against tidal flow

Shockleader

Shockleader what is it ?

A Shockleader is a length of monofilament line that is designed to absorb the pressure of casting weights when shore fishing or when boat fishing using braid line ect

Shockleader generally comes on spools of 20 meter lengths to 70 meter lengths and have a greater elasticity than standard monofilament fishing line

There are new tapered shockleaders on the market that start at e.g 15lb (the end you connect to your main line and then increase to 60lb ) these look great - as wellyfish and kiwi showed me the last time we fished together

When and how to use a Shockleader

When shores fishing, you are casting lead weights under great pressure, which can and does result in your main line snapping

This is very dangerous and can cause great danger to other people around you whilst fishing (the lead weight can be like a small cannon ball) so always use a Shockleader!!

As a rule of thumb

1 oz lead weight you will need 10lb of breaking strain Shockleader

4oz lead weight 40lb and so on