I read somewhere that early human used some sort of thread with fish bones as hooks to catch fish. They did not use rods but handheld the line while waiting for the fish to take the bait. When exactly this early form of fishing started i have no idea, you have to look up in some scientific research books. But the methods of fishing and the equipments used have gone through thousand of years of evolution since it first began up to the modern time with what you see today available in the tackle shops and online stores. The evolution of the fishing lines had one purpose in mind which is to make them stronger and more efficient in catching fish.
There are so many types of lines available now with each has its pros and cons, and price that reflects the technology that goes into the making of the lines, and the quality of the lines. There are monofilament lines made of a single strand and comes in classification according to the diameter in milimeter and breaking strength in pound or kilogramme, which is quite common and popular since they are generally cheaper. They are made of less denser materials and therefore more buoyant in the water and sink slower to the bottom. They also stretch more than other lines under load which reduces the effectiveness when setting the hook. Their refrective index are high making them more visible in clear water which can have an effect on fishes which are sensitive thus reduce the hookup rate. But due to their low price they are popular as the main lines with most anglers.
I started my fishing hobby using cheap mono lines which cost less than RM5 (US1.50) for a 100meter length with a breaking strength of 20lb. After sometime i would discard them due to their high memory and just bought new ones. Nowadays i would buy higher quality lines with higher breaking strength but smaller diameter which can make them less visible in the water and can help give me better casting distance. They come in so many colors like yellow, green, blue, black, orange and red which some manufacturers claiming the red color can make the line disappear in deep water due to the lack of light and the red color is the first to go. There are also lines that are invisible in the water but change color above water when exposed to the sun to make them visible to the anglers.There are so many brands available like D.A.M, Berkley, Relix, Shimano, Abu Garcia, Spiderwire, and Stren just to mention a few.
I started my fishing hobby using cheap mono lines which cost less than RM5 (US1.50) for a 100meter length with a breaking strength of 20lb. After sometime i would discard them due to their high memory and just bought new ones. Nowadays i would buy higher quality lines with higher breaking strength but smaller diameter which can make them less visible in the water and can help give me better casting distance. They come in so many colors like yellow, green, blue, black, orange and red which some manufacturers claiming the red color can make the line disappear in deep water due to the lack of light and the red color is the first to go. There are also lines that are invisible in the water but change color above water when exposed to the sun to make them visible to the anglers.There are so many brands available like D.A.M, Berkley, Relix, Shimano, Abu Garcia, Spiderwire, and Stren just to mention a few.
There are also fluorocarbon lines which are monofilament lines made of denser material like fluoropolymer PVDF making them sink faster than monofilament lines, not to mention their refractive index is low meaning they bounce less light therefore are less visible in water. Due to their unique property they are expensive and normally not used as main lines but popular as leader material for casting artificial lures, jigs, poppers etc.They stretch less than mono thus giving good striking power to improve hookup rate. They are a better alternative to the braided lines which are more expensive. A lot of bass tournament anglers in the USA use the fluorocarbon as their main lines to improve their catches and win trophies instead of mono lines. They are more abrasive resistant than normal mono lines and when the bass are found in weed areas there are no other way to pull them out without cutting the lines. It could be the difference between going home with a trophy and a few grand richer than empty hands. There are many brands available in the market but the ones i have used were from Suffix, Stren and Xzoga. They are not that expensive and of high quality.
The ultimate lines to use for fishing especially for casting and jigging are the braided lines which have almost no stretch properties making them very sensitive to feel the fish strikes. They are made by woven fibers using materials like Spectra, Dacron or micro-Dyneema. Some brands have up to eight individual strands woven in such a way that they become more rounded than the others which help in reducing line cutting in the spool if they are not packed densely. Some lines are thermally fused in order to keep their form permanent. These lines are more expensive than the normal braided lines. They are also very resistance to abrasion and comparative to mono or fluorocarbon lines they have smaller diameter at the same pound rating. This is good because you can fill in more yardage in the small spools compared to the mono and fluorocarbon lines,and because their diameters are smaller it will help achieving longer distance during casting. But due to their zero stretch property and their opaqueness they are very visible in the water which can spook the fishes and prevent the fishes from striking the lures or take the bait. Thus using mono or fluorocarbon leaders for the first one or two meters from the hook or lure is a must if you were to have any success in catching any fish. One of the advantages of using braided lines is that it does not have a memory problem like mono or fluorocarbon as most of them are very soft. However those who use braided lines for baitcasting reels will swear that braided lines increase the backlashes or birdnests during casting because sometimes the braided lines cut into the reel line which was not packed properly and stuck which causes the flying lures to stop suddenly in the air and causes backlashes as the spool still spins and offload the line. Once tangled braided lines are harder to untangled as the knots are tighter compared to mono or fluorocarbon lines. But there are ways to prevent or reduce the backlashes by properly tuning the magnetic or centrifugal brakes of the reels according to the different weights of the lures used. I have used various lines on my low-profile reels and all of them gave me backlashes if not the brakes were not tuned properly. There are so many brands of braided lines out there in the market but the ones i use the most are Spiderwire, Shimano Power Pro and Fins in various colors and poundage. My favorite colors are red, yellow and green ranging from 8lb to 20lb test for casting lures and 30lb to 50lb for bottom, jigging and trolling at sea.. Some manufacturers produce braided lines in various colors to mark the water depth like each color for every 5 or 10 meters so you can roughly guess the depth of the water you are fishing in.
You can do some trial and error on the various lines available in the market to suit your fishing styles based on your budget, i am sure there are some out there that can improve your catch and make you happy.
Happy fishing.
The ultimate lines to use for fishing especially for casting and jigging are the braided lines which have almost no stretch properties making them very sensitive to feel the fish strikes. They are made by woven fibers using materials like Spectra, Dacron or micro-Dyneema. Some brands have up to eight individual strands woven in such a way that they become more rounded than the others which help in reducing line cutting in the spool if they are not packed densely. Some lines are thermally fused in order to keep their form permanent. These lines are more expensive than the normal braided lines. They are also very resistance to abrasion and comparative to mono or fluorocarbon lines they have smaller diameter at the same pound rating. This is good because you can fill in more yardage in the small spools compared to the mono and fluorocarbon lines,and because their diameters are smaller it will help achieving longer distance during casting. But due to their zero stretch property and their opaqueness they are very visible in the water which can spook the fishes and prevent the fishes from striking the lures or take the bait. Thus using mono or fluorocarbon leaders for the first one or two meters from the hook or lure is a must if you were to have any success in catching any fish. One of the advantages of using braided lines is that it does not have a memory problem like mono or fluorocarbon as most of them are very soft. However those who use braided lines for baitcasting reels will swear that braided lines increase the backlashes or birdnests during casting because sometimes the braided lines cut into the reel line which was not packed properly and stuck which causes the flying lures to stop suddenly in the air and causes backlashes as the spool still spins and offload the line. Once tangled braided lines are harder to untangled as the knots are tighter compared to mono or fluorocarbon lines. But there are ways to prevent or reduce the backlashes by properly tuning the magnetic or centrifugal brakes of the reels according to the different weights of the lures used. I have used various lines on my low-profile reels and all of them gave me backlashes if not the brakes were not tuned properly. There are so many brands of braided lines out there in the market but the ones i use the most are Spiderwire, Shimano Power Pro and Fins in various colors and poundage. My favorite colors are red, yellow and green ranging from 8lb to 20lb test for casting lures and 30lb to 50lb for bottom, jigging and trolling at sea.. Some manufacturers produce braided lines in various colors to mark the water depth like each color for every 5 or 10 meters so you can roughly guess the depth of the water you are fishing in.
You can do some trial and error on the various lines available in the market to suit your fishing styles based on your budget, i am sure there are some out there that can improve your catch and make you happy.
Happy fishing.
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