Im looking for opinions on which mono lines tend to be less stretchy. I have a 7 foot medium rod casting setup that I want to be a sort of all purpose rod. This will be mostly used for top waters like poppers and small spooks to jerk baits/crank baits. Maybe things like curl tail grubs from time to time as well. I spooled three last of the YoZuri hybrid 12# I had on it and I feel like this line has a lot of stretch.
No, I'm not going to spool it with braid or fluoro. I already have a similar setup with with both other types of lines. Just looking for a suggestion for a somewhat lower stretch mono in 12#.
Toray Polyamide Plus or Defier Armilo are my favorite low stretch monos, by far.
Why mono?
Top Water....Throw Braid
Again, I have other rods for braid. I want this mainly for jerk baits and cranks, but it will see topwater use. I don't want zero stretch, I've tried it before and found myself ripping lures out of the mouth of fish more than hooking them. I don't mind stretch, I just don't want to have to take three steps back and swing for the fence like I felt was having to do last night.
The other reason I want mono is it will keep some lures from diving deeper than I want them to, and the other rods I have with fluoro I can use when I want the same lure to go deeper.
I still think Triple fish is a very decent mono not a nylon but Perlon slight stretch but it bounces back, doesn't deform per se ... Not as easy to find as once was, I have used it for years with smaller cranks and hard jerk baits.
Izorline? You don't want a soft, limp easily managed line. Most (if not all) will have plenty of stretch. You want a harder line that is more abrasion resistant. It will also be more memory prone. I forget which brand of Izorline I put on my daughter's reel, but she didn't like it because it was too stiff for trouble free casting. Might have been the Platinum. She does like the Siege I replaced it with.
Triple Fish or Maxima. But all mono is going to have stretch to it no matter what the brand is. Only other suggestion is to put a longer topshot of mono on one of your braid set ups....like about 25ft. This way you have some stretch but won't have too much on the longer casts.
Haven't tested them all by any means, but of all the ones I have, Berkley Sensation has always come out as the mono with the least amount of stretch.
-T9
Sunline Defier Armillo is perfect for what you want
I've tried a lot of monofilament lines, in fact I try a new one every year and sometimes 2 so I know if there is anything I may be missing. If you are talking casting reels, Cajun Red Lightning or Cajun Clear Lightning has very little stretch, the clear lightning is very close to fluorocarbon and if it wasn't for the fact that it floated I'd think I was using fluorocarbon. That line gets a bad rap for being cheap and because people put it on spinning reels when it says on the package that it is for round or low pro casting reels but it is in small print. I also like the Berkley Big Game in that the stretch isn't like a rubber band and the knot strength is fantastic. Silver Thread Excalibur is super strong with low stretch and amazing abrasion resistance but it is tough to control and it does have low memory but the memory gets worse over time so I found myself switching it out after 2 months on a spinning reel and a little longer on a casting set up. Right now I'm really impressed with Berkley Trilene XL Armor Coated, I only got the XT in 6lb and 8lb but decided to try the XL and I'm amazed, I got it is 6lb line and have fought 3lb smallies in heavy grass and won, on 6lb line but I have yet to try it in larger diameters but I'm going to this week. I can tell you it has stretch but not as bad as I thought it would but the abrasion resistance along with knot strength had me sold. The last line I'd go with is the McCoy Mean Green, low stretch but you will encounter memory but KVD line conditioner will compensate for that.
On 8/3/2014 at 7:50 AM, BadBassWV said:Top Water....Throw Braid
you dont want braid for poppers and spooks
Many line manufacturers sell a softer line formulated for spinning gear and a hard surface line for baitcasting. Trilene XL (soft) and XT (hard), Izor Line XXX (soft) and Premium (hard), etc. If less stretch is important, buy a hard surface line. They have less stretch, cast a little better, and usually also have better knot strength. The downside is they also develop spool memory faster than their soft stable mates, which can be an issue in cold weather. I like Izor Line Premium, especially when I can find 1/4 lb spools on sale. But Trilene, Sufix, and other companies make similar lines.
On 8/3/2014 at 9:28 PM, Bigbass37 said:you dont want braid for poppers and spooks
Poppers no, spooks yes. Braid is awesome for walking baits.
Lowest stretch mono or copolymer line I have used is probably Berkley Sensation.
Sunline Defier blows sensation out of the water. It's honestly the best line I've used, and that's a lot of Line.
I haven't noticed much stretch with sufix siege and trilene xt. Sufix elite and trilene xl are like rubber bands.
On 8/3/2014 at 11:07 AM, Team9nine said:Haven't tested them all by any means, but of all the ones I have, Berkley Sensation has always come out as the mono with the least amount of stretch.
-T9
Sensation is co-poly and sinks. Don't want the OP to get confused on that.
The truth be known all mono, copolymer, hybrid and FC lines stretch when they reach the tensile yield strength and that is the key issue, use strong enough line so it doesn't yield under the force you apply to it.
With top water fished in open water you want a mono that floats add fly line dressing to about 3' of line near the lure.
Sunline Deifer mono is excellent line.
Tom
Like I mentioned first, I know they all stretch. I do want some stretch, but the line I have spooled on it now has a LOT of stretch.
Not only couldnt I hardly feel the bites I got with tight line while fishing a swim jig, but I had to crank a couple turns, step back and swing back as far as I could before I even really felt like I had any pressure on the fish.
If you are using a swim jig, or any other presentation where it requires sensativity, I defiantly wouldn't use mono, unless you have a very high end rod, I'm talking 500 dollar rod. You will feel the bite on mono, otherwise forget it. For a moving bait it's fine, especially top water or treble hook baits like cranks or poppers, etc. it's actually good to have stretch on a top water, like a popper as the hooks will get deeper in the fish, and not rip free when your fighting it or it jumps. I used to throw poppers 75% of the time, and used 12 lb trilene xl on medium heavy casting gear, and landed nearly every single fish. I switched to braid for some reason for top water, and kept loosing fish time and time again, due to the lack of stretch.
On 8/3/2014 at 9:28 PM, Bigbass37 said:you dont want braid for poppers and spooks
Braid is all I throw.......I throw a spook with braid all the time. Works good for me on poppers too.
On 8/4/2014 at 9:58 AM, jonnyblazex said:If you are using a swim jig, or any other presentation where it requires sensativity, I defiantly wouldn't use mono, unless you have a very high end rod, I'm talking 500 dollar rod. You will feel the bite on mono, otherwis forget it. For a moving bait it's fine, especially top water or treble hook baits like cranks or poppers, etc. it's actually good to have stretch on a top water, like a popper as the hooks will get deeper in the fish, and not rip free when your fighting it or it jumps. I used to throw poppers 75% of the time, and used 12 lb trilene xl on medium heavy casting gear, and landed nearly every single fish. I switched to braid for some reason for top water, and kept loosing fish time and time again, due to the lack of stretch.
I was just fishing a pond the other night was the only reason I had a swim jig on this rod, just mentioned it as an example. I dont use fluoro on the rod I normally throw swim jigs on either and have no issue feeling the bite with that, but I don't feel like spooling CXX on this rod. as i mentioned before, I have other rods with fluoro and braid. I know what to use those for.
Thanks for the suggestions guys.
Seems Smalljaw has nailed the answer.
It is going to come down to personal preference.
Special thanks to Smalljaw. His post is worth copying and pasting it in your fishing files for future reference.
Give Trilene XT a try. I believe it'll be what you are looking for.
I've always used mono lines and heard of and seen the new stuff but ones gotta ask themself good enough for me ? and if so why change?