Old Fishing Line: Feeling Nostalgic 2024
wdp reply :
Me & a buddy started discussing old fishing line brands we used growing up. It's been so long ago I can't remember what I used as a kid - whatever my Dad had & spooled on my Zebco 33. Prob ole purple Stren.
But back in the mid 80s, my Dad & I stumbled upon a new high tech line called Prime made by DuPont. Anybody remember this line? It had an inner core line that was supposedly stronger with less stretch and was coated with a normal type of nylon line. It actually was pretty good stuff as I recall & it's what I fished with for most of my college years. Until it was hard to find & was discontinued I guess.
I even found an old article about it from back in 1985.
http://articles.mcall.com/1985-08-06/sports/2487033_1_monofilament-line-baits
Thinking about this fishing line got me to feeling nostalgic. I can remember lots of days back then that my Dad & I would hit some gravel pit ponds. I'd have my trusty 5 and 1/2 ft pistol grip rods with Abu Royal Ambassador reels. I'd wear out the dinks using fire tail & tequila sunrise Culprit worms. 60 catch days were not unheard of. Times sure seemed less complicated back then. And I'm officially starting to feel old. ?
J Francho reply :
I'm feeling nostalgic about my drive to work as a line cook, back in 1989.
Kidding! I remember catching with my 404, and getting a matching green Zebco rod - a six footer - HUGE! - and thinking what a pro I was. Those were the days. I'd like to go back, with the gear and skills of today.
Team9nine reply :
Remember the line well, but never used it. My "Upgrade" outfit was a 202 with matching 6' rod. So proud of that outfit back then ?
J Francho reply :
202, so low rent, lol. I remember my dad's 33 and matching rod, as well as his gigantic 7' Garcia with a D.A.M. Quick 4000 worm drive reel. Seemed like he could send a Cleo out into oblivion with that combo!
Munkin reply :
I remember using some oval shaped mono but cannot remember the name? That and the 6' Zebco Rhino Rod that was "indestructible from tip to butt" Broke 4 in one summer.
Allen
RoLo reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 2:07 AM, wdp said:Me & a buddy started discussing old fishing line brands we used growing up. It's been so long ago I can't remember what I used as a kid - whatever my Dad had & spooled on my Zebco 33. Prob ole purple Stren. But back in the mid 80s, my Dad & I stumbled upon a new high tech line called Prime made by DuPont.
Speaking of nostalgia and old fishing lines, I can remember a vintage line that my father used.
After each use, dad removed the 'linen' fishing line from his reel then strung it out to dry.
Before synthetic fishing line was introduced, the early fishing lines were made of natural fibers
like silk, cotton and linen. They had to be dried out after use, otherwise they'd rot 
Roger
wdp reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 2:59 AM, RoLo said:
Speaking of nostalgia and old fishing lines, I can remember a vintage line that my father used.
After each use, dad removed the 'linen' fishing line from his reel then strung it out to dry.
Before synthetic fishing line was introduced, the early fishing lines were made of natural fibers
like silk, cotton and linen. They had to be dried out after every use, otherwise they'd rot
Roger
Wow! Now that's old skool right there.
Turtle135 reply :
Oh I remember "Prime" cofilament alright! Not so fondly however. The core and the sheath would start to separate over time. I remember watching it happen out on the water one day and thinking to myself "what the H?".
If I remember correctly it would begin to degrade just sitting on the shelf so the next season all that brand new line at retail outfits had to be recalled.
Stuff was worse than flourocarbon! 
lo n slo reply :
12 lb Super Silver Thread on my old Mitchell spinning reel
J Francho reply :
There was a flat mono, specifically made for baitcasters. Was supposed to lay flat on the spool. I think it was from Stren or Trilene. It was terrible. Heaven forbid you foul a bait, and get a few twists.
It's probably the same stuff @Munkin referred to.
doublest reply :
I still have a line clipper they gave away as a premium. Tho I don't recall using the line. The oldest line I recall is my old Cortland camouflage I had spooled on my Pflueger Nobby. Didn't work worth a d*mn on my Airex Bache Brown spinning reel. Talk about the old days, I only wish I could go back
Munkin reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 4:01 AM, J Francho said:There was a flat mono, specifically made for baitcasters. Was supposed to lay flat on the spool. I think it was from Stren or Trilene. It was terrible. Heaven forbid you foul a bait, and get a few twists.
It's probably the same stuff @Munkin referred to.
That is it! Only came in two sizes 6/20 and like 14/30 rated like braid today.
Allen
wdp reply :
Hey @RoLo check this out. I googled vintage linen fishing line. Cool stuff.
On 4/13/2017 at 4:10 AM, Munkin said:
That is it! Only came in two sizes 6/20 and like 14/30 rated like braid today.
Allen
Wish I could remember the name of it & who made it. I vaguely remember trying it. It was so bad I took it back off my reel after only 1 fishing trip. It sure had some good sounding marketing tho. Wasn't it supposed to lie flat & reduce tangles for greater cast distance, yada, yada, yada. In the words of Charles Barkley, that stuff was turrible. Just turrible.
J Francho reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 4:10 AM, Munkin said:
That is it! Only came in two sizes 6/20 and like 14/30 rated like braid today.
Allen
Those ratings sound real familiar!
doublest reply :
pretty sure it was dupont.Their logo is on the lever of the clipper I have.
J Francho reply :
That's Stren, then.
WRB reply :
My first bait casting reel was a Langley Target, no level wind with 12 lb black Ashaway Dacron line, 5'3" Connolin hollow glass bass rod, the year was 1955. The Langley reel held 50 yards of 12 lb Dacron line and I could cast all 50 yards. No level wind, no brakes met you learned to control the line with your index finger and thumb, lessons I still use today.
My second reel was a Langley Lure cast that has a level wind with Ashaway 12 lb camo dacron line on 5'6" Connolin bass rod in 1957. In 1958 Ashaway came out with Diamond Back line a hybrid braid and that became my new line! I still have the reels, the rods are gone.
First spinning reel was a Zebco Cardinal 3 early 60's with 6 lb Royal Bonnyl monofilament line on Fenwick 6' trout rod. First free spool baitcaster was Abu Ambassaduer 500 red reel, also early 60's with 14 lb Royal Bonnyl mono, 5'6" Eagle Claw bass rod, still have most of my reels over the years.
Tom
doublest reply :
Now that I think of it, it was Stren, I'm sure it was a product managers idea to try to hype stren sales and get a raise in his check. Tok a while for this 75yr plus brain to engage
On 4/13/2017 at 5:17 AM, WRB said:My first bait casting reel was a Langley Target, no level wind with 12 lb black Ashaway Dacron line, 5'3" Connolin hollow glass bass rod, the year was 1955. The Langley reel held 50 yards of 12 lb Dacron line and I could cast all 50 yards. No level wind, no brakes met you learned to control the line with your index finger and thumb, lessons I still use today.
My second reel was a Langley Lure cast that has a level wind with Ashaway 12 lb camo dacron line on 5'6" Connolin bass rod in 1957. In 1958 Ashaway came out with Diamond Back line a hybrid braid and that became my new line! I still have the reels, the rods are gone.
First spinning reel was a Zebco Cardinal 3 early 60's with 6 lb Royal Bonnyl monofilament line on Fenwick 6' trout rod. First free spool baitcaster was Abu Ambassaduer 500 red reel, also early 60's with 12 lb Royal Bonnyl mono, still have most of my reels over the years.
Tom
i
wdp reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 3:35 AM, Turtle135 said:Oh I remember "Prime" cofilament alright! Not so fondly however. The core and the sheath would start to separate over time. I remember watching it happen out on the water one day and thinking to myself "what the H?".
If I remember correctly it would begin to degrade just sitting on the shelf so the next season all that brand new line at retail outfits had to be recalled.
Stuff was worse than flourocarbon!
Well, now we know why it was discontinued. Lol. I used it for 3-4 yrs and never had any issues. Thing I remember was that it was a lot more sensitive than what I was previously using.
On 4/13/2017 at 5:32 AM, doublest said:Now that I think of it, it was Stren, I'm sure it was a product managers idea to try to hype stren sales and get a raise in his check. Tok a while for this 75yr plus brain to engage
i
I think you're right. It was Stren. It's starting to kinda come back to me as well. It seems like it wasn't completely flat but more of an oblong oval shape like was already mentioned. I just remember I hated it. But I sure bought into all the marketing & had to buy some.
TX-Deluxe reply :
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0351e95e-a889-4b20-b9e3-97636206b14c
Maxximus Redneckus reply :
It was called magnum it floated through the air on a cast also
A-Jay reply :
MagnaFlex ~ still using it today
A-Jay
wdp reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 10:47 AM, Maxximus Redneckus said:It was called magnum it floated through the air on a cast also
Raul reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 2:53 AM, Munkin said:I remember using some oval shaped mono but cannot remember the name? That and the 6' Zebco Rhino Rod that was "indestructible from tip to butt" Broke 4 in one summer.
Allen
Magnum 7-20 & 14-40 made SPECIFICALLY FOR BAITCASTERS, that POS should have a stellar position in bass fishing's Hall Of Shame of fishing products.
Catt reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 2:59 AM, RoLo said:
Speaking of nostalgia and old fishing lines, I can remember a vintage line that my father used.
After each use, dad removed the 'linen' fishing line from his reel then strung it out to dry.
Before synthetic fishing line was introduced, the early fishing lines were made of natural fibers
like silk, cotton and linen. They had to be dried out after every use, otherwise they'd rot
Roger
Try doing that with a Penn International 
I've fished braided Cotton, Dacron, Micron, Suture Material (Silk), Micro Dyneema®, Kevlar, & Spectra.
J Francho reply :
Magnum - that's the stuff. Awful.
wdp reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 8:42 PM, J Francho said:Magnum - that's the stuff. Awful.
Yeah, it really was bad. I had forgotten all about it cause I only used once, maybe twice at most, before taking it back off my reel.
I now remember how excited I was to try it after reading and hearing stuff about it. But it never worked as claimed. It never would lay on the spool correctly and would twist. Seems like my casting distance stunk & I was constantly digging out small bird's nests.
Raul reply :
On 4/13/2017 at 7:06 PM, Catt said:
Try doing that with a Penn International
I've fished braided Cotton, Dacron, Micron, Suture Material (Silk), Micro Dyneema®, Kevlar, & Spectra.
Now that's a real knuckle buster.
Stren Magnathin, man that line handled beautifully and :........had ZERO abrassion resistance !
IndianaFinesse reply :
And for all you guys who think bass care about line visibility, people caught fish on those old ropes! Our current superlines are far thinner (and stronger) than that.
wdp reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 3:16 AM, IndianaFinesse said:And for all you guys who think bass care about line visibility, people caught fish on those old ropes!
?????
How true! Kinda hard to believe.
J Francho reply :
Weren't you mostly using moving baits with those lines?
WRB reply :
In the late 80's before Seagaur or Sunline came out with 100M spools of Fluorocarbon line, DAM Tectan came out with 100% Fluorocabon line and I bought it. First experience with fresh water FC, before that it was salt water FC leader line. First experience fishing during the day was very good so I tried Tectan FC during a night tournament and what a mistake. Tectan FC has very poor impact strength and at night bass fishing is shorter casts, bigger average bass and I broke off every bass I hooked. I would set the hook, the would break the line and continued jumping trying to through the jig, very frustrating. I put my cranking reel with 12 lb Big Game on my jig rod after losing several big bass and managed to savage the night. DAM Tectan took on another meaning!
Tom
Scott F reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 3:31 AM, wdp said:?????
How true! Kinda hard to believe.
Why is that hard to believe? I don't remember anybody saying bass were line shy until the companies who sell FC lines told us they were!
Catt reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 3:55 AM, J Francho said:Weren't you mostly using moving baits with those lines?
Nope fished T-rigs & jigs
wdp reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 4:59 AM, Scott F said:Why is that hard to believe? I don't remember anybody saying bass were line shy until the companies who sell FC lines told us they were!
Well, that was kinda said tongue in cheek. I def believe people caught fish with that line. Back in those days it meant supper for the table I'd bet.
Like you said, we get it pounded into our brains that the fish are skittish & line shy. I think there might be rare occasions when that's somewhat true, but a lotta days it doesn't matter at all.
J Francho reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 8:01 AM, Catt said:
Nope fished T-rigs & jigs
I guess I thought by the time you good plastic baits (Creme, Mann's, etc.) I figured mono would have been prevalent. I guess not.
Thanks!
Catt reply :
On 4/14/2017 at 8:34 PM, J Francho said:
I guess I thought by the time you good plastic baits (Creme, Mann's, etc.) I figured mono would have been prevalent. I guess not.
Thanks!
Long before Dyneema & Spectra I understand the benefits of "non" stretch line.
A problem with braided line is their limpness; Cotton, Dacron, Micron, Suture Material (Silk) are the worse for wind cause it wrap around everything.
And don't even think about backlashes!
Modern Dyneema & Spectra lines are coated to make them less limp.
Early monofilament was not what we use today!
Tucson reply :
When I was about 10 years old (57 years ago) I bought a Ted Williams bait caster from Sears and loaded it with silk line. Never used it, it's still sitting on a shelf brand new. Anyway, silk was the way to go back then. Not exactly stealthy.
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