Monofilament Fishing Line
Is this the Universal Line?

Many sea anglers are happy to use nylon monofilament fishing line for all their saltwater fishing needs, as it's an excellent general purpose line and suitable for most situations, but there are times when one of the hi-tech variants - fluorocarbon fishing line or braid fishing line for example, would perform better.

Nylon monofilament lines are produced from liquid nylon, by drawing it out in a single continuous strand until it has reached a predetermined thickness.

Small diameter mono lines are made by extending the drawing-out process until the desired thickness has been reached.

Breaking strain is obviously related to diameter, so it will come as no surprise that thinner lines are less strong than thick ones.

Modern production processes ensure that today's mono lines are highly consistent in terms of both diameter and breaking strain when new, but this happy state of affairs soon changes after the line has been in use for a while.

Exposure to the sun causes a structural change in the line - ultra-violet degradation - to occur, and this together with the inevitable nicks and abrasions soon mean that the actual breaking strain of your mono line is only a fraction of what it said on the spool.

Fortunately, mono line is relatively cheap - and it's a wise angler that replaces it regularly.

The Good, and Not So Good, Qualities of Monofilament Fishing Line

Monofilament fishing line is stretchy stuff, and this inherent elasticity can be an advantage in some situations, and a disadvantage in others.

Strong points …

• Its elasticity give it good shock absorbing qualities, making it less likely that a fish will tear itself free of the hook in its desperate fight for freedom.



Monofilament Line
more details...

• Similarly, its shock absorbing quality means it’s a good choice for shock leaders, although fluorocarbon's low-stretch property will enable you to put more power into a cast.


• Compared to other line materials, it’s relatively inexpensive.


• It’s an easy line material in which to make connections, using knots or crimps.


• It’s transparent, and less visible in the water than most other line materials.


• It is a low memory material, so will soon forget about the coils it was restrained in on the spool.


• Moderately resistant to abrasion

Not so good …

• Its elasticity absorbs movement of your terminal tackle, minimising bite detection at the rod tip.

• It suffers from ultra-violet degradation when exposed to direct sunlight.

• It’s absorbent to a small degree, a property that causes it to loose strength over time.

So the answer to the question at the head of this page is ...

"No - but it comes close!"

Bulk Spools

Bulk Spools of Mono
more details...

The very best value is to be had by buying monofilament fishing line in bulk.

Some suppliers offer this as a series of normal sized spools joined together, whilst others choose to load it all on to a single large spool and sell it by breaking strain and weight - for example a 2lb spool of 40lb breaking strain line - but fail to tell you what length of line you're getting.

In this latter case, the following table will give you the answer:~