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X line

Chris, to be honest there is no need on rivers for such stuff. Even carp anglers have a love hate relationship with that type of stuff on gin clear gravel pits.

It is each to there own though... I would sooner fish braid than flouro.

How much is it a spool?
 
chris ive used it for years as a main line and hook lenght. ive never had a problem, its the only line i use. 12lb
 
I used the 8lb X-line for tenching a number of years back, maybe 9 years ago? It may have been improved since then, but I didn't get on with it and changed it half-way through the season, it's still in use as backing. It sunk well enough - that was about the only positive. Give me Pro-clear, Pro-gold or GR60 any day of the week.
 
Must admit I did buy into using flouro but soon gave up on it. Only use ghost on short, stiff helicopters on stillwaters.
 
Hi men,

Used it for donkeys years , after taking it from my canal carping onto the rivers . Never had any problems with it , nor did I when carping in tight old swims . Changed to Gama when given some to test it out which was really nice . Mainline is such a personal thing nobody can give a definitive answer , all I can say is that when we was stalking fish in tap clear water we wanted anyy advantage on our side .

Hatter
 
Joe Winstanley said:
I used the 8lb X-line for tenching a number of years back, maybe 9 years ago? It may have been improved since then, but I didn't get on with it and changed it half-way through the season, it's still in use as backing. It sunk well enough - that was about the only positive. Give me Pro-clear, Pro-gold or GR60 any day of the week.
Click to expand...

I agree entirely Joe. As I have said before, I used X line when it first came out. After several telephone conversations with the guy who was marketing it, I believed the guy and fell for the hype. I then filled two big carp reels with the stuff....and binned it after the first session. In fairness, like many things, it may well be much better now. They were after all the first batches.

What I discovered with the stuff I had was that (A) It was VERY thick, stiff and springy for it's breaking strain, so didn't cast very well. (B) The breaking strain was (unlike standard mono), overstated...it broke well under the stated B/S even on a straight pull. (C) It had virtually NO abrasion resistance. If it touched anything with even a moderately sharp/rough edge, it parted like cotton....end of. Sadly, judging by the Tackle Box line strength charts, Fluoro still has the overstated breaking strain issue...every single brand of it is guilty of that.

In lakes in particular, you can add another factor...suspended solids. This muck WILL settle out...and WILL then coat any line. At that stage, all that stuff about Fluoro being invisible in water goes out of the window....it's now just another line :D Even in rivers, it doesn't take many outings before it has a semi permanent film coating it, with the same result. As far as I can see, it's only saving graces are (1) it's relative invisibility when new out of the box (A very dubious 'benefit', as many have discovered) (2) it's stiffness (if you want a stiff rig) (3) it's sinking qualities, and (4) it's use as a leader when used in very high breaking strains. That last only qualifies as useful because it is so thick in those B/S's that it's lack of abrasion resistance is mitigated, and of course it sinks like a stone in those B/S's.

Other than that, it's probably great stuff :D

The truth is, as Hatter said, fishing gear has the ability to be different things to different users. There are probably many anglers out there who swear by the stuff....but then those folk probably like Brussels sprouts as well :D:D:D

Cheers, Dave.
 
Hi men ,

Dave , I love Brussels sprouts as well :) . all the above rings true , but just for the fishing i was doing it really suited me . On the canal especially it was good , mainly for the line lay . There was the odd ocasion on the rivers where it seemed to do the trick , once stalking a couple of barbel the shy ed off for some reason , where i changed to X-Line strait through , and a nice Teme double picked it up first time . Of coarse it may be coincidence , as re casting a bait sometimes see the rig lay in a different way , who knows what goes on in their little brains , but its their medium we are casting into .

A second capture , again a double for Sue , again the Teme , see even Dave Mason shocked as we had some fish feeding behind a bush as we stood on a high bank above them . The only way was to lower it down a 10 ft drop strait on their heads , with the line coming strait up from the lead :eek: , then guide any hooked fish downstream to where we could reach with the net . If they could see this aweful presentation they never showed it , repeatedly bumping into the 12lb line , to the point of moving the lead , before a fish slipped up . As i say , may have nothing to do with the line , our luck was in , and they probably have never seen a line coming strait up before :D . Dont use it now , back on the GR60 , mainly because i cant be bothered , and just spool all my reels up with the same stuff :p .

Stop picking on brussles as well , :p


Hatter
 
David Gauntlett said:
I agree entirely Joe. As I have said before, I used X line when it first came out. After several telephone conversations with the guy who was marketing it, I believed the guy and fell for the hype. I then filled two big carp reels with the stuff....and binned it after the first session. In fairness, like many things, it may well be much better now. They were after all the first batches.

What I discovered with the stuff I had was that (A) It was VERY thick, stiff and springy for it's breaking strain, so didn't cast very well. (B) The breaking strain was (unlike standard mono), overstated...it broke well under the stated B/S even on a straight pull. (C) It had virtually NO abrasion resistance. If it touched anything with even a moderately sharp/rough edge, it parted like cotton....end of. Sadly, judging by the Tackle Box line strength charts, Fluoro still has the overstated breaking strain issue...every single brand of it is guilty of that.

In lakes in particular, you can add another factor...suspended solids. This muck WILL settle out...and WILL then coat any line. At that stage, all that stuff about Fluoro being invisible in water goes out of the window....it's now just another line :D Even in rivers, it doesn't take many outings before it has a semi permanent film coating it, with the same result. As far as I can see, it's only saving graces are (1) it's relative invisibility when new out of the box (A very dubious 'benefit', as many have discovered) (2) it's stiffness (if you want a stiff rig) (3) it's sinking qualities, and (4) it's use as a leader when used in very high breaking strains. That last only qualifies as useful because it is so thick in those B/S's that it's lack of abrasion resistance is mitigated, and of course it sinks like a stone in those B/S's.

Other than that, it's probably great stuff :D

The truth is, as Hatter said, fishing gear has the ability to be different things to different users. There are probably many anglers out there who swear by the stuff....but then those folk probably like Brussels sprouts as well :D:D:D

Cheers, Dave.
Click to expand...

That was my biggest gripe with it. The estate lake I was fishing was very silty and after a couple of sessions the line had turned a greyish-brown colour, which to my mind made it stand out like a sore thumb in the gin clear water. I replaced it with Krystonite and the same thing happened, although not quite as bad.
 
Even if the water is crystal clear, and the line is brand new out of the box, air bubbles stick to the line surface and highlight it. Try a piece of line fresh from the box in a glass of tap water. And maybe if that isn't still the case when the line is cast into a pool (maybe its travel through the water removes most of the adhered bubbles?), from the evidence I've seen .... fish are spooked less by brushing against something that they can see rather than being surprised by something less visible. Flouro has far too few advantages, and far too many disadvantages, for me to use it again.
 
It's all I use. I just take the first few yards off each time I go.
10lb and a 1.5 tc rod and you can't go wrong. It's caught me a lot of decent fish over the years after a mate put me on it. My catch rate definitely went up and certainly with big chub.

As ever, each to their own!

Cheers,

Jeff
 
I hate to say it Jeff, but if you are fishing for chub with 10lb bs line, then I am not too surprised you don't suffer many breakages.

Cheers, Dave.
 
To be fair Dave, 10lb X-line does have a b/s of around 6.5lb.

Strangely it has the same measured diameter as 10lb Pro-clear (0.26) which has a measured b/s of just over 12lb.

Shame they don't do Pro-clear in 5 or 6lb.
 
Pro clear in 5-6lb...you wish Joe :D. X line is what it is. It is far thicker than standard mono for any given breaking strain, simply because it is over rated B/S wise by the sellers. It has zero abrasion resistance (which is more noticeable in the lower B/S's, where a slight nick represents a larger percentage of it's diameter)...but sinks like a stone, which makes it very useful in the high B/S's. Use it for what it's good for, no probs.

That is my experience, but as in everything in life, others have had different results with the same thing. Good for them, and if it does all they ask, then job done.

Cheers, Dave.
 
It's all a bit confusing this, Martin Bowler swears by this stuff... thinking more than ever mono main line and 2/3 feet of braid gives about the most natural presentation, good enough for Bob Roberts etc.
 
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