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Line choice

J

Jameel Khan

Senior Member
Throughout my barbel fishing I've always used fluorocarbon , being 12lb 0.33 mm korda kontour for smaller river stuff and fox's illusion at 16lb 0.35 for such as the Trent . Would be grateful for anyone's comments on their preferred line choice as I am looking to spool up four new reels and am so unsure as to whether to stick with the fluorocarbon or give mono a go thankyou .
 
Jameel Khan said:
Throughout my barbel fishing I've always used fluorocarbon , being 12lb 0.33 mm korda kontour for smaller river stuff and fox's illusion at 16lb 0.35 for such as the Trent . Would be grateful for anyone's comments on their preferred line choice as I am looking to spool up four new reels and am so unsure as to whether to stick with the fluorocarbon or give mono a go thankyou .
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Nash bullet lasts forever and you could pull a fully loaded silage trailer with 12 bs. In lighter bs I like Drennan super specialist.
 
I still stick to Diawa Sensor. Very supple even at higher strains and its actual b.s. is considerably higher than stated.
Only down site might be its high stretch when used at long range. Not something I have to bother about, but I don't fish big rivers.
 
I use braid on my reels, but as far as mono goes I have tried Gardner Pro Dark Blend on my barbel reels and found that really good mono. Think I used it in 12lb and had no issues with it, I'd definitely look at using it again in the future :)
 
Rob Paylor said:
I use braid on my reels, but as far as mono goes I have tried Gardner Pro Dark Blend on my barbel reels and found that really good mono. Think I used it in 12lb and had no issues with it, I'd definitely look at using it again in the future :)
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Was considering braid too . Never used it as such but again may give it a go thankyou .
 
Jameel Khan said:
Was considering braid too . Never used it as such but again may give it a go thankyou .
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I use Berkeley smoke in 14lb currently but have spooled some new reels with Power Pro braid, think its 20lb but it's nice and thin diameter. Helps when the flow increases as it has most of the autumn/winter so far!! Also had no issues playing fish as the nature of barbel rods is that they aren't too stiff to deal with sudden lunges etc ;)
 
On big rivers (deep/distance/flood) I'd go for braid mainline with a 4ft flouro or mono stretchy leader. On smaller rivers my favourite monos are Krystonite (12lb/0.31) or for maximum abrasion resistance I'd use Ghost line (11lb/0.28, 15lb/0.33)
But the first questions you should be asking yourself are :
"Why am I using fluorocarbon mainline to fish rivers", and
"What qualities do I want from a replacement line".
Whatever line you end up choosing I'd suggest you physically check its breaking strain, and its knot strength.
 
Shimano Technium Black is awesome stuff! No memory whatsoever and is a dream to use. Its like a cross between a mono and braid because of the coating on it and is as tough as they come. Bass Pro Excel is also another one of my favourites but very hard to come by these days in this country.
 
Have used braid for around 20 years, but when I can't its Shimano Technium Invisitec and before that Technium black.

Cheers
Bob
 
Either Gardner Hydrotuff or Berkley Big Game. Both in 10lb....Good solid line with great abrasion resistance. Don’t be put off by the “low” breaking strain, both are understated and break circa 13-14lb.
 
Peter Hayes said:
Shimano Technium Black is awesome stuff! No memory whatsoever and is a dream to use. Its like a cross between a mono and braid because of the coating on it and is as tough as they come. Bass Pro Excel is also another one of my favourites but very hard to come by these days in this country.
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Swapped to Technium Black in Jan 19 after reading countless line reviews and used it for both carp and barbel in 10, 12 and 15lb. First impressions were great. Have since binned the three unused spools I have and stripped it off all my reels. Found it to rapidly loose strength and have the abrasion resistance of wet bog roll. Got cut off on lakes where I've never had a cut off before nor since changing line. Am currently using Gardner Hydro tuff. Their Pro carp was OK too. Line choice is a personal thing and one person's favourite is another's anathema. I did like profish Ghostline and the original Nash bullet but neither are around now.
 
Terry Simner said:
On big rivers (deep/distance/flood) I'd go for braid mainline with a 4ft flouro or mono stretchy leader. On smaller rivers my favourite monos are Krystonite (12lb/0.31) or for maximum abrasion resistance I'd use Ghost line (11lb/0.28, 15lb/0.33)
But the first questions you should be asking yourself are :
"Why am I using fluorocarbon mainline to fish rivers", and
"What qualities do I want from a replacement line".
Whatever line you end up choosing I'd suggest you physically check its breaking strain, and its knot strength.
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Clearly know your stuff mate , good advise thankyou .
 
Thankyou all for taking the time to post . Never really had a problem with fluorocarbon , once I got my head around it . But given it's so called qualities and the expense , and having read all your comments am thinking is it really worth it . Again thankyou all .
 
Fluorocarbon as a main line just sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. It’s springy rigid form makes me think you’ll end up pouring the lot on the bank the moment you crack open the bail.
personally as far as barbel lines are concerned I don’t think you’ll go far wrong with any of the recommendations above. Gardener GR60 or GT80 are very much tried and tested barbel lines. They ain’t the thinnest Diameter out there but they are very reliable, great on abrasion and knott well. ESP is another that used to always perform well. Dunno what it’s like now but it always was a good main line. Ghost line is meant to be very good. I can’t comment on it myself but I’ve been told from people who have used it that you’d struggle to bust it in your hands after running up a brick.
I’ve tried a good few out and to be honest I revert back to good ol gardener gr60. Very reliable line indeed
 
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