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The best mono line I have ever used

Gerry Giles

Gerry Giles

Senior Member & Supporter
A bit of useless history
I am 77 and been angling since I was old enough to hold a Rod from a 50s family of fanatical river and pit match anglers I HAD to go with my Dad every weekend not matter if I wanted to or not until I was 13 and a bicycle set me free to ride to the Thames on my own and fish for big fish !

and bitten by the bug fished for everything that swims in the UK sea and freshwater also 18 years mainly in Europe and more recently back to Barbel fishing till the big C has put it on hold
so I can say in that time I have a great deal of experience in using most of the mono lines available lots of really good ones but if I had to pick one line that was the best

it would be Shimano CATANA its everything you could want in a line casts like a dream sinks really well amazing abrasion resistance lays lovely and straight does not twist up or coil amazing strength
BUT SADLY Shimano stopped making it at the time I made enquires and found out it was very expensive to produce so they discontinued it

NOW !!! fast forward a few years and SOLAR Tackle have released a line called Bulletproof it seems this could be Catana
as people that are using it (mainly carp anglers ? are raving about and I have had two people that were long tome Catana users telling me Gerry it is identical to CATANA

we have all used Platil Maxima Gardner Berkeley and all the recent Shimano lines ESP I could go on and on BUT !

This post is plain and simply giving you a heads up thats all no big I use blah blah

cos if you havent tried and used BULLETPROOF LINE whats the point you wont know how good or bad ? just trying to give you a heads up and help you


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Trevor Summerfield said:
Berkley makes the best lines, and American tech has as always taken the lead. The rest follow.
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That is a bit of a generalisation…..

Berkeley have made some great lines (XL, XT, Trimax, Big game etc etc) but they have also sold some rubbish ones too (Vanish and Transition to name but two).

In the 90’s I imported bulk spools of certain B lines - because it was better than what we could get here. My mates and I divvy’d it up amongst ourselves. These days there are loads of decent lines available on the U.K. market - so life is simple.

I have never tried Catana or Bulletproof - so can’t comment on those.
 
Every angler uses the "best" line.
if they did'nt they would use something else. I have used afew differnt shimano lines over the years, some were great and some not. all were quite expensive and made in japan iirc. my own personal confidence lays fully in Fox Exocet and has done for years but i do like threads like this as its something ill remember should the day come that fox lets me down or discontinues the product.

Cheers Gerry for the heads up.
 
Derek Funcks said:
Damian, I tried it once and didn't like it. I've got a large spool of 12lb, you can have it for free if you want it. PM me where to send it. 👍
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It’s a mile away from the most supple of lines I agree but it’s bloody reliable

If I had to pick a line to sling directly into a snag pit ….. gr60 would be no 1 and berkley big game no2
 
Derek Funcks said:
Damian, I tried it once and didn't like it. I've got a large spool of 12lb, you can have it for free if you want it. PM me where to send s
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That's very kind of you, Derek, very kind indeed. I have just purchased my spool however and that will last me for years.
 
GR60 was my go to for a long time although ended up on Hydrotuff last year. I'd be interested to know how the Hydrotuff compares to the GT80.

The Hydrotuff, anecdotally seems a fair bit tougher than the GR60.
 
my absolute goto and a mainline I never see mentioned on the forum, which I find strange, is pallatrax gamma. I've used them all, for me personally gamma is a phenomenal mainline, supple, line lay, abrasion, diameter, visibility - ticks all boxes. I've never snapped off above the hooklink. Never.
 
Anthony James said:
my absolute goto and a mainline I never see mentioned on the forum, which I find strange, is pallatrax gamma. I've used them all, for me personally gamma is a phenomenal mainline, supple, line lay, abrasion, diameter, visibility - ticks all boxes. I've never snapped off above the hooklink. Never.
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Didn't know they sold it as a mainline, i bought some of the flouro when they first released it, but then they stopped selling it :rolleyes:

P.S. I'm a huge fan of their Gripz hooks.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
It’s a mile away from the most supple of lines I agree but it’s bloody reliable

If I had to pick a line to sling directly into a snag pit ….. gr60 would be no 1 and berkley big game no2
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Agreed. It's tow rope, and ultra reliable.

Suppleness isn't a quality needed for a barbel line imo. Underarm casting and heavy leads.
 
Christian Tyroll said:
GR60 was my go to for a long time although ended up on Hydrotuff last year. I'd be interested to know how the Hydrotuff compares to the GT80.

The Hydrotuff, anecdotally seems a fair bit tougher than the GR60.
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I've used it for pike fishing after getting a free spool of it. Did the job.
 
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