My Favorite Line

A couple years ago I bought a new reel and got it spooled at Strikezone.  Archie put on Sufix Tritanium Plus.  I'd heard it was very popular with the N.C. fishing crowd so I thought why not, lets give it a try.  It is a copolymer line which is very different from monofilament. Monofilament is a single line, that has significant stretch in it.  It is also not very abrasion resistant.  If you reel in after a day of fishing and were to let the line glide over your fingers you'd feel nicks in the line in the places it rubs the bottom.  To maintain the integrity of it's strength you'd have to change it out several times a season.

Copolymer is two lines blended into one.  It is thicker in diameter than monofilament for the same pound test.  In my opinion it has significant advantages over mono which is why it costs almost twice as much.
 A friend of mine introduced me to Flying Fisher which is a much less expensive co-polymer line.  I didn't like it primarily because I thought it was very slick and gave me problems tying knots; so I gave the rest of the spool to my friend.  I didn't have the same experience with Sufix Tri.  It was just as easy to grip and tie knots with as any mono I've used.  However, once it was time to change line I didn't give the Sufix Tri another thought.  That is until recently.

Someone on one of the forums asked a question about line.  Wanting to know the answer  myself I did some research.  I found the characteristics of a copolymer line make it more abrasion resistant than mono which is a plus.  However what attracted me the most is it's virtual lack of memory.  With mono when your getting started or wrapping up for the day and your line jumps off the spools it's a hassle but not such a big deal.   Where copolymers pay big dividends is when you go to cast.  Having near zero memory means when you cast it is going to pay-out truer resulting in greater casting distance.  Mono wants to coil up back into a circle; copolymer doesn't.

I'am a big fan of conventional casting reels which are all about distance.  Using a copolymer increases that distance.  When the tide is 3/4 out and I can't get to the bar yet to cast, a conventional reel can usually reach the area the fish are.  When the water is dirty in-close and you need some distance to reach cleaner water usually a conventional can get there.   Co-polymers help that effort.

Archie was able to get some Sufix-Tri 14# chartruse in 1/4lb spools.  If you need something he's the man to contact at Strikezone.  The other thing I'm pretty keen on is being able to see the lay of my line going into the water.  To me it adds to the fun of fighting a fish in addition to helping you quickly eye if a fish has taken the bait and moved towards the beach.  The chartruse proved to be excellent in allowing me to quickly locate the line and follow the movements of the fish.  It's almost twice the price of mono but I believe well worth the investment if distance, lack of memory and visibility are important to you.

Sufix Tritanium Plus in Chartruse is now my line of choice.