With the advancements in technology over the past few decades, anglers have been forced to make more choices when spooling their reels.

With so many choices in diameter and strength in Fluorocarbon, monofilament, and braided lines, deciding which is best for your next fishing trip can be a challenge. Braided lines however, are becoming more and more popular amongst anglers in a variety of fisheries. Let’s look at the properties of all the lines to see if you are missing out on the braided advantage. Monofilament is probably the most commonly known and most used fishing line of years past. It offers a low visibility and floating property making it a great all around clear fishing line. Baits fished close to or on the surface works well with mono because of its floating properties. The castability of mono is also a nice feature and the stretch the line provides makes it more forgiving when fighting a fish that really doesn’t want to be caught. Some of the negatives of monofilament are the abrasion resistance and the floating properties in some cases. Hard hook sets and abrasive cover can often break monofilament, making it better suited for open water situations.

Fluorocarbon is a lot like monofilament in appearance but offers a few different properties. Fluoro offers less viability and less stretch than mono. This is better for clear water of deeper water where getting a good hook set is important or when fish are more pressured and used to seeing fishing lines. The abrasive resistance is also better, making it perfect for using as leader material. Baits that you want to get down deeper and stay there are also well paired with fluorocarbon because it sinks unlike monofilament. A few disadvantages with fluoro are the castability and memory of the line. Fluoro requires more skill to cast longer distances and often times a backlash will severely degrade the integrity of the line. You will find that fluorocarbon line will need to be changed more often than monofilament in order to maintain its intended properties.

The braided lines of today have changed the way many anglers fish and the continued advancements have resulted in tackle manufacturers altering their product designs to match the braided line properties. The advantage of braid is that there is virtually no stretch in the line, making hook sets easily achievable in any depth of water. Having no stretch also means high sensitivity, this is also especially helpful in deeper water. The diameter to break strength is also an advantage. Much more line of a higher break strength can be put on a reel with braid VS monofilament and fluorocarbon. Unlike other clear lines, braided lines maintain their intended break strength for much longer periods of time. Braids can be left on a reel for months without having to change. With all these advantages, this disadvantages include the high visibility of the line and its buoyancy. Many anglers will often attach a fluorocarbon leader to solve some of these issues. Pairing these two lines together combines the advantages of both and creates a very sensitive and easy casting combination that a variety of anglers in different fisheries utilize.

More and more anglers are choosing to make braided line their main source to spool up with on the majority of the techniques. There are still techniques that monofilament and fluorocarbon can be better suited for, but having all the advantages of braided line will often outweigh the high visibility, especially with using leader material. If you are one of the anglers that has tried braid in years past and didn’t like the way it performed, you may be surprised at better performing advancements in braided lines in recent years.