# A Brain Plucker



## fish militia (Nov 1, 2004)

Here is a Question for the Old School Fisherman...

Do you think that the Mono Line of today is stronger than the mono line of the same size 25 years ago or so???..

I ask,cause I know the guys back in the day used heavier line than we do today to Pier and Surf fish..

Do you think we are fishing with smaller line now ,because of better rod and reel technology or is the line stronger???


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

I'm not an old timer, but I think there were bigger fish back in them days.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Well, line that was rated 20#-test broke at that pressure no matter when it was made. But lines have gotten substantially thinner in the last few decades.

At least we're not still using that linen crap. Can you imagine having to strip all your line off, rinse it, and hang it out to dry after every trip?


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

I think someone is tryn to get some stories on some of us old farts from back in the day  but ya if I can find some of my Old line from back then I will show ya what we use to use to catch them Big Blues that showed up every year in the James River and we aint talkn one here and there but schools. Seems there use to be a lot more of the bigger fish so bigger line was used to keep from gettn broke off all the time, cause ya didnt need to cast 100+ yards to catch big fish.
And I aint gonna show ya my old rods and reels cause termites ate them


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## AL_N_VB (Apr 3, 2002)

dang....shooter ,they made mechanical reels ,back then?...was tha wheel invented yet?


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Rob,I think it goes with what Flea said earlier,diameter... [email protected] I used thirty to sixty shocker,and I'm fairly sure Russell did as well.. Back then,everyone did,kingin or drumin,didn't matter.. In hindsight,I really believe the line nowadays test much stronger for the lb test than it did back then. If you used 30 now,judging by how strong the twenty tri or suffix is in 20,you'd probably yank the end rail off the pier if ya tied good knots!  My bud Pat tested on a scale with the 20 suffix one time for me,if I remember correctly he broke it at 28lb... I'da loved to have had the line,rod,and reel technology back then,it would have been some even more awsume fishin. At times though,you would probably overcast the fish,and I also saw times back then when those extra ft meant fish..


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## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

> At times though,you would probably overcast the fish,and I also saw times back then when those extra ft meant fish..


Yep,just goes to show that's why we all call it fishin' .  Them rascals liable to swim anywhere lookin' fer somethin' to eat  

When my buds and I weren't wade fishing,we always spiked two rods each when surf fishing.One was thrown behind the wash and the other as far as we could throw.You should see one of my Pleugers with the original black nylon line still on it.Used black and white nylon from the surf and from gulf stream boats back then.

But surf fishing has gotten like golf in that techology has advanced to the point where you can either hit it a mile or cast it a mile,and reach those fish on the outer bar that never smelled a bait with a hook in it 30,40 years ago.

But to answer Militia's question,I think mono of today may not be any stronger as it relates to actual pound test,but as DD says,the line diameter is smaller,it is limper,and it does cast smoother.I do believe that,using the same identical reels,if you threw some of the original mono on an old time heaver,the new mono would cast farther and the reels would definitely hold more line.Also,one of the greatest improvements is memory loss.The old stuff used to coil like a slinky.made for some good Zing Pows


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## Advisor (Jan 12, 2003)

My goodness! Ya'll's a bunch of young whipper-snappers. The first mono I used was stiff as a board and, in the 15lb weight, was hard to keep a decent knot tight. Any [and I do mean ANY] twist was disasterous. Twist was easy to come by because of the poor spinning reels and use of spoons as casting lures.
Talk about abrasion. That old line was b-a-d at abrasion resistance. One little nick would cause a break-off in a NY second.
The next problem was line test strength. You could get a 20lb test spool that tested anywhere between 10 and 30 pound test, depending on where you were in the spool.

Back to your origional question of "_Do you think that the Mono Line of today is stronger than the mono line of the same size 25 years ago or so???.._ " In a word NO. Not the origional mono lines. They did get better rather rapidly as time went on; but, stronger ...Not in my book.


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## Digger (Jan 4, 2000)

Okkk I will give one observation. Back in the day I used 25lb test pink Ande on my Jigmaster Heaver combo. Today I have to use 30lb test on the same setup. To make sure if I blow it up the line would not end sliding between the side plate and spool.

So the real answer is todays line is thinner and more uniform for the same ld test line than yesteryear's.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

i agree the new line is thinner and limper...it is also more UV resistant...i changed line 3-4 times a summer in the "old days"...now, even fishing hard...i get at least a season out of it...rods are also more user friendly...reels are great...lures are dynamic...it all goes together...


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

> Back to your origional question of "Do you think that the Mono Line of today is stronger than the mono line of the same size 25 years ago or so???.. " In a word NO. Not the origional mono lines. They did get better rather rapidly as time went on; but, stronger ...Not in my book.


 

Seriously,I have never scale tested the ole Stren iceblue,gold,or orange or the ole pink,white,or green tourney ande.. I did see Suffix twenty gold titanium test over 28lb though,that sure convinced me.. I CAN REMEMBER(25 yr ago)taking iceblue and gold stren twenty and breaking it with my bare hands though,no knot involved,tried it ONCE with suffix and even big game,that was enough..Could have been the smaller diameter or the slickness of the line,but I ain't tryin that one again..   

JMO,but I also believe the abrassion resistance is improved greatly,as well as the "line memory problem" above with the newer lines. I can remember respooling many more times than I have to now..


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## BaitWaster (Jan 8, 2004)

Better living thru chemisty.  

My bet is thu development, mono line is thinner and also the advertised strength is less than the breaking strength and is now marketed as "extra strong" XX# test. 

Yer good quality 17# test with good knots is better, thinner, more supple, better knot strength, etc, than the 20# Ande clear that I went thru 20,000 yds thru learning to cast a Squidder.


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## Dyhard (Oct 24, 2002)

Digger said:


> Okkk I will give one observation. Back in the day I used 25lb test pink Ande on my Jigmaster Heaver combo. Today I have to use 30lb test on the same setup. To make sure if I blow it up the line would not end sliding between the side plate and spool.
> 
> So the real answer is todays line is thinner and more uniform for the same ld test line than yesteryear's.


Have you put in manets? I did it to mine. No blow ups! I use 17# Stren and a shocker of course on a 12 foot heaver. I used to hate mono. I have a reel with 1974 yellow Stren on it and is still strong.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

> the advertised strength is less than the breaking strength and is now marketed as "extra strong" XX# test.


 Bernie,next time we're together we gotta bring a scale and some suffix,I think it will surprise you as much as it did me..


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## fish militia (Nov 1, 2004)

I agree..let me know..and we'll do our own study..

I fought a Ray the size of a VolksWagon on 17lb Sufix Tritanium and it never broke..even when I was trying to break it..the ray just ended up being drug to the beach and i cut the line..


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

There is a warning on the Cuda line package that says that its not IGFA for line class records too strong... Suffix 17 was breakin around 26 and the 20 broke @ 32... Have not tested the Cuda line but I know its tougher than the suffix. I still prefer the suffix over Cuda though.. JAM


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## Rick (Feb 10, 2005)

Do any of yall remember the 1/4lb spools of Shakespeare mono? For about $1.88 at the K-mart? For real quality line...Garcia Royal Bonell...That brown stuff that would kink like single strand wire?


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## fishloser (Jul 18, 2002)

*Suffix Line*



fish militia said:


> I agree..let me know..and we'll do our own study..
> 
> I fought a Ray the size of a VolksWagon on 17lb Sufix Tritanium and it never broke..even when I was trying to break it..the ray just ended up being drug to the beach and i cut the line..


I find the comments on Suffix very interesting. I am a bass tournament angler and a pier fishing addict. In Jan, at the Bass expos, a number of us were shown the demo comparison between Suffix line and our preferred brand. In each demo our preferred brand broke long before the Suffix. Since most of us were known bythe Reps, we were given a spool of Suffix Tritanium in our preferred lb test to try. 

I chose 20 lb as I am a jig/pig person, and a friend took 10 lb as he is a well known crankbait specialist.

After just a 1/2 day using the suffix 20 lb, I stripped my reel and respooled with 20 lb big game. In actual abrasive fishing conditions, docks, brush piles, and rocks, the suffix had almost NO abrasive resistance.

My friend's experiment with the 10 lb suffix didn't last that long. On 2 successive cast with a 3/8 oz crankbait, the line broke at the reel, Shinamo Chronarch reel on GL Loomis rod. He went back to P-line premium (which I hate).


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*Fishinfool*



> After just a 1/2 day using the suffix 20 lb, I stripped my reel and respooled with 20 lb big game.


 *I agree!!* I'm a big game dude myself,and IMHO,the big game outlast the suffix.. Many will argue this,but I'll just keep using the big game till I run out. Don't know for sure which I'll go to,suffix probably,but definatly not the cuda line that Jam is talkin,IMHO it's worse than both of them..


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## Smoothbore54 (Jun 8, 2003)

*As everyone has agreed,*the new mono* is* smaller in diameter.

And it does have a tougher, more flexable "skin." 

The molecules are "cross linked" to improve their bond, to each other.

All these things improve the performance of the line. 

But I think the reason it's *harder to break*, is because the thinner line, *stretches easier*.

It's "elasticity" is greatly improved.

Testing with a scale, will show you breaking test, but it doesn't duplicate fishing conditions.

When a fish runs, the rod acts as a shock absorber, and the line stretches until the drag starts to slip.

There's a certain amount of "inerta" in the drag and spool.

If you test your drag with a scale, you'll find that it takes more effort to get it to *start *slipping, than it does to *keep it slipping.*

So the load on the line goes up, until the drag starts to slip, and then the load is reduced, somewhat.

A stretchier line, is more forgiving *at that critical point, *where the inerta of the drag and spool are being overcome.


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## Smoothbore54 (Jun 8, 2003)

Rick said:


> For real quality line...Garcia Royal Bonell...That brown stuff that would kink like single strand wire?


*I think* it was "Royal Bonnyl"

I really liked that line, and also a small diameter leader material called Ny-Lor-Fi.

The Ny-Lor-Fi was 20 years ahead of it's time.

I think it was imported from Sweden or Norway.

A 100 yard spool would fill up a Diawa 500 ultra-lite reel.


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## fishloser (Jul 18, 2002)

Drumdum said:


> *I agree!!* I'm a big game dude myself,and IMHO,the big game outlast the suffix.. Many will argue this,but I'll just keep using the big game till I run out. Don't know for sure which I'll go to,suffix probably,but definatly not the cuda line that Jam is talkin,IMHO it's worse than both of them..


WHAT DO YOU MEAN "RUN OUT?"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They still make Big Game, and until they stop, you and I won't have to worry about what to switch too!


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Just speaking of the 3lb spool of 20 for the planks and surf,and the 3lb spool for the boat rods...


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## fishloser (Jul 18, 2002)

Drumdum said:


> Just speaking of the 3lb spool of 20 for the planks and surf,and the 3lb spool for the boat rods...



Whew, thought maybe you heard something I hadn't.


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## Clyde (Oct 18, 2003)

Yep, that Big Game is abrasion resistant stuffl, as long as you keep it out of the prop anyway - right Kenny?


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Clyde said:


> Yep, that Big Game is abrasion resistant stuffl, as long as you keep it out of the prop anyway - right Kenny?


 Bernie could giveya the scoop on that one...  

Was that BG ya had in that "funky blue" color??   

Yeah,I can help ya with some 20 or 25 green to fill that spool on the 50..  

OBTW,ya still tiein the "real no-name" the same way or the 2 new ones??


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

im with sufix tri 17 all the way.once you cast it a few times and all the memory is gone it casts like a dream.use it on my anchors and it never feels worn out like other lines from the swivel slidingup and down


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