Ester mono.

[Knotty]

I wonder if it will work better for bfs....

Ester is very stiff. I think it would be a bad choice for BFS. It just wants to spring off the spool.

I don't know, I think casting reels handle stiff lines better than spinning reels, which is one reason why people prefer braid for spinning. However a true BFS rod, i.e. intended for bass, will likely be far too stiff for any ester line. On a custom casting build using a trout spinning blank I think ester would be awesome.

Give it a try and let us know. My baitcasting skills just aren't up to the challenge. Also, no need to go custom. The Kuying Teton line of rods have a nice moderate action. Very much trout rods. High quality and affordable.

[igl00jx]

Bumping this old thread.
Doing some reading here and elsewhere regarding this line and seems a majority of folks are tying this line to leader. Anyone fish direct to lure, and if so, what are the recommended knots?

[ultralight]

So does UL braid not work for BFS and one should use Flouoro or Mono instead? I'm thinking of lines like the 8 lbs Gliss which is just about the thinnest line available. Thanks.

[Bronzeye]

Two warnings about 8 lb. Gliss: low knot strength and, because of its limpness and wispiness, snarls that are very hard to pick apart from spinning-reel birdnests.

I've caught bass and panfish on 6 lb. Nanofil without a leader in stained shallow water and in clear water early and late in the day.

I haven't tried--and don't plan to try--UL baitcasting with either line.

[Alphahawk]

Bumping this old thread.
Doing some reading here and elsewhere regarding this line and seems a majority of folks are tying this line to leader. Anyone fish direct to lure, and if so, what are the recommended knots?

I have tied directly to the lure using a Palomar knot. No issues with the knot. Ester is a fantastic tool in fishing line......but.....if not using a shock leader one is going to lose a lot of fish if you get into reasonable good size fish. I regularly land a lot of spotted bass in the 14-17 inch range with no problems......as long as I am using a shock leader. The times I tried with no leader I lost too many fish. Yesterday landed a drum around 15 pounds with the 2.3# test ester....but I had a 5 foot shock leader......without that leader I would not have been able to land it.

Regards

[igl00jx]

I have tied directly to the lure using a Palomar knot. No issues with the knot. Ester is a fantastic tool in fishing line......but.....if not using a shock leader one is going to lose a lot of fish if you get into reasonable good size fish. I regularly land a lot of spotted bass in the 14-17 inch range with no problems......as long as I am using a shock leader. The times I tried with no leader I lost too many fish. Yesterday landed a drum around 15 pounds with the 2.3# test ester....but I had a 5 foot shock leader......without that leader I would not have been able to land it.

Regards

Are you matching the leader to the breaking strength of the main line?

[Alphahawk]

I have tied directly to the lure using a Palomar knot. No issues with the knot. Ester is a fantastic tool in fishing line......but.....if not using a shock leader one is going to lose a lot of fish if you get into reasonable good size fish. I regularly land a lot of spotted bass in the 14-17 inch range with no problems......as long as I am using a shock leader. The times I tried with no leader I lost too many fish. Yesterday landed a drum around 15 pounds with the 2.3# test ester....but I had a 5 foot shock leader......without that leader I would not have been able to land it.

Regards

Are you matching the leader to the breaking strength of the main line?

As close as I can.

Regards

[ultralight]

Alphahawk,

This is not in ANY WAY a criticism at all but I notice that this ester line seem to be very resistant to line twist? I see that you keep reeling the handle no matter if the drag is still peeling - and hours after hours of this, your line seem to be fine. I tend to be very conservative and when I have any drag pulling, I instantly stop reeling. In fact, often I reel only by pumping the fish in. I use fluoro and they don't do very well with lots of line twist.

Can you confirm that the Ester is very resistant to line twist? I have two spools here but never got to use it yet.

[Alphahawk]

Alphahawk,

This is not in ANY WAY a criticism at all but I notice that this ester line seem to be very resistant to line twist? I see that you keep reeling the handle no matter if the drag is still peeling - and hours after hours of this, your line seem to be fine. I tend to be very conservative and when I have any drag pulling, I instantly stop reeling. In fact, often I reel only by pumping the fish in. I use fluoro and they don't do very well with lots of line twist.

Can you confirm that the Ester is very resistant to line twist? I have two spools here but never got to use it yet.

I do not take it as criticism. I had to block a couple of trolls from my youtube channel though for this very discussion. They had never used this line and had the notion it is just like nylon. I would say you are somewhat correct. A big reason I don't get a lot of line twist is the reels that most of us use are great at keeping it at bay. It will twist but that is at the end of say a 100 plus fish day...and then the twist does not go too far into the spool. I let a couple of guys comments get into my head about my drag being set too loose. I use the Bouz Drag Checker and set it at 20 percent of breaking strength at rod deflection. This line will most assuredly help one catch fish. I used it this past week to boat over 200 fish in a 3 day period. I have watched a lot of hours on youtube of Japanese fishermen using this line....some of them noted fisherman in Japan. I see a lot of reeling when fish are pulling drag......especially when they are fishing the area pay lakes....and it is not just when they catch a big trout...the same is happening with 12-13 inch fish also. It is almost impossible to not reel when fish are pulling drag using this line...unless it is a very small fish. I need to point out that for me the correct rod is a must also. I prefer an area trout rod...or mebaru rod....6' 4" or better. When fishing this line one just has to know the limitations....but the rewards are worth the effort for sure.

Regards

[ultralight]

Thank you for the insight.

[Pickwick]

Bumping this old thread.
Doing some reading here and elsewhere regarding this line and seems a majority of folks are tying this line to leader. Anyone fish direct to lure, and if so, what are the recommended knots?

I have tied directly to the lure using a Palomar knot. No issues with the knot. Ester is a fantastic tool in fishing line......but.....if not using a shock leader one is going to lose a lot of fish if you get into reasonable good size fish. I regularly land a lot of spotted bass in the 14-17 inch range with no problems......as long as I am using a shock leader. The times I tried with no leader I lost too many fish. Yesterday landed a drum around 15 pounds with the 2.3# test ester....but I had a 5 foot shock leader......without that leader I would not have been able to land it.

Regards

All good advice in this thread from Alphahawk. I fished with Sunline's 3.1 lb. Night Blue ester line Monday and Tuesday of this week for spotted bass. Caught over two dozen, with the largest spot weighing 2.2 lbs. Had one break off in a fish. A fish came off about half way to the boat while I was playing him, and another one hit the lure. I gave an instinctive quick hookset and broke off the fish. User error, not the line's fault.

I was using a JDM Daiwa Exist 2004, which has a great drag, on a 7'6" Loomis TSR901S UL Trout Rod. The specs say it is a fast action rod, but I would describe it as more of a moderate-fast action. My knot was tied directly from the ester line to the jighead with a 6-wrap, doubled line clinch knot. This particular rod serves as a kind of shock absorber for the line. Several other UL rods would also work.As Alphahawk recommended, I would use a longer UL rod with some moderate action which gives farther down to help with playing the fish in order to help prevent a fish breaking off. Since I do not have a drag tester, but do have over 50 years experience fishing with light lines, I set my drag what feels like just a little tight for the hook set, and back off on the drag when the fish is hooked. This can be a problem if the fish hits it close to the boat sometimes.