Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

The single most important aspect of your tackle providing that vital link between yourself and your catch. What's everyone's favorites and why? Come on in and find out!
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heyitzpetah
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Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by heyitzpetah » Sun Oct 25, 2020 10:35 pm

I just want a line that can fairly handle top water, treble baits, and bottom contact without completely downgrading any of those techniques. If money is not an issue what would you guys recommend I buy?

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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by i_am_R2 » Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:07 pm

Toray Bawo Polyamide Plus 8-)

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dhottle
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by dhottle » Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:33 pm

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Cal
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by Cal » Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:59 pm

heyitzpetah wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 10:35 pm
I just want a line that can fairly handle top water, treble baits, and bottom contact without completely downgrading any of those techniques. If money is not an issue what would you guys recommend I buy?
The trouble with your request in today's world of fishing is, some of what you request will result in properties that exclude other traits you're seeking.

Topwater - you want a line that floats. Something like a nylon monofilament or braid. Those lines float. Fluorocarbons lines are more dense and sink. They're not the greatest for topwater baits unless you're fishing something fast moving that does not require slack line like walking and popping baits do.

Treble Baits - depending on the rod you're using, you're going to want a line with some stretch. Best lines for this are nylon monofilaments and some fluorocarbons. Braid is not a great choice here unless you have a very forgiving rod, like a glass or composite stick.

Bottom contact - You're going to want a line with good sensitivity... fluorocarbon or braid are the best bets here. Nylon monofilament is the least sensitive of the bunch. It can work, but it's not as good as fluoro or braid.

So, you can cover two of the three well with a certain line choice, the third option will always suffer.

You can get around some of this by choosing braid as a mainline, then tying on a leader to handle treble baits... and even a fluorocarbon leader in abrasive, bottom contact environments.

Actual brands are secondary to the composition of the line you are choosing.
Cal, Managing Editor
"fish with mindfulness : beware the darkside"

heyitzpetah
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by heyitzpetah » Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:19 pm

Thank you for the replies, I was honestly hoping for a high end nylon that is similar in properties to fluro, so that I didn't sacrifice too much sensitivity. Some days I just want to bring 1 or 2 rods and throw what I want without feeling limited.

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ogrich31
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by ogrich31 » Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:01 pm

You can try out Sunline Defier Armilo. It's pretty sensitive for a mono, but still won't give you the feel of fluoro. That's the mono with the least amount of stretch I've tried. I would bring one rod with fluoro and another with mono if you're taking two rods though.

You can always go braid to leader and swap out leaders as well.

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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by Hogsticker2 » Mon Oct 26, 2020 8:03 pm

ogrich31 wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:01 pm
You can try out Sunline Defier Armilo. It's pretty sensitive for a mono, but still won't give you the feel of fluoro. That's the mono with the least amount of stretch I've tried. I would bring one rod with fluoro and another with mono if you're taking two rods though.

You can always go braid to leader and swap out leaders as well.
I suppose this would be my recommendation as well, though I would opt for a 2nd line choice for bottom contact. Braid with leader might be your best option for all three presentations, though if you're use to fishing bottom with nylon, it shouldn't be a problem.

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ogrich31
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by ogrich31 » Mon Oct 26, 2020 10:22 pm

One thing to note, buy the Defier Armilo by line diameter, not rated strength.

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IlliniDawg01
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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by IlliniDawg01 » Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:51 am

I agree with Cal. 90% of my bass fishing is done with some sort of 8 carrier smooth braid around 30lb. Tie frogs straight to it and jigs and worms to in low visibility situations. Use a fluoro leader if fish are line shy or abrasion is an issue. Use a mono leader for topwater in open water and for crank and jerk style treble baits. If you don't fish a lot, good braid will last several years of sporadic use on the spool also. Mono usually slowly rots. Not sure on fluoro, though line memory is always an issue with it. About the only time braid is bad is with heavy cross winds and low resistance baits. It can feel like you have no lure and you will miss bites.

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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by hoohoorjoo » Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:01 pm

heyitzpetah wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:19 pm
Thank you for the replies, I was honestly hoping for a high end nylon that is similar in properties to fluro, so that I didn't sacrifice too much sensitivity. Some days I just want to bring 1 or 2 rods and throw what I want without feeling limited.
Try P-line CXX. I think you will find it to be exactly what you're looking for. Crazy-strong and abrasion-resistant.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by DenhamBruce » Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:09 am

30lb 8-carrier braid

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Re: Best general purpose fishing line and brand?

Post by eyra_kid » Fri Dec 04, 2020 3:15 pm

hoohoorjoo wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:01 pm
heyitzpetah wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:19 pm
Thank you for the replies, I was honestly hoping for a high end nylon that is similar in properties to fluro, so that I didn't sacrifice too much sensitivity. Some days I just want to bring 1 or 2 rods and throw what I want without feeling limited.
Try P-line CXX. I think you will find it to be exactly what you're looking for. Crazy-strong and abrasion-resistant.
I'd have to agree with that. My go-to mono now is Big Game, but I used to use CXX exclusively for everything.

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