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The list of lines available to the angler is immeasurable. All claim to be soft, strong, thin, low stretch, fluorescent, low memory but the bottom line is (bad pun) that most monofilament lines act very similar to each other. There are in my view various qualities available, some of the lesser known brands or budget spools can be patchy when feeling the line through your fingers and also tend to have a high memory factor (they stay curly when not under pressure as against straight) which can cause tangles and break-offs.

The next issue is do you fish with monofilament, or braid?

What is the difference? The main difference is thickness of line, braid is around one third the thickness of monofilament which allows more line to be loaded on a reel and also does not catch wind and tide as much as the mono lines. Also braid does not stretch, you can feel every nudge of your bait or every bounce of the weight and every shake of the fish when finally hooked. However braid is quite a bit more expensive that mono and if your reel holds 200 yards of 18lb line it will need 600 yards of 18lb braid. Now that isn't three times the price it is ten time the price as 200 yards of 18lb mono is around £2.00 whilst 200 yards of braid is around £14 so the 600 yards needed to fill a spool will cost £42! As snags and I go together like fish and chips I prefer to use mono.

What about colour?

Does coloured line make a difference? Only to the angler. They say that the first colour to disappear in low light is red, followed by yellow, green then blue. As far as I have read about fish is that most have reasonable eyesight but hunt mainly by scent. I leave the colour choice up to you!

How heavy should the line be?

Most sport anglers use as light a line as possible for the type of fishing that is being done. Beach fishing is usually done with 14 to 18lb line whilst boat fishing can be 10lb for inshore fish up to 50lb for wreck fishing whilst rock fishing is normally done with 25lb to 35lb line to withstand abrasion from the rocks. If like me you prefer to make your own rigs then I use 40lb line for my rig line with 18lb snoods (the same as my mainline) for beach fishing and 40lb rig line with 12lb snood (same as my main line) for inshore boat fishing. Heavier line will hold the wind and tide more and will offer less distance when cast. Go too light in the sea and you risk being snapped off by abrasion on rocks that you just cannot see.

Shock-leaders

Shock leaders are used to take the strain placed on a line when casting heavier weights out to sea. It is normally rated at 50lb or 60lb and is brightly coloured to allow the angler to see when they are only a few meters away from the fish. The shock-leader is normally around 5 meters in length to allow for a few turns to be on the reel, the length of the rod and around 0.5 meter below the rod tip for casting. This is essential if casting weights above 3oz

Quick Tips

• The thicker (heavier) the line the less distance obtained when casting
• If rocks or rough ground are in issue use a minimum 25lb main line
• If beach casting use a shock-leader to prevent the weight snapping off with the force of the cast
• To prevent the tide from taking your bait to where you do not want it use as thin a line as you can get away with which will also allow you  to reduce your weight size
• In my humble opinion the first colour line to disappear in water is clear line!