Best Mono on Market?

[wdp]

I'm looking for opinions on a good monofilament to use on a baitcasting set I'll be using exclusively for topwater presentations, such as poppers, walking baits like a spook, and prop baits. I'm planning to use 12 - 15#.

 

I've been using braid & fluoro pretty much exclusively for about 10 yrs. I've only got one set up with mono, and it's an ultralight with 6# Trilene XT. I like the XT, but thought there might be better options out there. I've used Suffix Siege in the past too & had no issues. 

 

Thanks!

[kickerfish1]

If price isn't a concern, Sunline Shooter Defier is what I feel is the best. I use the 13# for my casting rigs. Note: the diameter is thinner than other mono lines. It is pricey but quite good and very limp and manageable.

 

http://www.sunlineamerica.com/shooter-defier-300-yard-spool/

[roadwarrior]

Sunline Shooter Defier Armilo

 

http://www.sunlineamerica.com/shooter-defier-armilo/

 

[fishnkamp]

A lot of guys run  Trilene Big Game mono and also MCCoy mean Green copoly.

[crypt]

Big Game and Ande. 

[Spankey]

I my pretty old school with my spinning set ups. I buy my mono in Trilene in the Jumbo Spools. I'm anal as heck I'm always replacing line on spinning set up. Go through a lot of line in a years time.

 

There was a time quite a few years back that the BPS Excel was as good as the Berkley Trilene. Not any more for a long time now. Some of you old school guys may remember this. 

[CTBassin860]

I see a lot of co-poly voted.Straight mono you can't go wrong with suffix elite.

[Jeff H]

I use XT.  It's never given me a reason to change, plus the price is right.  I have tried Sufix Siege too, and like it, but I just stick with XT. 

[craww]

The line between what's called a mono and what's labeled a copolymer is blurry; but for general conventionally sized bass plugs yozuri hybrid in #12 is an all time favorite. I keep a rod spooled with it and a sammy 85 or 3/8 buzz bait tied on for half the year.

[Angry John]

i Use Berkeley xl for topwaters because it floats good.  My favorite copoly of all time is YHB in 10lb but it sinks enough to hurt the action of topwaters.  It serves me best in crankbaits and jerkbaits.

[CTBassin860]

3 minutes ago, craww said:

The line between what's called a mono and what's labeled a copolymer is blurry; but for general conventionally sized bass plugs yozuri hybrid in #12 is an all time favorite. I keep a rod spooled with it and a sammy 85 or 3/8 buzz bait tied on for half the year.

He question was "what's the best mono" not what's the best co-poly.Yo-zuri hybrid and Sunline Armilo are definitely not straight mono.Lets answer the guys question accurately.Co-poly is NOT straight mono.Our preferences are moot.

[The Bassman]

It's all mono.  Some's nylon. Some's a mix.

[CTBassin860]

2 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

It's all mono.  Some's nylon. Some's a mix.

Not at all.just because it's a mix of mono/flouro doesn't make it all mono.While your giving your your presence its deceptive.

[Attila]

When I did fish mono I used Stren and it worked really well.  I used a range of lines running from 6lbs through to 10lbs test on a wide variety of baits from topwaters to crankbaits and inline spinners.

 

Many years ago when I started fishing I tried Trilene XL and XT and while I caught fish I also lost quite a few and that left me unhappy. I used Excalibur Silver Thread which came in the old black packaging with gold on it or something and I fell in love with it. For some reason I think it was discontinued over 25 years ago or changed somehow and it didn't feel the same afterwards, to me anyways.

 

So that's when I went to Stren and it worked well.

[Catt]

Berkley Big Game Mean Green

[The Bassman]

22 minutes ago, MassBassin508 said:

Not at all.just because it's a mix of mono/flouro doesn't make it all mono.While your giving your your presence its deceptive.

I get the essence of what you're saying. We've become accustomed to calling nylon mono.  Mono is short for monofilament meaning one strand.  The input in this thread benefits the OP in the sense that different lines have different virtues.

[CTBassin860]

2 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I get the essence of what you're saying. We've become accustomed to calling nylon mono.  Mono is short for monofilament meaning one strand.  The input in this thread benefits the OP in the sense that different lines have different virtues.

Im not trying to say that the deceptions malicious.Im saying that co-poly answers are not answering his initial question.He didn't ask what the best co-poly was.Just trying to be to the point.Not An A-hole.If I asked what the best topwater rod was you wouldn't point me to a 7'6" swimbait rod.Its the same thing.

[wdp]

Thanks for all the replies everybody. I'm not opposed to using a co-poly or hybrid if it'll work for topwater applications. Since the topwater baits I'll be using all have trebles, I figured a mono would work best because of the stretch and because it floats.

 

I haven't used Trilene XL in quite a while bc I had to many break offs around lily pads & grass. That's why I switched to braid. Same for Yozuri hybrid line, just too many break offs around grass and cover when fishing plastics & spinnerbaits or cranks. But that was over 10 yrs ago & it might be better formulated now for strength and abrasion resistance.

 

If I could get away with it, I would just use 10-15# braid & a really limber rod for topwater. But I've found that prop baits, especially ones with props on the front & back, get tangled too easily in the braid. 

 

Bottom line, I just want a good strong line that'll float & have some stretch for these topwater baits. My plan is to dedicate this rod/reel set up for these specific presentations. 

[wdp]

3 hours ago, kickerfish1 said:

If price isn't a concern, Sunline Shooter Defier is what I feel is the best. I use the 13# for my casting rigs. Note: the diameter is thinner than other mono lines. It is pricey but quite good and very limp and manageable.

 

http://www.sunlineamerica.com/shooter-defier-300-yard-spool/

Yeah, this line looks great. Gets good reviews on TW too. But it sure is pricey. It's more expensive than the fluoro that I use, lol. 

[WRB]

Best of anything is in the eye of the beholder.

Sunline Amrillo Defier Nylon line is pricey and a excellent mono line.

if price is a problem then use Trilene Big Game 12 to 15 lb.

Tom

[craww]

1 hour ago, MassBassin508 said:

He question was "what's the best mono" not what's the best co-poly.Yo-zuri hybrid and Sunline Armilo are definitely not straight mono.Lets answer the guys question accurately.Co-poly is NOT straight mono.Our preferences are moot.

 

I knew there would be one guy...As I said and others have told you...the line is blurry. Very generally speaking they all fish like Nylon lines, absorb water, stretch and retain they're strength well (because it's still predominately nylon), and have issues with breaking down due to UV radiation. 

 

YOU'RE point is moot because virtually all "mono" lines, are a copolymer of sorts...with the exception of fluroclear are all virtually all nylon. And they fish like it too. There have been lines over the years that have had "copolymer" on the box and ad copy at times and didn't at other times. 

 

They all very generally fish extremely similar with trading varying degrees of handling for abrasion resistance, stretch for knot strength, etc. Manufacturers sell alot of line by doing things like putting fancy words on the box and cheating diameter up and down on "tough" lines. My post was relevant and in the spirit of helping the OP'S by not limiting his choices. Good day.

[fluna]

I have been using Stren for years, I just change up colors to see if it really makes a difference fishing poppers and buzzbaits.

[WRB]

Monofilament simply means a single filament. The fishing industry tries to market various  processing of polymers with additives to improve strength, abrasion and UV as mono, copolymer, hybrid and FC. Nylon is Polyimde. Nylon blended with a different polymer such as polyester or polyurethane  becomes a copolymer line. Sunline Shooter Defier is a co polymer line, Sunline Armillo Defier Nylon is a blended with 3 typres of Nylon,  not 3 different polymers,  therefor technically is mono.

Co extruded Nylon or polyester core with Fluorocarbon jacket become a hybrid of 2 or 3 different polymers.

Defier Shooter Nylon = copolymer

Big Game = coploymer

P-line CXX = copolymer

Defier Armillo Nylon = mono

Yo-Zuri Hybrid = Hybrid

Sunline Sniper = FC

Sunline Shooter = FC

All the above are technically single filament line processed differently so the fishing industry tries to separate the various lines into 4 categories.

Tom

[wdp]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Best of anything is in the eye of the beholder.

Sunline Amrillo Defier Nylon line is pricey and a excellent mono line.

if price is a problem then use Trilene Big Game 12 to 15 lb.

Tom

Tom, in your experience is Big Game any better or does it have any advantages over Trilene XT? I've used Trilene XT a little in the past with no issues - it casted well & didn't seem to break off much. 

 

I've just used fluoro and braid so much the last 10 yrs, I know it's gonna be hard to use mono again. Last time I tried to use mono, I switched back to fluoro on that rod after one fishing trip. Fluoro is just so much more sensitive with much less stretch. Mono feels way too "mushy" for me, especially cranking and spinnerbaits. No way I could use mono for soft plastics - I use all braid. 

 

But I'm pretty sure mono is gonna be the best option for the specific topwaters I mentioned. 

[S. Sass]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Berkley Big Game Mean Green

^^^ This and Stren have been fine for a inexpensive great line to use on a baitcaster. 12 to 17# I have no issues with.