South Bend Monofilament Line, what a surprise!

[govallis]

The South Bend 100 yds for $1 in Walmart stores is a shocking surprise!

 

I bought some years ago for other purposes, never thought of using it as a main line, because it is too cheap. Recently I was looking hard for a 0.32 mm (0.013 in) line and the 12# SB happens to be exactly the diameter. The only other 0.32 mm line I can find, the 12# Zebco Omniflex, is also sold in Walmart stores for a whopping 700 yds for only $1! However, the Zebco 12# is too stiff to be used even as backing; the line keeps slip off the reel in coils.

 

I tried the 12# (0.32 mm) SB on a spinning reel and it worked like a charm. No line management issue, very supple, no memory, casts like a dream. I can feel the bottoms and bites, easily. Abrasion resistance seems not bad at all. No ideal how long this line can last, but who cares if I can replace the first 100 yds for just $1? Made in Korea.

 

Although these two lines are deadly cheap, they are accurate on diameters, unlike "premium" lines that almost always lie about diameters and test pounds.

 

South Bend - 6# 0.24 mm 8# 0.26 mm 10# 0.30 mm 12# 0.32 mm

Zebco - 8# 0.28 (0.011) 10# 0.30 (0.012) 12# 0.32 (0.013) 15# 0.39 (0.015)

 

[NYWayfarer]

Try the Zebco Cajun lines. Smooth Cast Cajun red and clear Bayou blue or Anti-Abrasion in Gator green. it's cheap line that is infinitely better than that South Bend or Omniflex line.

[greentrout]

3 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

Try the Zebco Cajun lines. Smooth Cast Cajun red and clear Bayou blue or Anti-Abrasion in Gator green. it's cheap line that is infinitely better than that South Bend or Omniflex line.

DITTO

 

that's what i use ... on spinning and casting ... it's very soft and keeps its form well ... especially on spinning ... abrasion is good ... fish a lot of rip rap ...

 

use the omni flex for 4lb. for light very light presentations ...

 

realistic fishing guy would approve ...

 

good fishing ...

[NYWayfarer]

1 minute ago, greentrout said:

DITTO

 

that's what i use ... on spinning and casting ... it's very soft and keeps its form well ... especially on spinning ... abrasion is good ... fish a lot of rip rap ...

 

use the omni flex for 4lb. for light very light presentations ...

 

good fishing ...

I used the Cajun red years ago. The new Smooth Cast and Anti-abrasion lines seem to be new. My wife grabbed a couple of spools of 6# Gator green and 4# Clear blue bayou at Ollie's for me at $3 a spool.

 

I liked them so much I went back and bought a few more spools for my creek and Trout fishing.

[govallis]

Today saw this Cajun in Walmart, 650 yds for $8, still cheap but much more expensive than the Omniflex. Too bad, the lightest # is 20, would love to give its 8, 10 and 12# a try if available.

 

I'm not looking for cheap lines, but 0.32 mm ones which I have concluded to be the optimal diameter for all species and conditions. 0.35 is too thick to cast small lures and might reduce bites (I use this diameter for jetty fishing only). Then I can use 0.30 leaders which will break before the 0.32 main line when snagged. Without a (thinner) leader, the main line will be stretched over its limit and is subjected to abrasion. This way I can simply swap leaders and keep the main line in good shape. 0.30 is strong enough to bend a soft hook from a snag, see the photo below. I have not lost a single fish yet due to a soft hook, while almost always free up from snags. With such a snag-free setup, I can get bites and land fish anywhere.

 

[WRB]

Berkley Trilene XL 12 lb is .013 diameter and a very popular mono.

Sunline Super Natural 16 lb is .013 diameter low memory mono.

There are several more if you want .013 diameter mono.

Tom

[govallis]

Tom, are these really (actually) 0.013? Also, 0.013 could mean anywhere from 0.32 to 0.34 mm. Beside the 12# SB and Omniflex, the Yo-Zuri 10# is also measured to be 0.32. The 12# CX Premium, Floroclear and 10# Izorline are 0.31, a little too thin, and the 12# C21 is 0.34, a little too thick.

[WRB]

Sunline is Japanese mfr line and they are honest with values, label is .33mm.

Not sure about Berkley Trilene XL the value is listed on TW as .013 diameter.

Tom

[govallis]

Pline and Yo-Zuri are from Japan too and they lie about diameters and pounds on CX Premium, C21 and Hybrid, except the Floroclear. German companies like Maxima and Izorline are even worse on this regard. I might give Sunline a try, because their listed pounds and diameters do look quite realistic.

 

What I learned in the past couple years is: the actual diameter pretty much defines the actual strength of mono, co-polymer and fluorocarbon. I have done numerous comparison tests, even 0.01 mm make a difference on breaking force. 

[govallis]

On 9/25/2019 at 8:08 PM, WRB said:

Sunline is Japanese mfr line and they are honest with values, label is .33mm.

Not sure about Berkley Trilene XL the value is listed on TW as .013 diameter.

Tom

Measured some Sunline today and their actual diameters are much larger too!

 

Super Natural 
10# .27 .010 .260 
12# .30 .011 .285 
14# .32 .012 .310 
16# .35 .013 .330 

Snipper
8# .26 .0093 .235
10# .29 .0102 .260
12# .31 .0112 .285
14# .33 .0122 .310

 

So, there is no so called "honest" fishing line company on this planet! Once the very 1st company lied and earned a "strong" line title, other companies must follow or their line would become "weak" ones.

 

There are a few lines that have accurate diammeters printed on the package, like pline floroclear and halo, but its cxx is outrageous:

cxx
8# .32 .012 .3
10# .38 .014 .35

 

As you see, the 8# is at least a doubly stronger line, at least 15# being .34 mm. Most 8# lines are .28 or less, which is actually 12# already.  No wonder why people all say how strong the cxx is because fishermen are all too old to hold steadily and/or read a micrometer.

 

Note: above numbers are in this order - measured in mm, printed on package in in and mm

[WRB]

Calibrated calipers that read in 10ths or 0.0000 work good using the wider base and not the tips for most folks. The key word being calibrated accurately and the line must be consistantly round. Fishing line is extruded and varies in diameter within whatever tolerances are allowed by the manufacture.

All the Sunline FC and Deifer Nylon has been within 0.0005, temperature and pressure can affect measurement that much.

Tom

[govallis]

I have done enough tests, I have not seen any variation or tolerance. If a line is measured to be 0.32 mm, it is always that, no matter when or which part of the line I measured. The Super Natural might be close enough to be within the tolerance, but the Sniper is certainly marked much smaller on purpose.

[txchaser]

Somewhat related to this thread, is there a reference point for (as an example) what diameter a 12lb line should be when someone says 12lb line without saying brand? Maybe big game or something like that? Perhaps something the reel manufacturers expect when they say x yards of y lb. test?

[govallis]

Very good question, the only answer is this chart I found couple years ago:

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlux/hv/monofil.htm

 

I only use 8-15# lines and the mode numbers in this chart match quite close to what I have measured:

 

8# 0.28 mm

10# 0.30 mm

12# 0.33 mm

14# 0.36 mm

 

Again, it is the measured diameters that match these numbers. For example, the Pline C21 matches these numbers exactly when I measured, but what you see on the packages are thinner:

 

10# 0.27 mm

12# 0.29 mm

15# 0.34 mm

 

This is what makes me angry at fishing line companies, what a mess, they write whatever numbers they want on the packages. They always lie like this - their lines are thinner and stronger, but in reality they are all the same strength as long as the diameters measured the same. There are a few honest lines, such as Pline Floroclear, Halo and Zebco Omniflex. The only line that also lie but still really stronger is Yo-Zuri Hybrid. For example, the 10# Hybrid is measured to be 0.32 mm, so is the 12# Seaguar STS, but the former beat the latter, easily and always.

 

Whether the reel industry uses this chart as the reference? I don't know. All I can say is: the mode numbers in this chart is indeed quite typical about measured diameters.

[Boomstick]

On 9/25/2019 at 7:12 PM, govallis said:

Today saw this Cajun in Walmart, 650 yds for $8, still cheap but much more expensive than the Omniflex. Too bad, the lightest # is 20, would love to give its 8, 10 and 12# a try if available.

8 times the price but 6.5 times the amount of line, so it's hardly more expensive in the long haul.