CO-POLYMER:THE MAGIC WORD WHEN BUYING LINE

The invention of nylon back in 1938 by the American company Dupont changed many things. Women's legs, for one. Fishing line, for another. Thin, strong, supple, reliable, the magic of nylon instantly blew away all forms of fishing line that had gone before. For several decades one saw little further advance in nylon technology, but in recent years that has changed. Manufacturers are still searching for the "perfect line" and at this point every fishing line remains a compromise; abrasion-resistent lines tend to be brittle and retain a "memory," while supple lines dont handle abrasion well, and so on.

Today's angler is likely to be bewildered by the many types of line availiable and the claims made by manufacturers. However, when shopping for line a key phrase to keep in mind is this: co-polymer.

In simple terms, co-polumer lines have a nylon core surrounded by a coating of a different substance - and what goes into those outer coverings is each manufacturer's closely guarded secret.

What does this mean to the angler? It's simple. all lines are stronger dry than when wet and knotted - and wet and knotted, obviously, is the way line is going to be when it's in use. So the wet/knotted strength of a line is the really important figure, not the dry strength.

Tests carried out around the world consistently show that normal nylon has a wet/knotted breaking point around only 50% of its dry, unknotted strength. That's a big difference.The knot used in these tests is the old overhand "granny" knot, the weakest knot one can tie. Nevertheless, the principle would apply whatever knot was used - co-polymer lines are much stronger when wet than normal old" nylon.So it makes sense when buying line to check that it is a co-polymer. You'll pay a little more for it, but it's false economy to save a few rands on line and then lose that fish of your time as a result.