I have used various mono running lines over the years,,, my current favorite is the OPST Lazar product.

Regards,
FK

 

Running Lines 101

At this point I feel it's appropriate to revisit troutless' very instructive post on this thread:
http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/54-tackle/185113-running-lines-101-a.html

 

The biggest difference comes in cold weather, the OPST has less memory and works better, but in warm weather, not much difference...

I love the OPST stuff though, use it on almost all my reels...

All OPST running line is, is Siglon F made by Sunline in Japan in heavy pound tests...

 

Friend turned me on to Stren Catfish Mono - orange and think it does not coil quite as bad as Big Game and a bit less stretch but could be my imagination. Have used OPST and do like it but it kinked after not that long of use (again perhaps my stripping issues)

"All OPST running line is, is Siglon F made by Sunline in Japan in heavy pound tests" - you can find this stuff for less $s on line but think all I have found is 20# - works great on light spey rods

 

I too have moved from the berkley big game to the stren catfish mono for the same reason you listed (plus it is higher vis being orange). I mainly cast Nextcast lines and the green colour of the BigGame makes it harder for me to distinguish between shooting head and running line.

 

The Airflo impact mono running line is the best I’ve ever used.

 

not a huge fan of floating running lines. I generally leave pretty long sections of running line below me rather than doing alot of short grabs between strips. Slightly sunk running line I find has less chance of fouling with the fly when performing casts with anchor on the downstream side

 

For colder weather, the OPST line is much less prone to hold tight coils off the reel than the Berkeley. If it's warmer, it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference, but I'm a big fan of the opst

 

My friend and I both Spey fish in northern Michigan spring, summer, fall, & winter. The OPST gets coils just as bad as Berkley Big Game no question about it! We fish side by side, and if it’s cold and the Berkley gets coils, so does the OPST.

NOTHING shoots farther than Berkley Big Game or mono, period. Why spend so much money on other shooting lines?? Who knows!

Get a 300 yard spool of Berkley Big Game and be all the happier. If it gets coils, stretch it. When you feel you need to cut it, cut it. I put about 100yds on my large arbor reel. When I think it’s time to have fresh line, I cut 50ft. Easy and painless, and man does it shoot out!

Many serious guides and Spey guys on the west coast to the third coast run Berkley Big Game. And you are literally saving yourself hundreds of dollars. No brained man

 

I am sorry, but you are wrong, OPST once properly stretched from the get go, will not coil back up all day, unlike Big Game...

Your buddy must not be stretching it out very well if it is staying coily...

If it isn't broke, don't fix it, but OPST definitely stays less coily than anything else out there and when it's fresh, ice in the guides is virtually non-existent thanks to the silicone coating shedding water...

 

No comparison, the OPST handles way better than Berkely. Much less coiling at all temps in my experience.

Save some money, cut your Lazar lines in half, especially for your trout set-ups...75 meters (half a 150 meter spool, for the mathematically challenged) is more than enough running line...

 

I don't bother stretching my opst running lines very often, but when I do, I'll rig up, tie on a fly and hook it to the hoop for the latch on my tailgate. Walk off a long cast worth of line from the reel, pull it tight and stand there for a minute. Reel in and go fishing

 

Soaking Mono Running Line

If I have not been fishing for a period of time, I strip the running line off my reel and soak it in a bucket of water the night before i go fishing. When I hit the water the next morning there are no issues with any coiling. I cannot explain why but there is a noticeable improvement in the condition (less coiling) of the running line.

Try it, let me know your thoughts on this.

 

If I have not been fishing for a period of time, I strip the running line off my reel and soak it in a bucket of water the night before i go fishing. When I hit the water the next morning there are no issues with any coiling. I cannot explain why but there is a noticeable improvement in the condition (less coiling) of the running line.

Try it, let me know your thoughts on this.

Mono absorbs water with prolonged exposure

 

Nylon line which coils when it is unspooled is good shooting line because it is stiff and needs to be stretched straight and then it stays straight and does not tangle easy. Soft shooting lines tangle more and they also stretch more which I don't like. I wet at least few hours and then take a length which I shoot and put it behind a tree and pull both ends very hard and slowly release the pull.

If you don't like long wetting time you can use those kitchen pads which are used to scrub dishes to remove the shine out of Nylon mono and it absorbs water faster and wetting time shortens. It does not lower the breaking strength noticeably.

Best shooting line I know is Sawada Flat Beam Intermediate because it is very stiff and coils bad whe unspooled but when it is stretched the coils are gone.

Esa

 

Best shooting line I know is Sawada Flat Beam Intermediate because it is very stiff and coils bad whe unspooled but when it is stretched the coils are gone.

Esa

Not sure I can agree with this philosophy on shoot line. The Airflo mono is pretty stiff but it doesn't coil badly either. A few casts with the line and the memory seems to go away. You can stretch it too but usually don't need to. Shoots like a...well...you know. To me it has the best of both worlds. Super ultra stiff mono tends to have some memory even if it's kept stretched and without twists. This has always been a pain in the butt for me. Fishing to me supposed to be fun and low maintenance. To me the stiff stuff is not worth the extra few feet of distance, and to tell the truth I'm not sure you get extra distance from stiffer line - the distance gained by a smaller diameter line in my experience outweighs the benefit of stiffness.

-John

 

I've been using Big Cat and Slickshooter.

I understand the price comparison, that's why I wanted to try regular mono for a shooting line. But, after I go through my Big Cat, I'm going back to slickshooter. I like it better than the regular mono. Seems to curl less for me.

 

Another vote for Stren Catfish mono - that stuff is awesome, at least in PNW climate. Can't speak to the arctic conditions of you Midwest guys The 30lb is about the same diameter as 50lb lazer (yes, I know the shape is different). You can get about a half mile of the stuff for the price of a spool of lazar line. Not knocking OPST, by the way - love and use a lot of their stuff, including the lazer line - but the price differential makes it an easy choice.

 

The properties of Nylon is understood very well and there is lots of detailed info in inet.

Basically water absorbtion change the Nylon mono line so that its molecular structure comes again easier to change and without stretching Nylon comes softer, easier to bend. When mono is stretched before fishing we decrease the line potential to store energy and while doing it the coiling decrease. This also slightly decrease the breaking strength. My chemist friend did explain it to me once but it was complicated to understand without basic knowledge of chemistry.

Esa

 

Try 30-40# Maxima Chameleon. Best of both worlds - great price point and stiff like Lazar.

 

Running line

I have tried them all, and they are all pretty good, used Opst for awhile, then went through a Sawada flat beam phase, and now my favourite is Rio Slickshooter, just love fishing with it.

 

OK I will get to the basics. If you aree using one of the fishing line mono's do you use it for backing also?
If not how much do you use for running line on a 5 wt?

Thanks from the new guy.

 

HIPP55 - no - do not useit for backing. Just get 30# dacron - hard to beat though depending on reel capacity you might go with other backing material with less diameter.

For the mono - I typically do maybe 18 long arm stretch pulls - likely close to 100 feet of running line though do not shoot that much - I can cut off a few feet if it tangles or gets nicks in it. Expect you could use less - really depends on fishing and casting situations - for sure you want more than you can typically cast at longest distance

JonT - have used Maxima a few times but want a running line that shows up - thus Berkeley or Stren Catfish