BEST MAIN LINE FOR BARBEL

[Eddie]

Just wondering what preference anglers have, I was using Berkeley big game line 10lb breaking strain and never had any problems with it.
Last season I put some wychwood solace 12lb breaking strain line on the reels, lower diameter, greater braking strain, but not really happy with its performance!
Strikes me as a pre stretched line hence the lower diameter, but easily kinks and though tough, when under pressure, I don't trust it as much as my old Berkeley big game!
Might try some fluorocarbon or braid? Any thoughts?

Eddie.

[ianmc]

i was using big game last summer also but did not want to use it on on my reels for winter chub fishing.... so bought some daiwa hyper sensor in 8lb and realy liked it and went and got it in 12lb for this summer's barbel so hoping its going to be as good as it was for the chub my fishing.

[kpkh]

stick with your Berkley Eddie if you haven't had any problems, why change? Line isn't cheep and you could spend a lot of money trying to find something you already have

I like 10lb sub line for the wharfe and 15lb nash de cam for the Trent

[av1nbarb3l]

its not too much about what others use eddie its all about what gives you confidence and what your happy with i bet if you asked 100 anglers you would find most would differ but for what its worth ive used sub line now for a couple of years with braided hooklink and im happy with that

[JIMMY SILVERFISH FULLA]

Eddie I wouldn't use fluoro or braid for my main line buddy,,, remember when storm chaser caught that barbel and it took him over 45 mins to get in cos he was playing it sideways as it was wrapped up a bit in the line ? We all thought he hooked a cat lol imagine if that was braid the barbel would of been in 5 different pieces

Seen the damage braid mainline does, not really my flavour lol,,
Fluoro too wirey,,,

I use and have used Daiwa senser ever since I've fished £5.99 a spool,, and it's never ever ever ever let me down,,, casts to the moon and back extremely high breaking strain, I fish weedy snaggy waters,,, and it's caught me the odd carp,,, good colour too for river,,

Himmy

[nige_LS7]

Two recommendations for the Daiwa then and not too pricey?

I'll make that my next purchase [ when my discount Sports Direct 'Dunlop' spools run out ]

[Eddie]

Daiwa sensor has always had a good reputation for being a solid line at a good price, but I have never used it myself.
Now there's "hyper sensor", what's the difference?
I had 15lb and 10lb big game on the reels for carp fishing and tried what I thought was a better high tech low diameter line, but it turned out to be rubbish. After a couple of fish it would kink up so badly, I would have to strip and discard a good amount before I was happy with the way it would look! And knots needed great care or that would kink it up too. The final straw was an actual breakage and loss of a fish, albeit in a rocky swim at Helperby.
Don't like loosing fish and have never had the main line go before, but will be ditching the "high tech" line and going back to a more honest and trusted brand!

Eddie.

[rushy]

I went through the confidence thing at the beginning of last season and tried two or three different lines. Expensive too !!! After all that I finally settled on 12lb Daiwa Seansor and touch wood , it hasn't let me down yet. At £6 for a thousand metres you can fill your spool up from scratch as well. What I did do was went down to the local field and tied it to a tree, let 50 yards of line out and pulled it as tight as I could to try and take some of the stretch and coil out. Seemed to work

Problem is I've still got 500 yards left from last season, should I use that or go buy a new spool

[ianmc]

hyper sensor is a low diamater line that i find is not as springy as normal sensor, but it's twice the price.

[binner]

sensor is not bad at all, used it for years and caught alsorts including double figure barbel in snag swims and a 47lb cat.

however, i found since the label changed the quality is not the same, very springy and seems to need changing more often and not as abrasive resistant. but for its price its pretty good stuff.

this year though i changed to esp syncro xt for my tench and barbel fishing, not been on the rivers yet but so far tench fishing its miles better than sensor BUT its £19.99

[JIMMY SILVERFISH FULLA]

Thing is we sit there with all this posh gear and God knows what else,, well some of do,, and then there's Rushy,, but most forget it's the lone and last 6 inch that does the business,,,

I'm the korda kid have everything korda love there gear evan have there trainers yes daft I know but did it for a bet,, but I don't particularly like there lines too much,,,

Daiwa senser if spooled correctly is brilliant line,,, as Binner says last year it was responsible to over 433 carp 25 cats to 39lb in snags 2 barbel 40 tench and over 40 bream,, If that isn't a test then I dunno what is,, the same reels I sold to my mate mike and the same line went on to bank him 10 French carp to 38 lb,, thsts a 3 year old line lol,, not 1 break

I now have senser on my infinitys and it's great,. Best thing is to soak the line 24-36 hours before you put it on and have it in a bucket of water,,, this takes on the water and makes it more supple,,, when spooling have 3 inch of water in bucket lay the spool over so it winds off and spins in the bucket and you'll get excellent line lay if your reels are any good,,

Soon as that's done get a 4 oz lead and give it some welly

Best £5.99 you've ever spent Eddie lad,, unless you've been to Thailand of course,, then £5.99 goes along way and there's other things to spend money on

Jimmy

[jimlad]

In terms of quality, the esp synchro is awesome. Spooled my tench reels with 12lb and 15lb on the carp reels, very impressed with it.

Bloody expensive though but 1000m fills a few reels

[Eddie]

The thing that actually started me looking for a different main line was the diameter issue. When you get some extra water in the rivers, as much as 5oz of lead sometimes won't hold bottom, obviously lower diameter, less drag and hopefully less lead. I hate fishing really heavy set ups, they feel really crude.

Eddie.

[ianmc]

thats one of the reasons i changed from big game line to hyper sensor the big game is one of the thickest lines i've used and i like to fish a 2oz lead on the trent. i dont like casting 5-6oz leads to the middle of the river only for it to be swept back in with all the debris coming down. i fished the swale last season with only using a 1oz lead when the river was up a little as i had more success fishing close in.

[jason]

Forget about the lines stated diameter,have a look at the Tacklebox line tests on their website.In my Barbel fishing I tend to use 2 lines,not chosen by breaking strain but by diameter.
On my light set up I use a line around 0.3 and on my heavy set up a 0.35 line.

Jason