The kids got me 125m of 14lb berkeley fireline for Xmas.
Having never looked at this product before as it is sold boxed, I was firstly surprised to see how stiff it was and also it seems heavily waxed. Secondly, I was gobsmacked when the 125m was way too long to fit on a reel spool that had previously accoomodated 200m of 8lb mono.
Have I got a duff batch or will it soften and thin out?
cheers
kev
G-day Kev, Im not sure it will thin out but it will soften up a fair bit. I use Fierline on my light spin gear and usually after a good session spinning it is a lot more user friendly. It seems to loose the wax fairly fast and the colour will fade but the stuff is as tough as nails and worth the money in my opinion.
C Ya
Staggy.
G'day Kev,
Not a big fan of Fireline, but it is good for Spin Reels and light fishing applications. As Staggy said it will soften up after a good workout, and the coating will start to lighten up, but Fireline is pretty sturdy stuff - Last you a life-time!. I think with all Dyneema braid's, Fireline needs a good floggin' before it becomes user Friendly... So it might be worth spending an afternoon or two just casting lead weights or jig's a good distance, so it lays flat on the spool and adapts to the gear your using. Just a thought...
TT
its good stuff. Like the boys said, I find by the 2nd or 3rd trip it loses a lot of its colour and becomes a lot easier to use. It also tends to sort itself out in terms of how much should be on the spool. If you have too much, it will knot up until there's a little less. My tip would be if you're using light weight baits or floating something to make sure you run your fingers dwn the line between the spool and the first runner to make sure the line in that area is taught, to avoid the line being run back onto the drag knob or underneath the spool by mistake because of loose line.
Joel
Fishing for the thrill, not for the kill
Fireline should be packed onto your spool as tightly as possible, remember it has no stretch so it won't pull up tighter around your spool like a mono after you leave it after a while. What will eventually happen is you have 100 odd metres of line and you cast out 30 - 40 metres and wind this back in under pressure with a fish on the other end hopefully. If you have'nt spooled up properly originally this top layer of line will bury down into the loose layers and next time you cast will drag a few coils up over the lip of the spool with it. This will create unwanted knots and birdnests and thus induce a fair bit of foul languange and turn you against an otherwise innocent product, which would be a tragedy. I suspect that you may not have pulled it onto the spool as tight as it could have been because 125 yards of 14pd fireline should fit on a spool that carried 200m of 8pd mono. Both lines should be very close to the same diameter and you have about 70m less in the fireline.
Anyway good luck it is an incredible product and I hope you see the many positives that it will bring to your fishing.
Cheers Kev
Make sure you put a couple of metres of mono on your spool first otherwise you could find the line rotating/sliping on the arbor of the spool.
Yeah 3 trips and she is sweet....so light...so strong!! bit tricky on the knots....but once you get that sorted...SWEEEEEET
BilgeBoy
Kev
It is a bit disconcerting to find that the stated equivelant line diameter is not very accurate. A typical 2000 size reel said to take 165yds of 8lb mono can only just take the 125yd spool of 10lb Fireline and yet it states that it is the equivelant of 4lb line so should be taking well over 200m.
Still i find it the best option for the lighter spin outfits and it will soften up. Try putting a snapper lead on and drop and retreive it in deepish water for 10 mins and it will be ok to use
Merry X mas
Neil
Thanks for you replies fellers.
OK, here's what I did.............I wound it back onto the spool it came on and soaked it in the hottest water my hand could stand changing this 3 or 4 times.......the hope was that it would remove the "waxiness" that I guessed was accounting for it's diameter.
I then wound it onto my beach rod/reel and took it up to the local playing fields and chucked it out about 8 times with a 4 oz lead on it. Each time I wound it in I wound it as tight as possible. It now fits on the reel it was intended for, but only just. I suspect though that it still isn't as thin as the blurb purports it to be. I'll let you know how it goes down the Pin when using it for real.
kev
Kev,
Did you remember the backing???????
Originally Posted by shayned
Yep................learned a new knot..............mono to braid
kev
14lb Fireline for the Pin. What are ya after Kev - bream on steroids
14lb Fireline for the Pin. What are ya after Kev - bream on steroids
[/quote]
No mate, 14 lb is 14 lb no matter what medium. I normally fish 8lb mono but have lost a lot of placcies and lures because of my target area. Found some really snaggy backwaters down there which may just hold jacks.........need the strength for the snags but also like the idea of braid for keeping in touch with the lure and keeping the diameter down.
Just trying to adapt but no doubt I'll still come up with shovellies and stingies
kev
14lb will be fine Kev, thats about....6lb mono Diameter and it will be capable of around 20lb+ if you tie a good strong Braid to Mono knot. That will handle Jack's dead easy. May I ask what knot you are currently using? Always good to learn new knots... Especially with Fireline, as that crappy coating can sometimes let go of a knot at the wrong time!
TT
I use the stren knot mate..........pretty easy to learn and remember.
kev
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