Does line stretch make a difference?

The tight versus slack line debate rattles on and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the indication we get at long-range is significantly better from a tight line than a slack line. At middle distance – e.g. 40-70yds it is much of a muchness with tight lies just pipping it, and at shorter-ranges it depends very much on your preference for line lay as this becomes a more important issue. However, one thing that comes into the equation that has a big effect is stretch in the line. Braid has no stretch at all and is superb for registering bites. It’s particularly good at registering drop-backs at range as when fished tight, nylon is already stretched and with a drop-back that stretch has to compress back to it’s un-stretched form before it starts to drop-back.

I tested Gary ‘Milky’ Lowe in the Below The Surface series on Cleverley Bottom Lake. The line he used looked incredibly good underwater and I could hardly find it, but on his long-range rod the indication he got wasn’t so good. It sank well and looked good, but the indication was much worse than normal. He was fishing slack which wasn’t ideal in the circumstances, but one of the big reasons for the lack of performance was the amount of stretch in the line. I have since read a report from another angler that has been using it a lot and he had reported that he too found it very stretchy so it goes to show that line choice is critical according to how you are fishing. He thought it was great for hooklinks and I reckon it would also be good as a shock-absorber when using braid, but for longer-range fishing it’s not quite the tool for the job. Too stretchy a line at long-range and your indication definitely suffers. Don’t think that this will not be the case with a slack line either as the slack has to tighten before the stretch comes into effect so unless you are using a running lead, slack and stretchy is a recipe for disaster.