Do main lines behave how we think they do?

Do lines behave as we think they do or as they are advertised? Also which is the best line for visibility and which is the best for fishing over weed.

I get asked this loads of times and it’s a bit like asking which car is the best. You can’t get your fishing tackle in a Porsche but it’s great for looking good and going fast. Equally you’re not going to handle a racetrack very well in a van. Sadly for us, as anglers, it’s a matter of compromise. Firstly, because we don’t want the impracticality of having to re-spool every time we fish a different swim, and secondly because to do so would be expensive. What we need is the best all round line for the situation we are fishing in or likely to fish. A sporty estate car if you like.

People try to go thin as they think the diameter will be less obvious in the water but after it’s been in a while it will be covered in crap so wipe that one off your list and use the heaviest you can get away with for the distance that you want to cast. Personally I like to use a colour of line that is similar to the water around it, which in summer is green or grey and in winter is dark or grey. Notice I’ve mentioned grey twice there! The light that comes into our lakes is often grey in colour because of the clouds above and if we were fishing in a clear lake in the south of France I would be advocating a blue/green line.

As for sinking, some do but the majority are simply neutral. When fishing over weed I would suggest that the best option would be to fish a neutral buoyancy line semi tight so it doesn’t sink into the weed but rather sits on it or above it. That way then there is movement the line will move rather than have to be pulled out of the weed. Sinking lines are great for clean bottoms, but my preference is for a neutral line that blends in well with its surroundings and is fished tight or semi tight. I haven’t seen a line yet that follows the contours of the bottom perfectly like you see in the rig diagrams or advertising hype.