Success on a spool

Strictly speaking, Mirage Fluorocarbon Mainline isn’t part of the excellent Covert range that Gardner launched way back in 2008. But the two do go hand-in-hand. The Covert collection is all about dainty, inconspicuous end tackle based around semi-translucent ‘C-Thru’ or solid coloured, dull matt finished green and brown pantones. Mirage is all about invisibility – i.e. the fish aren’t going to see either – and thanks to its 100% pure flurocarbon construction that’s exactly what it does: disappear.

This month Mirage celebrates its 6th birthday, making it one of the oldest and most successful fluorocarbon main line on the carp market. That shouldn’t come as a surprise though, especially when you consider the properties and credentials which make up this line.

 “Just one 100% fluorocarbon main line stood out during the development of this product,” Gardner’s marketing man and big fish angler, Lewis Read told us back in 2009. He concluded that interview with, “Mirage combines everything you’d wish to have from a main line: castability, knot and linear strength, uniformity of diameter, resilience and abrasion resistance – it’s the complete finished product.” And since that day, six years ago in February, Mirage has gone on to break sales records and has spawned a few additional products too.

Of course there are many benefits of using a 100% pure fluorocarbon: it sinks like a stone and has near invisibility (Mirage has a refractive index of 1.42 which is very close to that of water, so even in the clearest of water it’s almost impossible to see) which makes it the line to use for wary specimen fish in pressured clear water venues. However, there have been drawbacks using such lines: poor casting and poor knot strength being the main two. However, Mirage is slightly different thanks to the high-tech, low memory formula which gives unparalleled casting performance. And using a unique advanced resin technology it means it’s low stretch which improves bite indication and is non-hydroscopic so it doesn’t absorb water that causes monofilament lines to lose knot strength after long periods in the water.

In terms of pricing and breaking strains, for your reels it comes on 200 and 600m spools in breaking stains of 12 (0.33), 14 (0.35) and 16lb (0.37mm), but Gardner now sell Mirage on 100m spools in 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 25 and 30lb which is perfect for stiff links and the booms on Hinged Stiff Links.

Happy birthday, Mirage, you’ve become the nation’s favourite main line and the carp’s worse nightmare!

“GIMME”: 100m spools from £11.99; 200m spools £19.99; 600m spools £56.99; gardnertackle.co.uk

What breaking strain?

During Nigel Sharp’s 2013/2014 campaign for Martin’s Fish on Frimley’s Pit 4 which we documented each month, we got inundated with questions regarding his rig set-up, but mainly what the breaking strain was of his stiff links.

“Originally I used 20lb Amnesia, sometimes up to 25lb, but over the years I’ve had a few problems with that material so I switched over to 30lb Mirage from Gardner Tackle. It’s just the right stiffness and ridiculously strong.”

Well, there’s your answer. It’s perfect for out-and-out traditional stiff links but also great for the boom section on Hinged Stiff Links.