london_geeza

yes but thinner normally means less breaking strain in normal monos, i buy by diameter and not bs. :p im on braided mainline, im only talking on the hooklength side of things.

yeah personal preference, and when i brought iq, the 15lb stuff was breaking at about 8lb , thats the only reason i write of my findings, as i say it aint clear cut as it may have been a dodgy spool. ive used most of the fluorocarbons, braids, and monos, and best fluorocarbon is esp ghost, best hooklength braid the old favourite kryston merlin, and best mono berkeley big game, as u say all personal preference. mono dont have to straighten like fluorocarbon under steam as it will straighten easily between the fingers, and a little tension anyway.

well its said that fluorocarbon's to be invisible to fish, its almost invisible to the human eye, even if it is invisible to fish it doesnt mean too much, if its going over a rock and sticking up 3'' above the lake bed then u probably aint gonna catch too much. i personally find no advantages of fluorocarbon over mono, and prefer mono hooklengths (green or clear), and prefer braid in almost any situation over fluorocarbon. if i was u id of stuck to the braid. iq is personally one of the worst fluorocarbon's in my opinion too, loadsa ppl love the stuff, but i honestly cant see whats so good about it when compared to mono. only thing i can see to like, is its stiffness in some situations for hooking ( which the iq doesnt have anyway ). u can get the same affect by using shrink tubing and braid anyway. so for me, fluorocarbon isnt the greatest invention ever.

thats just a mono leader, i used to use 12-15lb berkeley big game 90% of the time when i was on tubing, but cant really use one when on leadcore ( u can but i dont like too much knots etc... specially when using flying backleads ).

yep thats how i do it, i find thin black amnesia is up to the job.

yep just seen it.

exactly, i was just concentrating on lines for the moment, seeing as this is a line thread :D. should start a new thread about all of it, and see if any1 knows anymore than us.

exactly the same as my fishing there then mate. 360 rig for around 75% of my pop up rigs, standard hair rig for bottom baits

i know it happens but just wonder how many different mono's are produced in the same place as the same stuff, just different label, i hope someone has good knowledge of this, and can point ppl in different direction. as sometimes there paying £10 more for the same stuff, which is just a joke. its alright with the sensor and warrior as there both cheap, what worries me is how many ppl are getting ripped off by larger amounts of cash. i dont know any1 in the game who would be willing to let secrets out etc... hopefully someone on here has decent knowledge of this rip off. lets face it, it is a rip off when some ppl are buying new mono every 3 months maybe even more than that, for £18 when the same can be got for £10 of maybe less. lets work it out over a year and for arguments sake lets just say one mono is £18 and the other is £10 (Same stuff, different label), and again for arguments sake lets just say they change line after 3 months. £18 x 4 £72 a year on mono. £10 x 4 £40 a year. £32 a year not too much to be honest, but some ppl change mono over a month or so ( i used to do it, main reason i went on to braid, actually saves me money in the long run ) and i dont think ppl wanna be spending top whack price when they can get exactly the same thing for £10 cheaper or so. i know some ppl who change mono every year, it dont matter to them, but its the ppl that are changing it 6-12 times a year etc.... i know the book says u get what u pay for, but where mono is involved it simply isnt true. i aint asking for opinions from ppl saying this felt the same as that, and this casts the same as that, this is the same colour as that etc... im looking for proper knowledge like adam has just given, any1 with any knowledge in the game?.

and if daiwa get back to you, they will say the same to you as ive said about IGFA ratings etc... look at the diameter in lines, infinity duo 16lb .33mm, 12lb gr60 .35mm, 12lb sensor .33mm says it all really. so in short it aint gonna be as strong as ur old 12lb line or it will only break the same. most monos on the market break at well above the stated b.s. which is why ppl complain about the IGFA rated lines, thinking that it will be the same strength, and abrasion resistant only thinner, which is why i recommend buying lines by the diameter and not b.s. in short .33mm will suit most fishing .35mm will suit snaggier conditions, .37+ will suit almost any fishing situation u find in english water.

the reason infinity duo breaks easier than u expect, is because its an igfa rated mono, if u dont know what that means in simple terms it means it will break close to its stated breaking strain and not above the bs like other monos. the reason ppl get caught out is because they dont buy lines by diameter, breaking strain means nothing to me, diameter means everything. .33 is about right for general fishing, .35-.38 for snaggy waters. im on braid meself, 50lb whiplash pro. but have a lot of experience over the years, where mono's concerned. in my opinion, i didnt think infinity duo was great for snaggy waters, or even fishing over gravel. but in open water the 16lb infinity duo (.33) will be hard to beat. although my preference is for berkley big game (green), over anything else available. id stay away from the infinity if ur fishing over gravel or snaggy areas where u need to give it some, otherwise it wont stand up too well. but id have 100% confidence fishing it in open water. but if ur not satisfied then look no further than the berkley big game.

to be honest i didnt post this up to get replies as to help with my hairs, i put it up after ppl on the other forum saying things like, does he still hook the fish using long hairs and id never think about using hairs that long etc.... i just thought am i the only one nowdays who fishes over 2'' hairs, i know my mates and most of the ppl round me lake all use short hairs. i remember back in the days when sweetcorn was all the rage and a hair rig was all new ( and now it has taken over the carp scene, possibly as the biggest step up in carp angling, in my mind ), but yeah seems u boys think the same as me, if its gonna be fished so close to the hook, then a bait band or d rig or some other object etc... would contribute just as much. i like it to be as free as the hook as i can get, i also like to pull the rig back just to try my best to make the hair straighten full length. im actually quite pleased a large amount of ppl are using short hairs, like to think it gives me the advantage over the field.

right ladies and gents, been having a bit of a disagreement on hair lengths on the other forum, to put it in short, a large majority of ppl likes short hairs and i go and put up that i use 3-4'' normally for boilies on the bottom, ofcourse this will change when the times right, and what rigs and materials used and what venue, but for general hair rigged 15lb braid, id rather be on 3-4'' hairs which are classed as long to most, and lets be honest even if we do pull the rig straight, we can never be sure how far or for how long the baits sitting from the hook.

i dont know exactly but looked to me around .30 possibly thinner ( which wouldnt be my choice of 15lb line ), again i may have had a bad spool and it may have been in sunlight or whatever possible reasons. i dont like fluorocarbons anyway, there either too thick and curly or too thin and snappy, if u know what i mean :D the 12lb esp ghost is probably the best on the market, but i still wouldnt rate that too highly.

the iq in 15lb is very thin, i wouldnt like to see the diameter of the 10lb stuff, apart from that i think iq is the worst fluorocarbon on the market, i had some abut 6 months ago and took it back to the shop after testing it and found the 15lb stuff broke about half its stated bs. may have been a dodgy spool i had, but i aint touching it again.