A quick guide for choosing the right mainline for your carp fishing adventure.
We do not want to bombard you with loads of different mainline options to choose from and confuse the beegees out of you, so we have found, tried and tested two of the best carp fishing lines more than suitable for the job.
The reason we are testing two is we wanted to fish against an island which was just short of 70yds out and the other rod was about 145yds out.
So, lets cut to the chase…
Will you be casting over 100yds?
If the answer is yes, please read on and I will tell you the line we used in this example.
leader lines are banned in a lot of places including the lake we fished. In this situation you will need it to be light enough to cast a good distance but strong enough to take the impact. The best solution is a great casting mono line.
What is a good Mono line for this distance?
The market is flooded with specialist lines for carp fishing. We have tried a lot of these and there are some real gems out there. We are testing and really rate the: ‘Fox Exocet Carp Fishing Mono Line Trans Khaki’ 16lbs which can be bought here:
Why did we like this line so much?
As you all know Carp are a very wary species of fish and the more you do to disguise the line the better.
The Fox Excocet Trans Khaki, is a very low visibility line in the water and through the depths, it is almost invisible on the lake bed be it gravel, slit etc. This is especially true in crystal clear lakes where everything is visible.
This particular line is low in diameter and its lightness lets it slide off the reel when casting with very little resistance making it great for long distance casting.
Some other perks include:
• It sinks relatively well, especially the 15lb line we used.
• Relatively low memory.
• Supplied on larger distance spools.
• A variety of different line weights available.
What if you are casting medium distances?
As you know we had a second line out near an island, no more than 70yds away and we wanted a quick responsive line that was low visibility in the water. We opted for a 17lbs line.
Why such a heavy fishing line you ask?
We wanted a line that would sink quickly in the water due to a channel running close in and we could physically see fish movement in it. You could choose a lighter line at this distance, but this was just a personal preference.
What is a good line for this shorter distance?
We tested out the: Berkley Trilene Professional Grade 100% Fluorocarbon Line – 17lbs
What made us choose this fishing line over others?
Another fluorocarbon line that had good reviews to begin with, so it was a perfect candidate to test and it certainly came up top trumps and with a sensible price tag. As well as being a responsive line it also holds up well with knots, unlike a few brands that we have come across.
Again, being a fluorocarbon line, it has the same values as our previous test but is great for shorter distance. It comes in a variety of strengths and we found it hard to beat.
Our Summary
We have tested two lines at two different distances to find the best carp fishing line suited for each situation and we feel we have given them both a good run through. Unfortunately we didn’t catch on our 4 hour session but put the lines to the test well.
These are two good examples, they stood up to price, responsiveness and strength. The lake we were at was clear so fluorocarbon was a must, but even in darker waters these lines would stand up to competitors’ lines.
We all know choosing a fishing line is all about personal preference and there is no right or wrong, however we feel that these would defiantly be stocking up our tackle boxes in future.
We hope this has helped you decide what line to fish with, please let us know your thoughts in the comments or if you have any contenders that you think worthy of a review.
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