The Evolution of Modern Fishing Line by Will Ebersman

The fishing line that you are using now had its' start in 1938 when Du Pont revealed that they had created Nylon.  If you think that's old, Rayon, a synthetic fiber still in use today, was created in 1892.

 

Monofilament fishing line ('monofilament' or 'mono') is a fishing line made from a single fiber of plastic.  Even with the creation of the 'super-lines' (more on that later), mono is still the most popular type of fishing line in use today.  It is inexpensive to produce and can be made in a range of diameters.   This results in lines having different strengths to them, called 'test' after the process of tensile testing.

 

Mono is made in a variety of colors including clear, white, green, blue, pink, red, yellow, smoke and fluorescent.  It is made by melting and mixing a batch of polymer plastic, and then pressing this mass through a die with a series of small holes in it.  This causes the line to extrude where it is then rolled up on spools of various diameters and line capacities.  The materials making up the polymer batch are  closely guarded secrets, jealously protect by the line companies.  The sizes of hte holes in the die plate create lines of various thicknesses and tests.

 

In 1939, the Du Pont Company began marketing nylon monofilament fishing lines.  The original mono lines were very stiff and difficult to cast but did have good knot strength and very low visibility.  Du Pont introduced their Stren lines in the late 50s, which ws a thinner and softer mono that could be successfully used in a variety of reel types that included the then recently-introduced spinning and spin casting tackle.  Stren rapidly dominated the market and spawned a variety of imitators.

 

Dacron closedly followed monofilament, being commercially sold starting in 1941. It was made of polyester fibers woven together.  By increasing the thickness and number of the fibers in each type of line, different tests could be created.  Easy to color, Dacron often was made with stripes of different hues, making for a simple way to tell line strength at a glance.

 

The basis of many other plastic products, Dacron thread is made from polyester terephthlate, or PET. PET is the basis of many plastic products ranging from magnetic recording tape base to single-use water bottles.  

 

Du Pont researchers found the fibers of most polyester materials unsuitable for textile use because of the material's low melting temperature.  Similar to the production of mono line, the polymer is heated and forced through a die plate.  The resulting fibers are drawn out and passed through a pair of rollers moving at different speeds.  This straightens the molecules of the fiber into long linear chains and allows cross-linking to occur.  This is important as it creates a material with a melting point of 496 degrees Fahrenheit, thus creating Dacron.

 

Dacron was followed by Kevlar, under the Spectra name.  Developed in 1965, Du Pont scientists worked to created a light-weight fiber to replace the heavier and more expensive steel material used to create steel-belted tires.  It was first used in racing tires due to its' high strength and lighter weight.  Kevlar has a high weight to strength ratio of 5:1, making it suitable for a number of applications ranging from racing sails to body armor and surgical use.

 

The creation of the Kevlar super-lines also spurred the development of lighter reels with high line capacity.  In the mid-80s, the aerospace industry went through one of the periodic downturns. Machine shops were scrambling to come up with products to keep their CNC milling machines and operators busy.  

 

Since much of the material used in the aerospace industry is 6061-grade aluminum, some machine shops turned to making their own fishing reels.  The high strength of Spectra lines allowed reels to be made out of the standard aluminum in the industry.  The process of anodizing created a thin protective skin on the exterior of the reel.  Available in different colors, reels could be customized in a variety of ways.  Avet and Accurate are two examples of companies that turned to reel-making rather than jet parts.  

 

One of the key diffferences between mono and Spectra is that mono line will stretch up to 25% of its' length when tension is applied to it.  Rods can be made a bit stiffer to take advantage of the line doing much of the work in fighting the fish.  Spectra, on the other hand, has about 1/2% stretch to it so rods used with this type of line need to be a bit more flexible so the rod can do the work of fighting the fish.

 

The aluminum spools were also able to withstand the extreme pressure that Spectra line needs to be wound properly on to the reel.  In the '50s, monofilament line created so much tension on the core of the spool, that plastic spools were breaking on a regular basis.

 

Both types of line need care unique to them.  Mono, even with a UV protective-coating, will break down in the presence of daylight and needs to be replaced based on the amount of use.  Spectra is less sensitive to light exposure.  Because of its' longer life and woven material, it needs to be washed one or more times a season.  Salt crystals build up in the line and need to be washed out.  This is due to the sharp edges of the crystals, which can cut the individual fibers, weakening the line.

 

Another similarity between the lines it its' life, on or off the reel.  According to research done at the U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida, monofilament fishing line can take up to 600 years to decompose.  Dacron can last up to 450 years, based on the life of a plastic beverage bottle.  With either line, recycle whenever possible or dispose of it properly out of the marine or fresh-water environment.

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