BassParade: Science

Science: Do You Pre-Stretch Your Fishing Line?

Much like Wide World of Sports, we here at Bass Parade “Span the globe…to bring you the constant variety of sport”.

So jumping back on the subject of fishing lines, and in this case monofilaments, I got my hands on the results from a test carried out by the German Standards Organization (TUV). The results were pretty interesting and confirmed some of what we’ve heard and read before concerning various research on fishing lines. There were a few new things though readers might find intriguing.

They tested 10 different brands of line based upon near equivalent diameters of .0098″, or what would most likely be considered 8 pound test in our country. These included many brands I had not heard of, or at least ones that aren’t available around here, but a couple were such as Trilene XL and Tectan. Highlights from the study included the following:

  • About the only accurate aspect of labeling lines is the diameter stated; it is almost always very close to actual.
  • All monofilaments tested had between 23%-32% initial stretch or elongation, with the bulk of them running 25%-28%.
  • The spools were labeled with various breaking strains ranging from roughly 12-15 pounds.
  • Actual breaking strains in a wet test (2 hrs soaked) ranged from 7-10 pounds. This is because monofilaments actually absorb moisture, which then weakens them.
  • In all lines tested, when pre-stretched for one minute to 75% of it’s breaking strain, their breaking strength actually increased by 1/2-1 lb. depending on brand, and their stretch (% elongation) dropped between 3%-9% from original calculations. In other words, pre-stretching your line can make it stronger and less “stretchy”. Not certain of any downsides to this, though, so try at your own risk.
  • Tests using monofilament and normal fishing rods resulted in a typical force of about 4-5 pounds being applied to the end of the line. Using an extra heavy rod and pulling “flat out”, they were able to occasionally reach endpoint forces of between 6-9 pounds. Remember the rod breaking video from a couple weeks back?

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Avidbasser

    June 25, 2012 at 11:05 am

    TackleTour did a great test and review of Fluoro a couple years ago. Totally different animal than nylon mono. And no I don’t stretch my line unless there is a fish attached! Of course I only have one setup with nylon mono, the rest with fluoro and a couple with braid.

  2. Ryan T

    June 25, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    Is that Overstreet up above? If I have too much memory in my topwater rod I will stretch it a bit. A lot of times I will make a few casts and hold the line between my fingers. I just make sure that my fingers are a little wet. I usually use the KVD line spray. A friend will intentionally get hung on a pier and pull tight when he reels it up. Seems to work well!

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