Field test of NanoFil

[Garry2Rs]

I bought a spool of new Berkley NanoFil in 10 pound test. The line is a very bright-white! Before I left for the lake I used my trusty Magic Marker to blacken the last two feet of line to tone it down a little. I knew the colour wouldn't hold-up for long and as expected it went from black to light grey over about a three hour period.

 

The dry ink might have compounded my problem, but the finish is very very slick! I tied on a 1/16 oz. jig, using a regular Palomar and when I tightened the knot it slide right out! Again the ink might have been a factor.

 

I retied using a Uni, but for extra grip, went through the eye two times, this knot held firm. After a little use, the ink faded and line's finish either wore, or gained some texture, because on subsequent reties I had no problem with either the single Uni or regular Palomar knots slipping.

 

I found that, although I had tried to spool-up under good tension, after a couple of casts the spool seemed "loose." Using the boat, I ran the line out and rewound to get a truly tight spool. As I fished, I tried to stay aware of any slack at the reel when I closed the bail. When I noticed "soft" line on the spool, I made a long cast to remove it, and rewound to maintain a tight spool. This is only good sense with any line, but especially with braid on a spinning reel.

 

This was the only "problem" I experienced with Nano-Fil.

Initially there was also quite a bit of curl in the line. This relaxed as I used it and the soft spool syndrome became less noticeable...The fact that both issues decreased with use might suggest that they are related to the slick finish and it's breaking-in with use.

 

I had no problem catching Bass and Rockbass on this new line, with the blacked tip using a small jig and grub. To complete my test, I cut the darkened area off and went with straight bright-white line.

 

There was no point in using a crank or other reaction type bait to test my white line. To truly see if the fish would rejected the line I needed to use a dead-stick type of presentation. To make a fair test, and to add some variety for myself, I continued with the tiny jig and grub, but added a jig and curly-tail and a wacky-worm to my arsenal.

 

Above the water the line is highly visible, so it is very easy to dead stick with.

 

 

This LMB grabbed the 1/16 oz jig and grub.

 

The close-up shows 1/16 oz jig. Note how bright and how small in diameter this 10 pound test is.

 

 

This SMB showed no hesitation about hitting the wacky worm

 

I was worried that the process of creating a single strand would make this line as subject to twisting as plain old Mono...This doesn't seem to be the case. I have about six hours of spinning on this line and so-far-so-good.

 

I suppose the big question is:

"At twenty bucks a spool is it better than anything else?"

I can't say it is much better than Sufix 832 which I think is the "standard" for braids at this point. It's different and I'm glad I tried it. I want more hours to see how it stands up. The painted finish on other Berkely lines soon wears off...Will this be the same?

 

One thing I now know...This line isn't re-branded Fireline Crystal and is much smaller in diameter and much slicker. It does cast easily and seems to go farther on a cast than I would have expected given the small size of my baits. However that's hard to judge definitively without two identical rigs.

 

One other bonus, doesn't seem to bring in as much water as regular braid does.

 

In a few weeks I will be off to Arizona and will continue to use this line all Winter. By next Spring I will be able to tell you how NanoFil stands up over the long haul.

Garry2R's

Edited September 18, 2011 by garry2rs

[whitbyboatguy]

my prediction....line not getting as wet as others = slippier coating (so not the marker) so the double loop palomar will become a requirement.

 

What is that jig head you have on there?

[mercman]

Thanks Garry !! I absolutely enjoy your threads, and have learned tons of stuff from you.Thanks for taking the time and effort to keep us informed the way you do.

 

 

Paul

[Garry2Rs]

my prediction....line not getting as wet as others = slippier coating (so not the marker) so the double loop palomar will become a requirement.

 

What is that jig head you have on there?

 

 

I buy those Crappie jigs and grubs from Trout Magnet.

Click this link

I have been using them for about four years and think they are great!

Much better than mini-tubes etc. in my opinion.

The cut face of the jig causes it to spiral down as it falls.

Deadly on all panfish and it always catches a few incidental Bass...wink.

[johnnyb]

Really glad you put this up....I'm keeping my eye on the nano-fil....so far really not having TOO much grief with suffix/powerpro on my spinning reels (although I find powerpro cast further...hands down...) but am interested in checking it out. Less water absorption has got me thinking icefishing!