What is the best line for carp fishing?

What is the best main line for carp fishing?

We often get asked which line is best for carp fishing, and the answer to that is that there isn’t one!

Each type of different main line material has pros and cons and is best suited to certain situations, whether it be monofilament, fluorocarbon, or braid.

Then even once you narrow it down to a particular material being optimal for the angling situations that you are likely to find yourself in, there are still plenty of choices within that category, with each having a particular set of attributes that make it the best tool for a certain job.

For instance, does the angling situation dictate that a floating or sinking braid will work best? Or are you looking to cast a long distance and therefore looking for a thin diameter, low stretch line, or even one of the newer type tapered main lines which are available these days?

We know that this can all be very confusing with so many different options to choose from when it comes to carp fishing line, and especially if you haven't used a particular type of main line before, such as fluorocarbon or braided line for instance.

So, here we take a look at all the different types of main line; when, where and why you should use that particular type; and also take a look at the different products that we offer within each category.

MONOFILAMENT LINES

What is monofilament and why choose it?

Monofilament – also known as mono or nylon – is by far the most common type of main line and has been around for many years.

But over that time it has improved greatly, and modern mono lines like Touchdown are very different to the ones you would have been using 20 years ago.

The main reasons that people use mono is that it is tough, reliable, user-friendly and quite forgiving, allowed on any water, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money to spool your reels up with it. So, it is something of an all-rounder, and a great choice unless you are fishing in more specialised angling situations, or where you see the other types of main line as giving you an edge.

Monofilament gets its name from the way in which it is extruded as a single strand during the manufacturing process, but the exact make-up of the material it is made from and the process, will affect the way it performs.

A more recent advance in mono has been tapered main lines, which are aimed at those anglers fishing at long range, and as the name suggests it is a line that tapers from a short, higher diameter section which does away with the need for a shockleader, to a thin line which enables you to cast a long way when using it. In the past tapered lines tended to only be available in the form of shorter shockleaders, with the main aim being to reduce the leader knot size and create a more gradual taper from the thick to thin materials, thus reducing the chance of crack-offs and increasing casting distance.

Different types of Korda monofilament:

Korda Carp Line

This is a brilliant all-round line that won’t break the bank and can be changed regularly if necessary, such as when fishing weedy or snaggy waters. It is very abrasion resistant and tough, but still casts well and is nice to use. It comes in subtle green colour which blends in with the lake bed and is supplied on a 1,000m spool, in 20lb, 15lb, 12lb, 10lb, or 8lb breaking strain.

Korda Touchdown

The name Touchdown comes from the fact that this line is lower stretch than many monos and allows for a better feel when your lead hits the bottom, so you can be sure it is fishing on the type of lakebed you wanted it to be on. It has great abrasion resistance and knot strength, sinks well, and also casts really well as the reduced stretch enables better compression of the rod blank. A great all-round line and it comes in a choice of green or brown, in breaking strains of 20lb, 15lb, 12lb, or 10lb, on a 1,000m spool.

Korda SUBline

A very fast sinking mono that behaves more like a fluorocarbon, but still retains the casting benefits that make a mono superior in some angling situations. It is very supple, which makes it easy to fish slack lines without having to worry about your line being too wiry. It also has great abrasion resistant and knotting properties, and comes in a choice of SUB Brown or SUB Green colours, on a 1,000m spool and in breaking strains of 20lb, 15lb, 12lb, or 10lb.

Korda LongChuck

This mono has been designed especially for long range fishing and will add distance to your casts, versus a standard mono. It is ultra-low stretch to enable quicker compression of your rod blank and has very low water absorption – thus ensuring it remains lighter and doesn’t reduce casting distance, as it creates less drag – plus it helps you to feel the lead down at range. LongChuck is also quite a thin diameter for its breaking strain, yet is still tough and abrasion resistant. Supplied on a 1,000m spool, it is clear and comes in a choice of 10lb (0.27mm), 12lb (0.30mm), 15lb (0.33mm), 17lb (0.35mm), or 20lb (0.40mm).  

Korda LongChuck Tapered Main Line

This tapered main line has all the properties which make LongChuck such a brilliant line for long range fishing, but with the addition of a built in shockleader. At each end of the 300m spool there is an 8m section with a breaking strain of 30lb (0.47mm)  which not only takes the force of the cast but also offers more abrasion resistance when playing a carp. That is followed by a 2m tapering section which takes the line down from 30lb to the 10lb, 12lb or 15lb breaking strain you have chosen, and ensures very smooth casting and with no leader knot (on weedy lakes this means there is nothing for weed to get caught around). Each spool is also reversible, should you suffer a line breakage, and it comes in a choice of clear or green. This is the ultimate line for long range casting.

Korda SUBline Tapered Main Line

This tapered version of SUBline includes all the properties which make it so good – fast sinking and very supple – but with the addition of a built in tapered shockleader and the ability to easily use it for long range fishing without a separate leader. The 40lb shockleader section is 15m long and smoothly tapers into your chosen breaking strain – 8lb, 10lb or 12lb – and can be cut down by up to 5m before the diameter starts to reduce. It is also reversible, should you suffer a cut off. It is SUB Brown in colour and you get 300m on a spool.

Korda Basix Main Line

The focus of the Basix range is to offer products that are very affordable and ideal for newcomers to the sport or those on a tight budget, but at the same time offer good performance and won’t hinder your ability to catch carp. That is exactly what this line does, as it casts well, has good knot strength, relatively low stretch, is tough and abrasion resistant, and comes in a nice camo green colour. Available on 500m (ideal if you only have two reels to fill) or 1,000m spools , in 12lb or 15 lb breaking strains.

Korda Kruiser Control

A line specifically designed for surface fishing, which is clear and unobtrusive, as well as being very supple and limp, which helps your hookbait to move naturally when a carp tries to suck it in. It also has enough stretch for shock absorption when hooking big carp on a lighter line. It comes in a choice of 12lb (0.33mm), 10lb (0.30mm), 8lb (0.28mm), or 6lb (0.25mm) breaking strains on a 150m spool.

FLUOROCARBON

What is fluorocarbon and why choose it?

Fluorocarbon has been around for a while but has improved greatly, and whilst some might view it as a hook link material, it is also an incredibly effective choice of main line.

One of its biggest advantages over mono is that it is much heavier and sinks so well, meaning that if you are using semi-slack or slack lines then you can be sure that it is lying along the lakebed and the carp aren’t going to bump into it.

It also has a refractive index close to zero – basically it doesn’t reflect light in the same way that a mono does in the water – and this makes it as good as invisible to fish.

Fluorocarbon lines also have much less stretch than a mono, thus allowing you to feel the lead down better, plus it means that you are in more direct contact with a carp during a fight.

These type of lines also tend to be tough and durable due to the way they are formed and the molecular structure that is created, but it does also mean that they tend to be more wiry than mono and don’t cast so well, and typically this means they are used for close and medium range fishing.

Another potential disadvantage is the cost of fluorocarbon lines compared to a standard mono, as they are generally a fair bit more expensive, but in some situations they can make a big difference to your catch rate and make it well worth spending the extra money.

Korda Kontour

Kontour fluorocarbon is very fast sinking, incredibly tough, and also knots very well, whilst also being less stiff than some fluorocarbon main lines and meaning that it still casts well for this type of line, with distances up to and beyond 100 yards possible in the right hands. The 12lb version is actually slightly different to the heavier ones, in terms of its properties, and is softer and nicer to use, more akin to a mono in its behaviour, but with all the attributes that make fluorocarbon so good in certain situations. It comes on a 200m spool and is available in 12lb, 15lb, or 18lb breaking strains.

BRAID

What is braid and why choose it?

As the name suggests, braided lines are simply strands of fibre that have been woven, or even fused, together in order to create a thicker line, and the type of material used to create them is what dictates their properties.

Braided main lines basically fall into two categories when it comes to lines for actually fishing with floating or sinking – plus of course you also have spod and marker braids where the main aim is to make them as thin as possible, so it is easy to cast spods, Spombs, and marker floats a very long way, when combined with some sort of shockleader.

Floating or neutral buoyancy braids have been formed in such a way that they don’t take on water and are made of materials which ensure that they are very strong for their diameter – these braids are very thin compared to their breaking strain, much more so than a mono. For instance, a 50lb braid can easily be around the same diameter as a 12lb mono.

Despite that low diameter though they tend not to cast particularly well in the sort of diameter which you would want to be fishing with – rather than just using to cast a Spomb to the horizon – and their main use is when fishing from a boat, where you are boating rigs out at long distances, and this makes them very popular with anglers fishing the large European waters.

The fact that they are neutral buoyancy reduces the chances of your line getting caught  on snags on the lakebed, such as tree stumps, but does mean that if you are sharing a lake with watersports then you will need to use some sort of captive backlead to keep your line far enough below the surface to avoid having an issue with them.

Braid also has very little memory, which means that it won’t twist like a mono will, and if you do get any twist in it then it is easy to remove and doesn’t render the line useless and in need of changing.

The lack of any stretch is another big factor when choosing braided main line as this aids bite indication when fishing at long range and also puts you in immediate contact with the fish during the fight – initially this can take a bit of getting used to as you will feel every kick being transmitted through the rod during the fight, but once you get used to it, many anglers actually prefer it and use braid for most of their fishing.

The main disadvantages are the cost compared to mono, although braid can potentially last for years without needing to be changed, once you’ve paid out initially to fill all your reels with it. And also the fact that it is banned on many fisheries in the UK other than on marker and spod rods.

When using braid you will need to use some sort of leader – whether that be mono, fluorocarbon, leadcore, or a fused Dark Matter one, in order to avoid lifting scales or splitting fins during the fight.

Whilst neutral buoyancy braids are popular on the continent and the type of waters those anglers fish, in the UK by far the most commonly used braids are the sinking variety.

Sinking braid is made in a different way to a neutral buoyancy braid, and is designed so that it actually takes on water, rather than repelling it, and this is what makes them sink so well.

They are thicker than the floating or neutral buoyancy braids, and this means that they aren’t great for casting, but are still fine for short and medium range use, or for dropping rigs from a boat in situations where the lakebed isn’t snaggy.

Aside from that, sinking braids share all the same attributes, including being very tough and durable which makes them great to use in weedy lakes, as they also tend to cut through weed much easier than mono will do.

Different types of Korda braids:

Korda Apex Braid

A buoyant Dyneema braid which is very tough and abrasion resistant, yet with a low diameter for its breaking strain, and perfect for use when placing rigs by boat.

It is olive green in colour and comes in a choice of 30lb (0.23mm) and 50lb (0.36mm) breaking strains on 450m or 1,200m spools.

Korda SUBbraid

Sinks incredibly well whilst also being tough and abrasion resistant, and casting well for a sinking braid, and is a favourite with some of our Team Korda members on UK waters that allow its use. It comes in a SUB Green colour that has been designed to blend in with the lake bed, and is available in 15lb (0.30mm) or 20lb (0.34mm) breaking strains, on 450m or 1,200m spools.

Korda Marker Braid

Marker Braid is very thin diameter, for its 20lb breaking strain, and so casts incredibly well, even when a marker float is attached, and the lack of any stretch makes it perfect for finding features, even when just using a bare lead. It is a floating braid and this helps ensure that your marker float pops up more easily when you do find a spot. The dark green colour makes it less obtrusive when feature finding, and it is. Hard wearing braid, although a shockleader (we recommend 30lb Arma-Kord) is needed in conjunction with it to prevent crack-offs. It comes on a 300m spool.

Korda Spod Braid

Designed specifically for spodding, and the very low diameter allows you to do so with the minimum amount of effort – you will need a shockleader to prevent crack-offs (we recommend 30lb Arma-Kord, and to keep the Spod Braid damp whilst spodding – splashing lake water onto the spool works). The hi-viz fluoro green colour makes it easy to follow through the air, and also helps to scare off any birdlife that might come to your spod/Spomb when it lands. It comes on 300m spools.

Korda SLR Braid

Designed specifically for situations where you need to cast a spod or marker float to the horizon, and usually the only limit on distance is whether or not you can get your rigs that far. It is an incredibly thin single strand braid and needs to be used with a shockleader to prevent crack-offs (ideally 30lb Arma-Kord as stiffer materials will lead to crack offs and frap-ups). Subtle green colour and comes on a 300m spool.

Korda Basix Spod/Marker Braid

Perfect for newcomers to the sport, those on a budget, or if you aren’t fishing at longer ranges and don’t want the hassle of having to use a shockleader – this braid is 30lb breaking strain and can be used safely without a leader. It is perfect for both feature finding and spodding, and is still a low enough diameter that it will do both with ease, and can be cast a very long way if required to. It comes on a 200m spool, which means that you will need to put some sort of backing on your reel in order to fill it properly to the lip of the spool.