The line used for boat fishing falls into three categories. Monofilament is nylon line ( mono as it’s more widely known ) then there are fluorocarbons and braids. You may find that die-hard boat anglers will have three or four reels loaded up with different breaking strains of both mono and braid so they can instantly react to a change of mark or sea conditions.
Monofilament (Mono)
The most widely used fishing line is mono and it is also the cheapest. Large bulk spools costing very little are used to fill up reels for uptiding and shallow water fishing. The big difference between mono and braid is its stretch. Mono will stretch considerably making bites less detectable ( feeling the bottom in deep water much more difficult. On the positive side the stretch does iron out a few problems for the beginner. As the bites are less obvious there is not the tendency to strike too before the fish has the hook in it’s mouth. When playing a hard-fighting fish the stretch in mono can soften any violent that could free the hook – as can often happen when using braid. If you fish a shallow area like the Thames Estuary and are casting uptide you can either fish with a slightly heavier mono right through, such as 20lb or 15lb main line with a heavier mono leader of about 30lb. This second option makes casting safer and also helps controlling the fish when it gets near the boat. The only time this method suffers is when there is lots of weed about, as it will accumulate on the leader knot.
Braid
Modern developments in manufacturing processes have seen braided lines become ever thinner, to the point where for the same strength you can get braid that is around 50 per cent less in diameter to the same strength mono. This gives it a few advantages over nylon mono. Most importantly, it creates less resistance allowing less weight to be used, making it an altogether lighter and more pleasurable experience to use. Braid has almost no stretch so every bump and bite is felt as it’s transferred directly to the hands of the angler Small bites can be so violent there is a tendency to strike early missing the fish, so rods used with braid lines should have a soft tip to counter this. Because braid is expensive, compared to the bulk spools of mono, it is a good idea to half fill your reel with mono then add a couple of hundred metres/yards of braid on top. Being so thin it won’t take up much reel space. If you get in a tangle with other anglers, braid is a nightmare to untangle so it may be best left to experienced anglers.