Two "New" Berkley Products

[Mike G]

Berkley just brought out this at 4 inches.

Iaconelli's Back Slide is designed to go backwards on the fall. Is this new?

OK Maybe this is new.

 

Mork line? It looks like an advance on Fireline which I have always liked. Has anyone tried NANOfil?

"Na-Nu Na-Nu"

[John Gillio]

The Flying Lure went backwards on the drop. I do not recall who produced it. I know some guys who had great luck with it tossing it under docks for largemouths. It had a similar look.

 

No-no on the Nano, Na-nu.

[Guest rich mc]

reminds me of the hellgie patterns, which we don't hear about much anymore . rich mc

[Tim A]

The NanoFil isn't new. Been around at least 3.5 years now. They did expand it to 2 colors and 14 & 17lb test strengths about 1-2 years ago. It is sweet line for a spinning reel. I don't use my spinning gear much, but NanoFil is all I use on all my spinning setups from ultralight to inshore saltwater. It is so small and slick, it easily adds 10 yards to my cast over equivalent strength PowerPro. The only caveat is that you have to modify your knots because the Nano is so slick. Since I always use leaders with all gelspun or fused lines, I connect my fluoro to the Nano with a loop-to-loop joint, where the Nano gets a 4-turn surgeon's and the fluoro gets a perfection loop.

[Scott Ferguson]

Why do you feel the need for the leader?

[Mike G]

http://www.flyinglure.com/index.html

The Flying Lure went backwards on the drop. I do not recall who produced it. I know some guys who had great luck with it tossing it under docks for largemouths. It had a similar look.

 

No-no on the Nano, Na-nu.

Alex Langer's infomercial on the Flying Lure had its debut in 1992. He is holding a 20th Anniversary Sale. The new FL jig head is lead free. It looks like he is still going strong.

 

http://www.flyinglure.com/index.html

 

 

This beauty was caught on his latest offering-the RotoTail-hanging from the fish's mouth.

 

Thanks for info on the NanoFil. It sounds like a great performer though like Tim most users say you have to use a leader because the line is so slick. Since I frequently do that with Fireline anyway, it is not aproblem for me.

[Tim A]

Why do you feel the need for the leader?

 

One, I like to have a length of lower-visibility line in most (clearer) water conditions.

Two, as Mike G suggested, the line is so slick that connections to lures often slip.

Three, because with some species, I need a bite-tippet to guard against chafing.

[Scott Ferguson]

Do you think bass know what line is? And, they are spooked by it? I have a hard time with that reasoning. If they can tell line is bad, why can't they tell a hunk of wood, metal, plastic, or feathers with hooks hanging from it is not real food?

Using a Palomar knot will prevent the knots from slipping.

[Tim A]

I believe I catch fewer fish when my line is more visible. And I believe I have enough evidence that this has consistently been the case for me. And I will use whatever I am comfortable and confident using.

 

Fish don't have to know what line is to be turned off by its presence.

[John Gillio]

I believe I catch fewer fish when my line is more visible. And I believe I have enough evidence that this has consistently been the case for me. And I will use whatever I am comfortable and confident using.

 

Fish don't have to know what line is to be turned off by its presence.

I would say this is especially true in quiet water or when the fish are less active, like when they are under ice.

[Mike G]

"Fish fine and far off." I am beginning to see that Nanofil comes into its own where finesse is required for success. I identify this style of fishing with trout while I identify "heavy and close" with bass. However if bass are behaving like trout on a given day I will go with it.

 

Nanofil's strengths are in its extremely small diameter, smooth finish, low stretch, and limpness which deliver long casts, low visibility and sensitivity at great distances. From what I read there is a big trade off. The line is so slick that our conventional knots fail. A lot of users add a flouro leader with a double uni knot. Berkley advises using the Nanofil knot for direct ties. (The Mork knot?)

 

It is a hybrid of the Uni and Palomar knots. (Tim can tell us if the regular Uni or Palomar works with the stuff.) Now I have to decide if those advantages are worth the trouble.

[Norm M]

most of my 20 inch plus smallmouth came on 17 lb test trilene xt or mccoys mean green. many of them where caught in the much clearer water I get during the winter on the river. the only time I use leaders is when I fish for bowfin or pike and use a wire leader.

 

I spooled fluro on my reel for two different seasons just to see if I caught more fish. I did not.

[Tim A]

most of my 20 inch plus smallmouth came on 17 lb test trilene xt or mccoys mean green. many of them where caught in the much clearer water I get during the winter on the river. the only time I use leaders is when I fish for bowfin or pike and use a wire leader.

 

I spooled fluro on my reel for two different seasons just to see if I caught more fish. I did not.

But you are using a somewhat transparent monofilament. To clarify my earlier post, I am not specifically referring to fluoro leaders. The decision to use fluoro over mono as leader material depends on several other factors not discussed here.

 

Using a leader to top off braid or other superlines is a common practice in the contemporary fishing world. I'm not an outlier in this bunch. I am not just talking about smallmouth, either. Smallies are one of the more aggressive and less picky fish, and in the midwest often live in less than clear water (big exception is Great Lakes), and so may be less requiring of stealthy presentations in many situations. So I'm talking about something beyond just our beloved smbs.

 

Here's two more reasons to use a leader:

 

(a) Easier to break off on difficult snags (anyone who has used braid stronger than 8-10# knows what I'm talking about) without sacrificing fish-taming abilities.

(b ) With the looped knot system (handshake knot, loop-to-loop), you will almost never need to cut into your expensive superline (which can go for $20 a half-filler spool) because the leader-side knot will typically break first.

 

Mike G., the regular uni knot has slipped on me with this line, although it is my favorite knot in every other situation including with regular braid. When using it on braid, I typically use twice as many wraps as I would with mono/fluoro. The palomar might hold--haven't tried it.

[Bterrill]

With no leader braid, I can typically bend the hooks on any lure that gets hung. Applying leader just means you lose the whole thing. Norm's talking about 17lbs mono. That's pretty thick, clear or not. We could argue which is more visible based on line diameter.

 

I've seen smallmouth caught January on hair jigs under a float tied directly to 20# braid. I've also 17-0 a guy using it while I used mono in the Winter.

 

Most of the time in a river environment, bass just don't get that good of a look at the food. Another fish may snatch the food up, or the current may take the item quickly away. They have to choose.

 

People deadsticking senkos will swear mono/fluro made a difference.

 

Most warm months out of the year, the finesse bite isn't the best bite. For moving lures, braid or heavier lines in Norm's case, is clearly better. That's probably 75% of the fish I catch. Then out of the 25% left, how many of those days are the bass line shy on finesse? Not many. So we're talking about maybe 5% of the time or less. Probably much less. Simply matters more if you placed it near unspooked bass, whether you move it like food.

 

I've changed somewhat my opinion on line shyness. My answer is sometimes, but almost never. Good river fisherman will catch fish regardless. I've never been outfished by a guy throwing mono/fluro where the indicator was line as culprit.

[sambennett]

I've never been outfished by a guy throwing mono/fluro where the indicator was line as culprit.

 

^^^ This.

 

I'm down in Bama lately and these slow, clear streams made me think about line more.

 

The problem isn't line shyness, IMO. I spook them with silt walking downstream.

 

The minnows set off the alarm as they spook and run when I walk upsteam.

 

My successes have come flipping lures over and under branches in tough spots while standing high up on the bank. 30 lb PP worked just fine. It's my big, dumb body moving through the water that shuts off the bite. The fish aren't shy, had a 4+ bump my leg and stare up dumbly at me. Not shy, just smart. I can get one long cast and one fish while wading most of the time, after that the gig is up. For the bigger fish, at least. The dinks aren't too smart.

 

-SB

[Tim A]

I am not just talking about smallmouth, either. Smallies are one of the more aggressive and less picky fish, and in the midwest often live in less than clear water (big exception is Great Lakes), and so may be less requiring of stealthy presentations in many situations. So I'm talking about something beyond just our beloved smbs.

 

Again, this.

 

And someone please tell Tom L. that finesse presentations aren't good in the warmer months. That's why he's doing so poorly.

[Mike G]

 

It is catching on. I bet this one would go backwards.

[Rob G]

I think a lot of agreement is coming out here. I do know one thing for sure and that is when we fish crappie up north in three feet of super clear water and when they're on their beds, you can tie on that Cajun red line and struggle to catch anything, tie on braid and do well, or tie on a three ft. piece of clear mono or flouro and do even better. I have seen this proven time and again. I can't rip my flies in like baitcasters can and so the fish get a better look at my flies under many conditions soooo, I feel I'm probably not going to hurt myself with fluoro or mono leaders and hey, I might just help myself.