I'm pretty much a mono guy for spinning reels. Always have been. That's because I love light line and you'll have a lot fewer headaches and line mishaps with mono. Plus, since I mostly fish northern waters, I never really know what's going to hit. If it's an 8-pound walleye, I want to land it. If I latch onto a rare 35-inch northern, mono gives me the forgiveness to get it in.
And when I'm fishing my passion – Lake Erie smallmouths – I lose fewer fish on mono than I do on fluorocarbon. That's because so many bruiser smallmouths make that last, unsuspected charge, or take that first jump and try to spit the bait. Mono simply lets you make mistakes.
What I give up is sensitivity, but to tell the truth, so many smallmouth hits on Erie are just dead-weight takes that a little stretch can be a good thing. And if you keep your line strewn across your index finger, you don't lose all that much sensitivity.
I recently had a chance to test a new mono from Berkley called Trilene TransOptic. I'll admit that ever since the mid-'80s, Trilene XL has been my favorite line. Overall I think it's got the least memory, the best stretch ratio, and the price is right. You can grab a month-old spool=job and get right to work. Plus, it's an excellent multispecies and multi-application line.
I found that the properties of TransOptic were comparable to XL, so I was immediately comfortable with it. The biggest difference, of course, is that TransOptic changes color. Above the water and in the sun, it's a hi-vis gold. Below water, it changes back to clear mono. That's a big plus anytime line-watching's critical.
My Tests
I fished the line two different ways, and it excelled in both instances. The first was with a straightforward sinkworm in and around grass. The hi-vis gold was easy to watch as the worm sank. You could tell right away when you hit bottom, and strikes registered immediately. I liked that a lot, and I didn't have the anxiety of line-visibility that I feel with clear/blue-fluorescent.
The other instance was a day out on Lake Erie. And that experience showed me where this line truly shines.
I fished out of the backseat that day, and it was windy. Any BassFan who's fished deep in the wind from the backseat knows how tough it can be. Sometimes you don't know if the boat's swinging to port or starboard, or whether it's moving forward or backward. And you're always struggling to see whether you're on bottom yet, because in those conditions, it can be difficult to tell through pure feel.
Jigging a river from the backseat is similar, and it's critical to know exactly where your line is, whether or not it's still playing out, and how fast you're moving in relation to the current.
TransOptic lets you fish much more efficiently. You always know where your line is, and whether your bait's still sinking or actually on bottom. If your presentation's blown, you realize it much more quickly, so you can reel up and drop again right away.
That advantage would easily translate to backseat fishing in big tailwaters, ledge-fishing on the Tennessee River, shakey-heading in subtle or stronger current, or blading/spooning anywhere.
Over 2 full days of fishing TransOptic in different ways, I came away feeling it's a necessary tool for my fishing. It performed as I expected a Trilene product would, and I especially recommend it to anyone who fishes deep from the backseat.
Notable
> A filler spool of TransOptic costs from $9 to $11, depending on test strength. Available test strengths right now are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 17, 20 and 25.
> To order, click here.
> For more information on Berkley and its lines, visit Berkley-Fishing.com.
