Have any of you had any problems with Berkley's new Nanofil un- filiment fishing line for spin reels. I see it has little to no stretch and 'may dig into baitcast reels during agressive hook sets'. Wondered if there has been any problems with grooving in guides or rod breakage.

Lines don't groove guides or break rods.

We've only used it on spin reels and it is brilliant. Having said that be aware there is a US range and a UK range. The US line only goes to 12lb and the UK all the way to 28 lb. After trialling and loving the 12lb US stuff we bought some 12lb UK spools and straight away noticed the difference in thickness visually. I'm confident that if I had of gotten the UK 28lb it would be the same as the US12 lb and that the UK has stretched their range out. The UK line breaks easily and we tested it numerous times. It is clearly different and probably more like 6lb on the US range if that.
Apart from that it is certainly a winner on spin reels and does not groove the guides we use. We are yet to try it on a baitcaster but will be doing so in the future. I reckon it will behave like most braids and if spooled up correctly should not dig into the spool.

Spencer, I am very interested in your answer. Could you elaborate in more depth. When an owner notices grooving in his guides, what does he conclude is the reason? Since I build and repair rods, I do know that most breaks are user error. But I am not confident on the true causes for guide grooving. I have been told that fireline and hard hook sets can stress a rod/guides to their limits. Look forward to your thoughts.

Since all of these superlines are made of kevlar, spectra, or dyneema and none of these materials is harder than an aluminum oxide (SiC, etc.) ring then these line cannot by definition cut or groove a guide. The only way this can happen, is if the weave or nap of the fibers picks up and holds abrasive materials that can cut the guide ring over time. I would suspect that bottom fisherman or fisherman that fish dirty water are more prone to this problem than others who use superlines. That said, you can break/damage a rod by putting way to strong a test on a rod not build for it and then overloading the components with too heavy lures, too strong of drag, etc.

Andrew Lang Wrote:
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> Since all of these superlines are made of kevlar,
> spectra, or dyneema and none of these materials is
> harder than an aluminum oxide (SiC, etc.) ring
> then these line cannot by definition cut or groove
> a guide. The only way this can happen, is if the
> weave or nap of the fibers picks up and holds
> abrasive materials that can cut the guide ring
> over time. I would suspect that bottom fisherman
> or fisherman that fish dirty water are more prone
> to this problem than others who use superlines.
> That said, you can break/damage a rod by putting
> way to strong a test on a rod not build for it and
> then overloading the components with too heavy
> lures, too strong of drag, etc.

I agree!

Just because the ring material is harder than the line, the line can still eventually wear into the ring and groove it. One is not 100% sacrificial to the other. Because the line is traveling across the surface of the ring it will have an abrasive effect. Braid is not smooth either so that effect is amplified as it can act in a type of sawing effect. That said, Alconite is sufficiently hard enough to withstand braid forces under most drag situations.

Can't stand Nanofil - tried it last year and agin this year. You can only tie one knot with it, and it does not have the raw strength of Fireline. Yes it casts nice, but I consider it more headache than benefit.

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

Mark Gwynne Wrote:
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> Just because the ring material is harder than the
> line, the line can still eventually wear into the
> ring and groove it. One is not 100% sacrificial to
> the other. Because the line is traveling across
> the surface of the ring it will have an abrasive
> effect. Braid is not smooth either so that effect
> is amplified as it can act in a type of sawing
> effect. That said, Alconite is sufficiently hard
> enough to withstand braid forces under most drag
> situations.

I have to respectfully disagree with your statement. By definition a softer material cannot scratch or cut a harder material. The most telling example is that you cannot cut a diamond with anything other than a diamond. I don't have the data but would venture that the hardness of superline material and monofilament material is very similar and at the very least they are much closer to each other than either is to something like aluminum oxide. The superlines generate more friction because they aren't as smooth as monofilament and put more heat into the guide but this, in general, should be insignificant to something as heat resistant as guide ring mateirals. The nearest that I can imagine that a line could grove a guide without the assistance of an abrasive would be from some type of micro-ablation from the line striking the brittle guide surface at high speed. This would be using kinetic energy of the line allowing it to make tiny chips in the brittle guide ring that over time could generate a grove. The @#$%& test rates this as possible but VERY unlikely. That said, we all generally agree that you can cause damage to the guide rings with a superline that you just won't see with a monofilament.

For what its worth. I have had terrrible experiences with it because it won't hold a line to line knot. I tried everything I could think of...albright, modified albright, back to back uni's, surgeons loop. They all failed way to easy. I suppose if you're going to fish it tied directly to the lure it would be ok, but if you're planning on using a leader it's worthless. In my opinion

I use it on two spinning rods and love it. I haven't had any problems tying line to line either. I use double uni knots or double nail knots using an easy tie nail knot tool.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

I really appreciate the honest feedback guys. I am going to try it a little up in Minn this week. Will be very carefull to tie good knots and will think of it as an expensive line experiment.

Doulbe uni knots are the best way to attach a leader, but I have not yet found a need to use a leader.

I use the 6 turn Trilene knot to tie on the lure and the 6 turn Blood knot for line to line. I don't believe that these knots have failed me yet BUT I am open to suggestions. Thanks