upstream

For those that use mono for your fly leader (and any closet gear chuckers out there) here’s a great new alternative to monofilamet. Bioline is a biodegradable fishing line who’s roots lie in surgical stitching technology. It retains 100% of its tensile strength for up to 12 months and boasts superb casting distance and exceptional knot strength along with UV and abrasion resistance. With these features and the added benefit to biodegrade within 5 years, this should be the de facto fishing line standard from this point forward.

This doesn’t mean the you can leave your leader trimmings on the river bank or cast away your tangled line into the water -  you should still leave not trace. Bioline technology is beneficial when when you need to break of due to a snag or your stubborn fish wants your fly and leader as a memento of your encounter.

The foil bag has a zip lock seal to keep the spool ‘fresh’ when not in use and the spool itself has a nice little feature which I’ve never personally seen on any other spool - a little cleat, similar to that of a dental floss container, that lets you cut your length of leader from the spool without using a pair of clippers.

I’d be curious to hear from the folks at Bioline if there has been any feedback from users about extending the life of the line by resorting to unique storage scenarios like keeping the package in a wine cooler or in a tupperware container in your deep freeze as some photographers do with their batteries.

For the cost conscious angler, you’ll be happy to know that Bioline is better value on a cost per yard basis.  A spool of Maxima Ultragreen, which I usually use, contains 110 yards while a spool of similarly priced Bioline contains 210 yards. That amounts to a savings of approximatley 40%.

I’ve got some 12lb test on hand at the moment and am keen to see how it holds up. I’ll do my best to create another post down the road after the Bioline has spent some time on the reel and on the water.

UPDATE: Word on the street is that Bioline will be introducing a line of tippet product in the not too distant future!