YGK Nitlon Trout Nylon Review

These days it’s all braid, braid, braid. But there is still a few circumstances where mono/nylon lines still come in to play. Trolling being the most notable of the uses, but I’ve grown a fondness of keeping things simple when it comes to freshwater fishing.

On a recent trip to the sweet water I decided to give some YGK Nitlon Trout line a go, and was impressed to say the least. I was after a supple, castable mono that retained its strength and the Nitlon Trout seemed to grab my attention.

YGK have designed the Nitlon Trout to handle the cooler water temperatures. No more kinking and stiffness with this stuff. Even though we don’t have the coldest of waters here in Australia you can still notice the difference immediately.

The line casts well and lays nicely on the reel. Strength wise it held up well around the unforgiving structure. Not to mention its knottability compares to that of a lot more expensive Japanese lines.

While there was not any monsters off the deep so to speak, it still performed flawlessly on the hordes of Redfin and snaggy territory that surrounds them. Overall I was impressed with the bang for buck, and if your after a freshwater mono that seems to tick all the boxes, check out Nitlon Trout.

Liquid Casting Braid preview

Castalia outdoors have released a few innovative products over the years, including their new Liquid Casting braid. As the name suggests, the braid goes through a liquid laminating process layer by layer, which gives off a smooth, rounder and tighter packed finish. For more info check out http://www.castaliaoutdoors.com/

Our proprietary liquid lamination process interlocks super line strands through a layering and in-line lamination creating the perfect blend of line roundness, smoothness and strength. The resulting smooth finish and ultra-small diameter of Liquid Casting Braid allow for longer, more accurate casts and excellent lure presentation. And the low stretch allows for just the right finesse sensitivity and quick hooksets.

Liquid Casting Braid from Castalia Outdoors

Available in Hi-Vis and Lo-Vis Green, 125 and 330 yard spools, 8 – 40 lb. test. Great for both spinning and baitcasting applications.

• Ultra-small Diameter
• Liquid Laminated Smooth Finish
• Molded Round Diameter
• Interlocking Super-line Fibers
• Layered Durability
• Finesse-bite Sensitive
• Low Stretch, Quick Hooksets
• Low Spool Memory
• Rod Guide Friendly
• Resists In-line Knots and Rod Tip Wraps

Rovex Mono Leader Material

Rovex’s new range of braids and mono’s are complimented by a full range of leader material. This includes monofilament leaders and flurocarbon. Today I’m having a quick look at the 40lb Rovex Mono Leader Material.

There are two things that make up good leader material. The first thing should be quite obvious - Performance. But a second deciding factor for me, is ease of use, which includes but not limited to dispensing.

Rovex has taken this into account with well though out packaging. This is done by an outer plastic ring that slides over the spool. Your leader is dispensed evenly and steadily and there is not a tangle in sight. Its simple, yet effective and saves a whole lot of elastic bands.

Now onto the performance. The material itself is quite a stiff leader, which I would bring down to the fact its designed to have a very high abrasion resistance. This does make knot tying a bit more difficult but in saying that, a bit of lube never goes astray when pulling knots up tight.

After numerous trips out using this leader on a snells, bottom rigs and big soft plastics, it held its own well. Not only did the snells survive the likes of Small black tip sharks, it was supple and flexible enough to to work plastics too.

Rovex Mono leader material is brutally tough but light on the wallet, and well worth a look in if your after performance leader at a lower price point.

Watch out Fireline, here comes Sufix Fuse

Rapala has launched an attack on Pure Fishings Berkley Fireline with the release of Sufix Performance Fuse. Sufix has even gone as far as advertising containing phrases such as “Hotter than fire”.

So whats Fuse all about? Here’s a quick blurb from a Sufix Pro fisho Capt. Rick Murphy..

“Sufix Performance Fuse is hotter than fire. The unique thermal fusion bonding technology and higher weave count create a round braided line with enhanced smoothness and superior casting. Unmatched ultra-fine diameter gives me near zero stretch for instant hook setting power and confidence”

Rovex HT Monocast

Rovex have not just released a new range of braids…they also took steps to develop a massive range of monofilaments to suit any situation. Today I’m looking at the Rovex HT Monocast, a line designed to cast a mile while retaining the abrasion and strength of thicker mono’s.

First impressions are good. The line is incredibly soft and supple. Often mono lines are stiff and wirey which hampers the castability and overall performance. So far so good.

HT Monocast retains very little memory after being on the reel, so you don’t get those coils coming off as you cast. The HT Monocast comes in a high visibility orange colour which makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on your line in low light conditions.

After spooling up my Daiwa Emblem Pro with a spool of 12kg(26lb) it was time to hit the surf. As expected it cast my 6oz sinker a country mile. I put a fair bit of oomph into the cast using my graphite 13ft Innovator Nitro, and the line held up as well as expected.

Around the rocks the line again performed pretty darn well. I’ll admit there was shock leader one the reel, but a few times the HT Monocast inevitably grazed the rocks and still came out on top. After a few sessions with the Rover HT Monocast it was time to put it through the paces back at the office.

After a considerable amount of breaking strain tests it averaged a respectable ~10kg(22lb) breaking strain. While it was not the 26.4lb as mentioned on the box, for a 0.40mm diameter line its about right if not a bit above what other 0.40’s lines would break at.

Rovex HT Monocast is an affordable well rounded monofilament. If your looking for a high vis, low memory line that casts well and is well suited to rough conditions, the HT Monocast is definitely worth a look in.

Rovex Viros Braid

Rovex have released a whole new range of Roxes lines to compliment the Rovex reel and rods. The range consists of monofilaments, braids, flurocarbons and leader lines. We managed to get hold of some of the new Rovex Viros braid to put through its paces and here are the results.

The Viros braid in question was the 20lb 300yd spool. The diameter resembled that of an eight to ten pound braid. Initially I was skeptical about the very fine diameter line that lay before me, but I was soon pleasantly surprised.

Before we got a chance to try it on the water, a few dry tests where performed. The only problem I encountered was related to its knotability. Being such a fine diameter the braid would cut into some monofilaments we tried joining. A few knot changes later, we had success tying it with an improved Albright knot and the back-to-back uni. But I guess thats part of fishing, adapting your techniques to suit the tackle or fish you are targeting.

After a few load tests, we averaged a breaking strain of 20lb on the nose. This was surprisingly accurate considering its fine diameter. A lot of super fine braid lines compromise knot strength, but not Rovex. It was time to test the Viros braid on some fish, and boy did we find some.

The tackletester team headed out about 20 miles offshore and located a school of baitfish on the sounder. Myself and a fellow tackletester Author dropped down some Owner Cultiva jigs to the depths.

Immediately we both hooked up and my Rovex Viros braid peeled off at a speed of knots. In fear of losing more than just the jig I tightened up the drag well past its limits. It was then tug-o-war with this unknown fish for sometime. I eventually subdued the monster. It turned out to be an estimated 12-15kg Yellowtail kingfish on tackle that was better suited to Bass.

The Viros braid held up amazingly well under the circumstances, the fish ran me around a cray pot floats rope and had more than enough pressure applied to break some more inferior brands of braids. But this braid didnt budge. The fine diameter also helped the jig keep a more natural action.

I was impressed to say the least; a fine diameter braid that takes a beating and landed me a PB Kingie. While Rovex Viros braid is very affordable, they have’nt compromised quality and proved itself during our extensive tests.Rover are still relatively new company in the scheme of things but if things keep going like this, I will be looking forward to see what else this has to offer in the future.

YGK Galis Castman Absorber

There a few crucial elements that keep you and the fish connected, Hooks for the one, but another area terminal item plays a huge role in succesfully landing a fish – The Leader. Its for this reason there are now a wide range of leader lines for just about every purpose you can think of. Supple or Tough, Thick or Thin, Pink or Clear, the list goes on.

YGK’s Galis Castman leader caught my eye mainly because of its attractive packing, but not only that, the price was very reasonable for a Japanese made leader. I decided to give it a whirl and see how good the bang for buck is on a lower priced “Japanese” leader, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Apart from the colour and visuals of the packing, it comes in very practical leader dispensing packaging, which for me is a winner. Nothing worse than buying a spool of leader, opening the packaging and it all springing off the spool.

Clear in colour, it makes for a good allround leader. I’m sure there are people out there that would like to disagree and think that Red or Pink leader material is far superior when it comes to disguising it from the fish. Call me old fashioned, but I’m gonna go against the grain here and say I’ve had just as much success using clear leader as coloured.

The suppleness makes this an perfect leader for lighter lures or soft plastics. Unfortunately a downside of this is that it does make it difficult to tie some knots. Yes its smooth, yes its abrasive resistent, yes it’s limp but unfortunately yes, it can slip. You may have to adjust your knots to use it succesfully but the albright holds up well as does a back-to-back uni. Note I have only tested the 30lb model, it may not happen with other sizes.

I’ve used this around some very reef areas in the North West and its held up extremely well for a 30lb leader. Species such as Spangled Emporer and Rankin Cod tend to head back to cover quite quickly and you soon figure out what leaders are winners and what are duds.

YGK Galis Castman absorber(thats a mouthful!) regardless of the fact it may be difficult to tie “some” knots, over all I think the positive points outway the negative. Great value nylon leader material, I have and will use it again.