maxima for mainline float fishing

[The Diamond Geezer]

Dizzy Dave:

Maxima is a fantastic line.  if you shop around, it is possible to buy a 600m bulk spool of 6lb breaking strain for less than £10.  What more could you ask?

Daiwa Sensor

[Nugg]

Have used maxima and found no problem. By the way loads of this on ebay at the moment.

[The Diamond Geezer]

Nugg:

Have used Maxima and found no problem. By the way loads of this on ebay at the moment.

I wonder how old it is though?

 

Have you tried any other monos, other than Maxima?

 

Richard

[phonebush]

Diamond,

Age is not an important factor. Exposure to light is the damaging element. I have seen mono (any good brand) become worthless when exposed to UV for any length of time.

Phone

PS For some reason it doesn't seem to get better (the damage)further down in the spool?

[The Diamond Geezer]

phonebush:

Diamond,

Age is not an important factor.  Exposure to light is the damaging element.  I have seen mono (any good brand) become worthless when exposed to UV for any length of time.

Phone

PS For some reason it doesn't seem to get better (the damage)further down in the spool?

No so, my friend!

 

Age IS a very important factor depending on the storage conditions. Of course UV is important, but it's only one factor, if a major one. Oxygen and water(from air) are others (which is why some spools are vac-packed) and, as the rate of every single chemcial reaction (degradation in this case) increases with increasing temperature (trust me!), the storage time and temperature have a bearing too. Obviously the generation of radicals e.g. from oxygen is one major cause of the degradation of the polymer chains, but this is not the only chemcal reaction or physical change going on!

 

Personally I'd like to see the Date of Manufacture printed on every spool.

 

Even some of the claimed initial BSs aren't what you might think (see Dave Barham's ace article on Elton's site here)

 

I guess this is why many anglers are changing-over to HPPE braids which are not immune but far less susceptible to this kind of degradation. Anyway, why take the risk with old mono? It's cheap enough to buy new stuff

 

Fortunately though, many monos are over-rated re their initial BS which gives some leeway, and who really truly knows what BS they really need in their everyday fishing. Diameter, wet-castability, suppleness, wet knot strength, visibility to fish etc etc are some other important factors. This is where HPPE braids come into their own, except of course when it comes to abrasion resistance (as discussed at length elsewhere)

 

Tough lines

 

Diamond G

 

[ 13. January 2003, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[Nugg]

WELL HUSH MY MOUTH.

 

 

If I can help somebody as I go my way..............................

[Vagabond]

Interesting that so many posters seem to agree with me that Maxima is a good line - I expected to get told I was way out of date.

 

One point I didn't mention is that Maxima is as tough as old boots - abrasion-wise and degradation-wise. Never had problems with degradation, but I keep my bulk spools in a cool, dry, dark cupboard - and buy the bulk spools from a reputable dealer (and test them as soon as I get them home) Buying a "job lot" of line because it is cheap seems false economy to me. Maxima in bulk is not expensive anyway.

 

Certainly Maxima is usually thicker than is claimed on the spool - but if you are serious about fishing, you need to check diameters for yourself with a micrometer, and test the breaking strains as well (dry, wet and knotted).

 

BTW don't use a spring balance to check breaking strains - you risk damaging your balance when the line eventually breaks. Use a bag tied to the line to which you can progressively add weights until the line breaks. Then use your spring balance to weigh the total weight in the bag at breaking point.

 

[ 13. January 2003, 09:42 PM: Message edited by: Vagabond ]

[phonebush]

Vagabond,

Sometimes it is hard to improve on a good idea.

Diamond,

As with any statement, mine can/could be challanged on the basis of science. Single strand fishing lines (mono)as a rule of thumb for top grades ie. Maxima, have about a 3 million year half life without the presents of UV. I suppose you are correct. Let me restate my claim. Use Maxima that is less than 1 and 1/2 million year old and you'll be OK. If it is in the heat you may have a line memory problem after about five hundred thousand years. OTOH if you take it with you break dancing where they use UV driven or various black lights it may begin to become trash in a week or two. Bad place to go if you have skin cancer too.

Phone

[The Diamond Geezer]

Phone

 

So my time in the Technical Department of a nylon spinning factory wasn't entirely wasted then?!

 

Incidentally, where did your figures (the 1.5 million years etc)come from?

 

Diamond G

[DCB]

I must confess I've not read all the threads.

But, has anyone tried Maxima Green?

Brilliant stick float fishing line and hook length - it floats. So gives excellent presentation in both departments.

It's hard to get hold of, not many retailers stock it. I think it's worth the effort to locate.

DCB