Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Product Review: Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting Line



Product Description: Berkley's Trilene XL® Smooth Casting Line is an excellent all-purpose mono line that combines incredible handling with exceptional strength for trouble-free fishing. Famous for its super limpness, low memory, smooth handling and toughness, this easy casting Trilene XL Line's unique formula also ensures less line twisting, fewer kinks, minimal backlashes and superior abrasion resistance.
  • Incredible handling plus exceptional strength
  • Super limp
  • Low memory
  • Smooth handling

Price:  $5.78

How I Used: I matched the Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting line, in 10lb test, up with a Quantum Triax 30 spinning reel. The reel and line combo were paired up with a 6'6" Shakespeare Outcast rod that I did a review on.  I used this combo because I figured it would be a good combination for both lipless crank bait fishing and bottom fishing for catfish.

Review: The Berkley Smooth Casting line is very accurately described in its company description.  Overall it turned out to be very strong, catching multiple catfish and carp over 10lbs without having any issues of line breakage.  It is limp and has very little memory even after a years worth of use on my set up.

The only issue I found with the Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting line is that it is prone to line stretch under certain conditions.  What conditions do I mean? This year I spooled my Okuma Voyager spinning reel with the Trilene smooth casting line in 6lb test in the hopes of it being a good fit for the kit.  What I found is that after catching around 15 or 20 fish with it the line got very bad line stretch causing me to have to cut off large sections of it in order to retie without having knot slippage.

Initially I thought I just had a random bad package, as this happens some times.  But after purchasing a new spool and putting it on the reel I found that I was having the same problem. When this happened I started looking at the differences in set up to figure out why this line wasn't performing as well with the voyager set up as it had with the outcast set up.

What I figured out is that this line is designed to be fished with slow to moderate action rods, which the voyager spinning kit is not.  Due to its limpness then Trilene line needs this slower action so the rod can absorb more of the energy produced by fighting fish, rather than the energy being absorbed into the line itself. So if you're gonna use this line, especially in the low pound test, make sure you pair it up with a slow to moderate action rod to get the full benefits of the line.

Beyond the line stretch issue I had with the line it is great and I'll definitely use it again, just under the right circumstances.

Pros: strong, low memory, limp and cast very well

Cons: subject to bad line stretch


Quick Tips: 
1. If you're gonna use this line, pair it with a slow to moderate action rod that way the rod can absorb a fair amount of the shock and stress of catching fish.  If you don't you'll incur alot of line stretch due to the suppleness of the line.

2. If you're gonna use this line tie on your baits with a palomar knot as it will hold better in case of line stretch.

Here is some footage of the Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting Line in action:





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