Sorting through all of the types of fishing line can be quite a chore! They are made of different materials, have many brands, and come in various pounds of test strength. Basically, each material they are made with has advantages and disadvantages, but they are all useful for certain situations. Also, the strength of the line, quantified as test strength, gives you a good idea of how much pull can be put on the line until it breaks.
Getting started with the old standby, let's talk about monofilament. Monofilament has some advantages. It is economical; you can get a lot of monofilament on a budget. Monofilament is also not greatly visible to fish. This holds true for hi-vis lines as well. We can see it, but they cannot. Two of the main disadvantages of monofilament are that the line stretches and it has a lot of memory. Stretching is bad because sometimes you cannot feel a subtle bite. Of course if you are fishing with a bobber, this is not a huge problem. Memory is the other disadvantage, and it can be very frustrating. What happens is that the line tends to coil and twist, and it wants to do this when there is slack in the line. This can be tough to deal with when trying to relax and fish. Here is a list of some great monofilament fishing lines.
Fluorocarbon looks like monofilament in that it is clear. Advantage number one is this line is completely invisible to fish. It is often used as a leader for other line such as braid. Other advantages are that it sinks and that it resists abrasions. This can be helpful when fishing brush or rocks. Fluorocarbon has less stretch and memory than monofilamant, but it does have some. Another drawback is that this line tends to be expensive.
Braid is the last type of line we will discuss. The main advantages of braid is that it has no stretch and no memory. It is also very strong, and has some abrasion resistance. Unfortunately, braid is extremely visible to fish, but if you aren't tournament fishing this will not make a big difference. Another disadvantage to braid is that it is extremely difficult to cut; also, if you get hung up, you really cannot break the line free. It is important to note that braid does float, so if you are trying to get your bait or lure to sink quickly, braid may not be your best choice.
As far as test goes, you do not have to go crazy and get 20 pound test line. Anything over 12 pound is getting on the bigger side of test strength. Smaller test usually correlates with line diameter, so the smaller the test strength, the smaller diameter the line is. Smaller diameter makes casting and knot tying easier. Also, just because the test is 10 pounds, this does not automatically mean that the line will break at 10 pounds, especially if you are using a strong line like braid.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an economical, general purpose line, monofilament is what you should go with. For a strong line that has no stretch and no memory, pick up some braid. For a line similar to monofilament, but has some advantages over it, grab a spool of fluorocarbon.
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