The best monofilament line, and the three jobs it still does better than braid

Trilene XL publishes 0.009 in at 6 lb, 0.010 in at 8 lb and 0.011 in at 10 lb. Those are thin figures for mono — thinner at 8 lb than Big Game is at 8 lb — 0.010 against 0.011 in — and level with Maxima Ultragreen there. On a 2500-size reel that is the difference between filling the spool and nearly filling it.

XL stands for extra limp, and limpness is the reason this is a first-spool line. Limp mono comes off the spool in loose coils instead of springy ones, which means fewer wind knots while you are still learning to close the bail by hand. Our spooling page covers the part that actually causes most beginner line trouble.

The other reason to own it: mono stretches, and stretch is what keeps treble hooks in a fish. A crankbait or a topwater plug hangs on three small hooks with no barb depth to speak of, and a line with give absorbs the head-shakes that pull them free. This is why our crankbait page and topwater page both point back at mono.

Spool sizes run from 110 yd to 1000 yd, so you can buy a single-fill spool for one reel or a bulk spool that lasts years. Made in the USA, published.

Big Game publishes 0.011 in at 8 lb and climbs to 0.022 in at 30 lb. It is a thicker line than Trilene XL at every shared pound test — 0.014 against 0.013 in at 12 lb, for instance — and that extra material is what you are buying.

Berkley publishes three properties for it: controlled stretch, shock resistance and abrasion resistance. Those are the catfish specification almost exactly. A catfish rig sits on a rocky or shell bottom with the line lying across it, and then a fish runs into cover. Our catfish setup and catfish bait page both assume a line like this.

The yardages are the quiet argument. Published spools run 1700 yd at 8 lb, 900 yd at 15 lb and 440 yd at 30 lb. That is three or four reel fills from one spool, which makes it realistic to re-spool at the start of every season rather than when the line finally fails.

It is also the right line for a 50-size reel on our catfish combos page, where a thick-diameter mono fills a big spool for a few dollars and braid would cost ten times as much to do the same job.

Ultragreen publishes 0.009 in at 6 lb through 0.022 in at 30 lb. Read it against the others and a pattern appears: at 10 lb it is 0.012 in, where Trilene XL is 0.011 and Big Game is 0.012. It sits with Big Game on thickness and with XL on handling.

Maxima publishes two claims that matter for river fishing specifically. The first is consistent diameter — “yard after yard and spool after spool” — which is a knot-reliability claim, because a knot cinches on the diameter at that exact point in the line. The second is extreme knot strength. In current you re-tie more often than anywhere else, and a line that forgives a slightly rushed clinch knot is worth real money. Our three knots page is the other half of that.

The green is not decoration. Maxima publishes that the color absorbs rather than reflects light, which is the sensible claim to make about a tinted line — it is about not flashing in sunlit shallow water, not about invisibility. Our river setup and creek setup are the pages this line is for.

Made in Germany, published, and sold in 220, 250, 280 and 660 yd spools depending on pound test.