On 18 Sep, 15:14, "Tom Nakashima" wrote:


Mike,
I enjoy having that memory in the line with nylon leaders & tippets. For me
it acts as cushion or shock absorber when you're hooked onto a fighting
fish. There were times on my past trip this past July on an Alaskan River,
that some of the rainbows would turn their heads in a split second when
hooked, or come out of the water and shake their heads violently. My friend
on the other hand has used fluorocarbon tippets, and there were quite a few
times he had broken off from violent shakes
I was wondering your take on this?
-tom

There is rather a problem with the nomenclature here. All nylon has
memory, ( as do all thermoplastics). this is what makes them flexible
and elastic, and as this property is intrinsic, it can not be removed.

What happens to nylon line, is that after being stored in coils, or
kinked etc, the line retains the memory of that state, and in order to
remove that state, the memory of the line must be adjusted, by heating
and stretching.

If thermoplastics are bent or stretched beyond their memory capability
to restore themselves, and don´t break, they may lose even the
possibility of restoration in that specific area of the line.The
molecular orientation is damaged.

When one winds nylon line on to a plastic spool under tension for
instance, the line still tries to return to its original state as a
result of its intrinsic memory. This cause the line to contract, as
it was stretched when wound on to the spool. This causes massive
pressure on the spool, and can easily break or deform plastic spools,
but it also programs the memory of the line to remain in tight coils.

The only way to restore the line, is to heat it to a suitable
temperature, and stretch it very slightly, if kept straight and
rapidly cooled, it will stay straight, as the long molecule ( Polymer
chains), have been reoriented. The result is also stronger per se, as
longitudinally oriented molecules are stronger than any other
orientation. The result is also thinner. This is how "super strong"
nylon is made, it is stretched under the application of heat, after
manufacture, and then rapidly cooled. If ordinary is nylon kept
straight, BUT UNDER NO TENSION AT ALL, and allowed to cool naturally,
it will return almost completely to its original state.

The same applies to any thermoplastic. If you pull a piece of
polythene until it deforms, the resulting piece is much stronger when
pulling stress is applied, but it will not deform any further, if
stretched beyond this point, it will simply break.

Fluorocarbon lines are merely pre stretched nylon lines coated with
fluorocarbon. The fluorocarbon compounds used have lesser or no
memory properties, and sudden stress causes them to break, as they can
not extend.

There is no real point in using fluorocarbon lines at all, They are
not less visible to the fish, and they are intrinsically weaker than
any other thermoplastic copolymer ( Nylon is a copolymer) lines, not
least as as a result of their lack of memory, and abrasion resistance.
Their much vaunted sinking capabilities are overrated.

Also, as the dreaded Fortenberry also quite correctly pointed out,
they will last a very long time, as fluorocarbon coated line will not
degrade like ordinary nylon line.

I agree with you up to a point and that is why I also use ordinary
nylon, as it has a considerable degree of elasticity, ( due to
intrinsic memory), and cushions itself to a degree.

However, I don´t like curls and kinks in my leaders, as for some of
the techniques I use, they would cause me to lose a lot of fish, or
prevent correct presentation. So I normally warm my leaders up ( on
stream, in hot coffee etc), and stretch them very slightly, and allow
them to coll, so that they remain staright.

TL
MC