• Fishing line is an essential part of a fisherman’s kit.
  • Momoi’s Hi Catch monofilament is our top pick for most anglers because we’ve found it to be the most memory-free, tangle-resistant, and user-friendly fishing line around.

Fishing line is possibly the most critical component of fishing, save for hooks. Anglers have survived millennia without fancy rods and reels, and the best of which is useless without a trusty line. You get what you pay for, and a cheap fishing line almost inevitably ensures disaster.

The following are my favorite widely available fishing lines in each of the three most popular materials, which all come along with their advantages and disadvantages. As Insider Picks’ fishing expert, my recommendations are based on my many years of extensive testing.

I also break down what other kinds of tackle you need for fly fishing and recommend a great guidebook on how to tie knots. When you’re done grabbing some fishing line, you can check out our full guide to the best rods and reels to complete your fishing gear.

Here is the best fishing line you can buy:

Updated 10/30/2019 by Owen Burke: Updated prices, links, and formatting.

The best monofilament fishing line

Monofilament is the cheapest and most user-friendly fishing line, and while Momoi isn’t the cheapest option, it’s among the most reliable.

Monofilament (usually made from nylon) is by far the most popular fishing line on the market. It’s the most affordable, and it’s generally the easiest to manage, while fluorocarbon and braid require more finesse. Monofilament, or “mono,” is arguably the best choice for topwater angling because it floats, and its stretchiness can come in handy for a number of reasons, especially absorbing shock, which is helpful if you set the hook too hard, or snag the bottom.

But, the big problem with mono is that it has the highest memory retention of these three types of line, meaning it retains its curls from being spooled. It's also chemically unstable, which leaves it vulnerable to UV damage, along with any number of things from gasoline, sunscreen, and bug spray (DEET).

If you want to pony up for the good stuff, Momoi is rated among the most popular on the market, and after conferring with captains I regularly fish with, I can confidently recommend it.

I've generally found myself leaning toward more inexpensive monofilaments. If you want to lean toward the budget side, I won't advise reaching for the very bottom of the barrel, but Berkley Trilene XL - for ultralight freshwater and inshore fishing - and Berkley Trilene Big Game - for larger freshwater fish and general saltwater applications- have worked for me. I recommend you take extra care to change out your line at least every year, which can get wasteful.

Pros: Low memory, user-friendly

Cons: Expensive, chemically unstable

The best fluorocarbon fishing line

Foto: sourceAmazon

While more expensive than monofilament, Berkley Vanish is more abrasion-resistant, and it's also nearly invisible underwater, which can help produce more bites.

Fluorocarbon is a newer, stiffer, more resistant fishing line that's almost invisible in the water. Slightly more expensive than mono, fluorocarbon (or "fluoro") is generally accepted by fishing's elite as being less detectable - and producing more bites - than mono. It also sinks, allowing lures to reach greater depths quicker than mono, which is great for subsurface lure and bait fishing.

I use Berkley Vanish when I want a whole spool of fluorocarbon, but I mostly use it for leader material at the end of my main spool of monofilament or braid. When fishing big game, I go for Seagaur fluorocarbon material. Neither of which have failed me yet.

Pros: Abrasion-resistant, almost invisible underwater

Cons: Expensive, stiff (sometimes difficult to handle)

The best braid fishing line

Foto: sourceAmazon

Gel-spun synthetic braid is one of the strongest fishing lines on the market, and apart from being among the most popular, PowerPro Spectra is one of the most affordable options.

Modern synthetic fiber-based braided line is the strongest fishing line on the market, and over 10 times stronger than steel, which brings along its own benefits and limitations. Because it's thinner, you can fit way more of it on a spool, enabling use with much smaller spools and reels than with other lines. Braid also casts farther, and because there isn't much stretch to speak of, offers a more direct and arguably surer hook set.

That aside, braid is possibly the least forgiving of the fishing lines. It's all too easy to tangle, and the ensuing knots are the hardest to untie due to its relatively small diameter. It's also nearly impossible to break - even when you want it to, in the event of an irretrievable snag - which can mean cutting your expensive line when half of it is still out, costing you a new spool, and the environment any number of reprehensible tragedies.

I use PowerPro Spectra braid on most of my reels. It's lasted the longest, and after having gone through countless yards of the stuff, I have yet to find an imperfection to date.

Pros: Almost unbreakable

Cons: Expensive, prone to messy knots, difficult to break (when the time comes)

The best freshwater fly fishing lines

Foto: sourceRio

Rio's fly lines are extra slick, which lends them to fewer tangles, and with loops at both ends, they'll save you a lot of time when it comes to tying knots.

The best fly line you can buy, as a general rule of thumb, is the best fly line you can afford. Cheap fly lines are not temperature-stable, which means in the heat, they get soft and tangle easily, but they'll get so stiff in the cold that they don't cast well. It's important to buy a fly line with a temperature rating that corresponds with where you'll be fishing most.

The other side of the coin is that if you're a beginner, there's a decent chance you'll wreak some havoc on your first fly line or two, and they might not last as long in the beginning as they will down the road once you've learned to care for them. Treat your fly lines with something like TFT Ltd.'s Mucilin line dressing, which also doubles as a fly flotant.

When considering a freshwater fly line, as with any line, keep in mind which part of the water column you'll be targeting. If you're fishing topwater, or roughly within the top five feet of the water column, a floating fly line like Rio's Perception Fly Line is ideal. That's not to say you can't get away with a cheaper version like Rio's Mainstream floating fly line at a third of the cost, but don't say I didn't warn you.

If you're fishing a deeper stream or river, go for a floating line but with a sinking tip, like RIO's InTouch Streamertip with a 10-, 12-, or 24-foot sinking tip depending on how deep and/or wide the body of water is you plan to fish most. Just keep in mind that things can get out of hand easily for a novice with a lot of sinking line, so you may prefer starting out with the 10- or 12-foot sinking tip.

Pros: Slick, tangle-resistant

Cons: Expensive

The best saltwater fly fishing lines

Foto: sourceAmazon

Just like the Perception line, Rio's Outbound fly lines are slick, supple, and looped at both ends for easy setup. In the brine, longer casts tend to become more critical. For that reason, Outbound is made with a longer head, which helps you send more line out.

The term saltwater fly fishing usually conjures images of wading calf-deep in gin-clear waters across Bahamian sandflats for bonefish, but the reality is that most of us will spend most of our time wetting lines in more northern climes, which is fine, but a fly line fit for the job is in order.

The best all-around saltwater fly line is Rio's InTouch OutBound Coldwater series, and an intermediate fly line is ideal for subsurface fishing at shallow depths, and by extending your leader (the nylon line that runs between your main fly line and your fly) you'll have no trouble fishing topwater flies, too.

The next line you'll want to have will be a sinking tip line. Assuming you'll be fishing deeper water than you would in a trout stream, go for a 30-foot sinking tip. Rio's InTouch Striper 30ft Fast Sink line suits me well, and also makes for a good freshwater line when fishing lakes. You may want to keep it on an extra spool so you don't have to go through the headache of changing lines.

The Coldwater series is made a little extra soft so it doesn't stiffen up in the cooler water. (If you're fishing in the heat, buy tropical line).

And finally, if you are going to be hucking flies in tropical or even subtropical waters (think redfish, speckled trout), your go-to starter line will most likely be a floating tropical line. Rio's Tropical Saltwater Fishing Line (floating) is likely all you'll need.

Rio also offers the Tropical Saltwater Line in an intermediate version if you want to try your luck with tarpon or redfish in the channel. If you plan to head offshore, or even just into a deep channel, Rio's Leviathan intermediate line with a fast-sinking head will get you down to depth in warm water and withstand the sun without turning into a soggy mess of spaghetti.

Pros: Slick, tangle-resistant

Cons: Expensive

The best guidebook to fishing knots

Foto: sourceLefty Kreh

Lefty Kreh was quite possibly the greatest fly fisherman that ever lived, and his seminal book on knots is a clear, concise, and tidily-illustrated masterpiece.

Anglers can generally get away with knowing only a few basic knots, but it's worth knowing as many as you can. Salt Water Sportsman and Hatch magazines both offer excellent crash courses on the most essential fishing and fly fishing knots, respectively, but for those who prefer to study the old-fashioned way, the late, great Lefty Kreh (along with Mark Sosin and Rod Walinchus) leaves us with "Practical Fishing Knots" which covers all the bases, and then some.

The best fly tackle you need to go with the fly lines

Foto: sourceAmazon

Frankly, you'll have a very hard time catching fish without most of these critical accessories.

You've got your backing and your line sorted, but most fish worth their weight aren't going to make a pass at a fly that's hanging from a thick, waxy, neon plastic-coated line. For this reason, monofilament (or fluorocarbon) "leader" goes at the end of your line, which is not only less visible to fish but instrumental in balancing your cast.

These range anywhere from about five feet to sometimes upwards of 15 feet in length and are often extended by what's called "tippet," which, without getting even more complicated, is just more monofilament or fluorocarbon line. While you can get away with regular monofilament or fluorocarbon in lieu of both leader and tippet material, it's usually not recommended by the fly angling elite. I can't tell you why, though. I've outwitted some of the wiliest fish on some of the most outrageously oversized lines.

At any rate, Rio's tippet works just fine, as does the array leaders for both trout in freshwater and medium-sized saltwater species. If you're planning to chase fish any bigger than about 10 or 15 pounds, though, just go for a straight monofilament or fluorocarbon leader that you'd use for regular fishing, anywhere upwards of 20lb test, depending on the size of your quarry, of course. I go for Seagaur Fluorocarbon in that case.

Freshwater fly tackle

Saltwater fly tackle

General fly tackle