Going Old School with PLine's PF Original Copoly

Total Score: 7.51 - GOOD

Introduction: Twenty five to thirty (25-30) years ago, PLine was the first "exotic" brand of line I came across. At that time, their PF Original was relatively new and touted as being thin, yet strong. I bought it on recommendation of the owner of my local tackle shop and really enjoyed the performance of the six pound (6lb) on my spinning gear. It's about time I revisit this line and put it through our new line test regimen.

Quality : I've always purchased PLine Original on mini-bulk spools. The amount of line they hold varies with the pound test you're purchasing but for the 6lb test you get 1000 yards and for 12lb test you get 500. The spools are not precision wound so when you pull a length of line off the spool and run it through your fingers, you can feel some inconsistencies in the diameter from the line pressing against itself. This is more apparent with the higher pound tests.

PLine Original was my first "exotic" brand of fishing line.

Otherwise, the surface of PLine Original is very smooth. Its published diameter for twelve pound (12lb) test is .311mm. In the lab we took measurements at five different points along the length of the line the average of which was 0.330mm. That's a difference of 0.27% - a good margin below our average of 0.7% deviation from published diameters.

12lb spooled on a Shimano Chronarch Ci4+.

Performance: To re familiarize myself with the product, I spooled up a spinning reel with 6lb test and a casting reel with 12lb test and mounted these reels on some rods we were evaluating for the coming season.

PLine PF Original casts very nicely although the first few uses on a new day will likely involve some memory issues. This applies more so to the 12lb than the 6lb test, but in both cases the memory issues go away once the line is stretched back out. The older the line gets, the more this becomes an issue, but that's pretty typical of all fishing lines.

Time to get reacquainted with this line.

The interesting characteristic with PLine is it's a little more stiff than your typical nylon monofilament, but not unmanageable like other lines that have less body in them. It's a very good handling fishing line though I do prefer the 6lb test on spinning gear versus the 12lb test on casting gear.

Off the reel on a first cast, there are some memory issues.

Out on the water, the need to retie because of frayed line during a busy day of fishing is less than that of some of the softer lines. This was validated in the lab where PLine Original tested out above average for number of cycles on our abrasion machine.

But once the line gets stretched out from use...

The line's knot strength against its rated breaking strength is very good as our 12lb test consistently broke over that mark with a simple overhand knot. In fact, it's average knot strength over three tests was 16.7 pounds. Trouble is, our 12lb test broke on an average over three tests at 19.1lbs - 159% over its rated strength so actual knot strength of the material is only 87%. However, the average knot strength we've tested against actual breaking strength is 85%, so PLine Original is still good in this department.

It eventually straightens out.