One of my favorite parts of ICAST – the sportfishing industry’s largest trade show and the place to sample the world’s largest selection of fishing gear and accessories – is the “New Product Showcase.” There, all the newest and most innovative products are on display and fishing writers, editors and publishers vote on which products they think are the best in several categories as well as best in show.
This year’s overall winner was the new superline Berkley NanoFil.
We got a sample spool of this line at the office a few weeks back that I quickly claimed for one of my freshwater outfits. Though I haven’t had the chance to fish it just yet, my initial observations are that it is extremely thin and smooth, unlike other superlines that have a bit of a rougher feel.
The line is made from a gel-spun polyethylene and hundreds of dyneema fibers that are linked together to create a single filament fishing line. NanoFil is neither a braid nor a monofilament, but it has the best characteristics of both. It has no stretch, low memory and small diameter like a braided line, yet the smooth feel of a monofilament.
I used 8# nanofil recently on my 8.5ft steelhead rod to cast almost weightless floating jighead with very small sections of Gulp! nightcrawler into stiff breeze, & despite my over energetic casting motions, never created a wind knot in over an hour of trying. This stuff is impressive, I just wish it could be sold in larger spools than the present 150yds.