Observations 1 year of use of ester line.

[Alphahawk]

I have had ester mono on a reel now for a year. It has served me well allowing me to fish deep using 1/32 ounce jigs...21 feet deep. I love the sensitivity and sinking aspect of the line. Last summer I absolutely killed the KY Spotted bass using this line. The line allowed me to keep a 1/32 ounce jig head down on the bottom in 21 feet of water. Most of those fish were caught using a Major Craft Fine Tail Banshee area trout rod 6’ 7” L action. Now the majority reading this will know that rod to be a very soft action and fishes like an off the shelf US UL rod as far as action goes. It really helps cushion the line. On the day I used an Yamaga Blanks Blue Current TZ ajing rod at the same spot I had trouble with some fish breaking off. I use an FC shock leader and this is where the problems come in. I can only tie a 5 turn surgeons knot with my fumbly fingers. Now for those who may suggest I use another knot that is just not going to happen. Years ago I could tie those knots but those days are over. The surgeons knot in my opinion is not the real issue. The ester line is so fine in diameter that in cinching down the knot if it is not 100 percent perfect you have a weak point there. Using my Bouz Drag Checker I find a lot of my knots will break at .85kg. When the knot is perfect I get 100 percent of line strength before breakage....line is rated 2.3# test. This past week I fished a flooded area that was full of big buffalo fish using the Finezza Prototype 6’ 10” UL rod. While it is a Meabaru rod it is very rigid. I keep a loose drag yet I was not able to land any of those big fish with that setup. I have landed 30 pound drum using a Tict Ice Cube Rockin’ Drift...a very soft action rod.....using 2# test nylon mono. Now I know the Japanese use Ajing rods with this line and FC leader all the time. My question for them would be if they hook into say a fish in the 4-5 pound range what is their success rate on landing those fish. Area trout rods...and the Tict Ice Cube line of rods...are really good at cushioning the line. I will continue to use ester when fishing for panfish. It gives me a big advantage. But I am not sure I will be using ester on my Ajing rods if I’m out targeting Smallmouth...big white bass. I fish a lot, and the reel I have had spooled up for a year with the ester has shown signs of deterioration. Doing numerous tests with the Bouz Drag Checker I am finding it can break from from .85kg up to 1kg. I don’t usually keep line on a reel for a year but this was just a test to see how it held up over time. I also have a reel spooled up with Varivas 2.3# test nylon that has been on for a year and it test every time at the rated strength. I would say from the year I had with the line my cost of 8 bucks was an absolute bargain. There is no doubt the ester line helps me catch more fish....especially crappie. Plus there is a big fun factor catching fish on ester. Chris, over at Finesse Fishing, is selling a 3# test ester which I am sure I will be trying. Ester will have a place on my list of lines to have for a long time to come.

Regards

[Craigthor]

Great observations, the Ester lines I believe are marketed to Area type fishing so using it with a super soft rod provides maximum protection.

[Bronzeye]

What the heck is "area type fishing"? Is it casting to an area instead of fishing through a hole in the ice or straight below a boat?

[Craigthor]

What the heck is "area type fishing"? Is it casting to an area instead of fishing through a hole in the ice or straight below a boat?

Typically lake or very slow moving waters with little to no structure or flow. Due to the high pressure of these areas the lightest of rods, lines, lures are required to entice the wary trout.

[Knotty]

"Areas" are pay to fish stocked ponds in Japan, Russia and some other places. The fish are highly pressured so presenting very small lures on light lines is the way to go, since there are no snags and no current.

Back to the original topic. Alphahawk, is it possible that you got too used to soft, slow, protective rods and are playing the fish with the rod butt at too steep an angle to the line? A mistake I commonly make.

[Alphahawk]

"Areas" are pay to fish stocked ponds in Japan, Russia and some other places. The fish are highly pressured so presenting very small lures on light lines is the way to go, since there are no snags and no current.

Back to the original topic. Alphahawk, is it possible that you got too used to soft, slow, protective rods and are playing the fish with the rod butt at too steep an angle to the line? A mistake I commonly make.

I don’t think so. I’ve been fishing Ajing rods for 5 years now. But.......only using nylon mono and NanoFil up until a year ago. In 2016 I had one of my best years ever catching over 1600 smallmouth on Dale Hollow Lake March through May. My best week I had over 350 fish many at the 21 inch mark. The reason I mention this is I didn’t lose a single fish to line breakage. I was using a Yamaga Blanks Blue Current TZ 6’ 10” rod with SOS 2# test line...of course it is probably really a 3.5# breaking strength. I used NanoFil a couple of trips during that spring and lost no fish to line breakage there either. I have no clue what the real breaking strength of 2# test NanoFil is but I’m sure it is greater than 2 pounds. The point I guess I’m trying to make is that ester is a different animal compared to other lines.....no room at all for forgiveness. My leader knots back then were nowhere near as tidy as they are now.....and yes I used an FC leader even with the nylon mono as Dale Hollow can be gin clear. I know what you’re saying about the angle of the rod. I thought about that when hooking into those buffalo. Since acquiring the Bouz Drag Checker I have done a lot of testing with ester line and rod deflection at different angles. I can set the drag at .20kg at the reel with the ester and get a high rod angle and the ester will snap way before the Varivas 2.3# test mono line will at the same angle. The reading is always at 1kg at rod tip when line breaks. While testing rod defection with the mono I get afraid to take the rod any higher...it is bent that far. Checking the Tict Ice Cube rods and the area trout rods they will bend a lot more than the Ajing rods...as they should..... and you do not have such a huge increase in the indicated weight of drag pull. I will certainly keep rod angle in mind more than in the past though. If the waters get right, and I do get in on the spring action up at Dale Hollow it will be with the Graphiteleader Finezza Prototype but it will be spooled with a mono or a good Japanese light game braid.

Regards

[Knotty]

With all your experience I figured you had thought about the rod angle but mentioned it just in case.

I have my first spool of ester on order and soon hope to have some first hand experience with it, for good or for bad.

[Alphahawk]

With all your experience I figured you had thought about the rod angle but mentioned it just in case.

I have my first spool of ester on order and soon hope to have some first hand experience with it, for good or for bad.

Always good to get input from other anglers. I made same post over at crappie.com and Chris Stewart gave me this reply.

“The average aji is about 8" long and maximum reported weight is only 1.5 lbs. When fishing for aji I suspect they rarely hook any species that weighs 4-5 pounds. I'm pretty sure if they did they wouldn't use 2.3 lb line. Mebaru are larger than aji but as near as I can tell, they do not use ester for mebaru. It seems ester line is used only for aji or for trout in "areas," where anglers use very soft rods to protect the light lines (which I know that you understand, but some other readers may not know about "areas."

He spends time in Japan and has a lot of knowledge of JDM gear. It was good to see this as I thought I might have been losing my touch. I will still use ester line a lot but when targeting the KY spotted bass for the 2 month period in July-August I will continue to use the softer action rods. Thanks for your input.

Regards

[ultralight]

Alphahawk,

Have you thought of using the Tict 69D (Drift) with the Ester for the buffalo fish? I've always thought that in an ideal work, when using UL lines (say 2 lbs), the line need to match the rod by having opposite characteristics. If the rod is very fast and have relatively good backbone, then use a line that has some stretch such as mono/flouoro. And if the rod is very moderate, then use lines without stretch to have better sensitivity which the rods generally give up by being more moderate. You Drift happens to be moderate and yet very sensitive - I think that's due to the entire top half being all solid. It seems that could be ideal for grappling with larger powerful fish with Ester....?

[Alphahawk]

Alphahawk,

Have you thought of using the Tict 69D (Drift) with the Ester for the buffalo fish? I've always thought that in an ideal work, when using UL lines (say 2 lbs), the line need to match the rod by having opposite characteristics. If the rod is very fast and have relatively good backbone, then use a line that has some stretch such as mono/flouoro. And if the rod is very moderate, then use lines without stretch to have better sensitivity which the rods generally give up by being more moderate. You Drift happens to be moderate and yet very sensitive - I think that's due to the entire top half being all solid. It seems that could be ideal for grappling with larger powerful fish with Ester....?

The Drift would work for that but the Finesse would be a much better choice......just a tad more back bone but still plenty soft to cushion the line.

Regards

[Allsorts]

Thanks Alphahawk, really appreciate this feedback, very helpful indeed! Your comment about multiple 21" smallies has got me thinking about possibilities in some of our tough clear lakes.

Caught a dink smallie yesterday in a gnarly river section with good current and he would have done me on 6lb, as always horses for courses.

[Alphahawk]

Thanks Alphahawk, really appreciate this feedback, very helpful indeed! Your comment about multiple 21" smallies has got me thinking about possibilities in some of our tough clear lakes.

Caught a dink smallie yesterday in a gnarly river section with good current and he would have done me on 6lb, as always horses for courses.

Yeah it all depends on where one is fishing for those brown fish. Mine come out of deep, clear lakes with no wood to speak of. Couldn’t use my setup at all with any current. All they do in these lakes is head for deep water so you just wait them out.

Regards