The best fishing line you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

• Fishing line is an essential part of your 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 are useless without trusty line. You get what you pay for, and cheap fishing line almost inevitably ensures disaster.

Here are my favorite widely available fishing lines in each of the three most popular materials, which admittedly all come along with their advantages and disadvantages.

• Best fishing line overall: Momoi's Hi Catch monofilament
• Best fluorocarbon fishing line: Berkley Vanish
• Best braid fishing line: PowerPro Spectra
• Best freshwater fly line: Rio's Perception Fly Line
• Best saltwater fly line: Rio's InTouch OutBound Coldwater series

We 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.

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best monofilament fishing line

Why you'll love it: 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

Buy Momoi's Hi-Catch Diamond on Amazon for $49.95 to $243.95

Buy Berkley Trilene XL 6lb test on Amazon for $8.29

Buy Berkley Trilene XL 12lb test on Amazon for $8.29

Buy Berkley Trilene XL 20lb test on Amazon for $7.32

Buy Berkley Trilene Big Game 20lb test on Amazon for $4.00 to $63.00

The best fluorocarbon fishing line

Why you'll love it: 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 detectible — 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)

Buy Berkley Vanish on Amazon for $24.02 to $64.40

Buy Seagaur fluorocarbon on Amazon for $7.95 to $47.58

The best braid fishing line

Why you'll love it: 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)

Buy PowerPro Spectra braided line on Amazon for $9.74 to $285.99 (in various spool sizes and breaking strengths)

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SEE ALSO: The best fishing rods and reels you can buy