Does fishing line leave any kind of fibres or residue?

Question

I'm writing a forensic crime drama and can't find this at all in any of my books. I know that fishing line is waxed but I'm not sure if that would leave a residue or what it's waxed with.

I'd also like to know what the strongest fishing line is? One that is strong but won't stretch too much.

Answer 1

Most fishing line is nylon monofilament,and leaves no fibres,or residue.Indeed, it is,as its name suggests,just one filament.

It is extremely resilient, and very strong.Some fishing monofilament is 'pre- stretched' as normal monofil can have anything up to 12% stretch. This makes for a far smaller diameter/breaking strain ratio,and a decreased stretch factor. This is much more responsive when fishing at long distance,with its lower profile.Also, bait presentation is more natural,as a pre-stretched line is much  limper than normal Mono,which tends to be quite stiff. Both types of Mono will degrade in strength over time,due to exposure to UV light.  

The other group of fishing line is Braid. These are woven lines,made from modern polymers like Dacron. These Multi fibre Braids,often woven around a denser, fast sinking central core,are much more resistant to abrasion,limper,but usually have a much greater diameter,pound for pound,than monofil.Also,Braided lines have virtually no stretch,and their use, calls for a rod with a much softer,more forgiving action,as the line affords no 'Buffer Zone' between Angler and fish. Both Mono,and Braid are completely rot-proof. Their wet knot strengths are both excellent,but Mono is slightly ahead in this respect.(depending on the knot used) Personally,if I am using Braid,with a Half- Blood knot,for instance,I will put a couple more turns in the knot than I would with Mono, to compensate.

Your reference to waxed lines,goes back to the earlier years of the 20th century,when lines were made from Silk,and if you needed a floating line,perhaps for Dry-fly fishing,you would have to wax your line in order to present a bait on the surface.Wax lines were anything but rot-proof,and after each use,they had to be stripped from the reel,and thoroughly dried on a proprietry line dryer if they were to be of any use next time you wanted to go fishing. These lines were,quite rightly, discarded in favour of modern fibres,like Nylon or Rayon,which with their vastly superior strength and Zero water absorbtion,need no maintainance at all,and will never rot. (Not even the most Die-hard purists mourned their passing) This meant Angling, all of a sudden,had acquired state of the art Hi-Tec materials,and made hard fighting species like Carp,(which had previously been considered as pretty much uncatchable) a viable sporting option.Today,Carp-specific fishing tackle  is the biggest selling Consumer Sports Market in Europe. I hope this has helped with your Forensic based dilemma,and  Good luck with your Book. Oh yeah,the strongest Fishing line would probably be something like Berkley Whiplash, or Penns Dyna-Braid,both Big Game marine Braids,used for Shark,or Marlin fishing.Also, I should think,an excellent choice for restraint /ligatures and other nefarious applications!

Answer 2

I'm sorry but your story about what you would like to know this information for sounds a bit thin, i'm sure if you genuinely need this information as you claim then you will be able to find such information on the internet somewhere.

Answer 3

Are you sure it is for a forensic crime drama, sounds a bit fishy to me lol x

Answer 4

Maybe burn marks if it's rubbed against a fabric. I would think the fishing line would be more likely to harbour evidence like catching fibres etc. . .