Typically, at this time of year, we like to start testing new lines in preparation for the new season. Mono is one of those lines that not all anglers, especially these days, put much thought into. Most of us simply spool up with what we’ve used for so many years at least in part because there isn’t much discussion of the advancements that have been made in mono when compared to other lines.
The new Vicious X.A.C.T. Copolymer Line was showcased at ICAST in Vegas as a new generation mono with some interesting features that caught our eye.
We still use mono for a good deal of fishing situations, crankbaits being one of them as well as other reaction style baits like spinnerbaits. Anytime you want to allow a little more time for the fish to get more of the bait in their mouth, mono can be just the ticket.
What is special about X.A.C.T.?
X.A.C.T. Copolymer Line is manufactured using a double coating to increase abrasion resistance while maintaining excellent knot and tensile strength. This coating also helps deliver enhanced castability, limpness and smoothness.
There are two other features of this line that really piqued our interest when we saw it. The first being that Vicious Fishing chose to be completely up-front to the consumer when it comes to the stretch of the line. On the back of the package, you will see that it averages 28% stretch which they claim is less than competitors products.
We put up some facts about the claims that we all hear regarding mono, fluorocarbon and braid in an article that was published several months ago. The bottom line being that all lines, including braid, do stretch. Some more than others. When exposed to water, some lines stretch a great deal more than you would think.
Just for the sake of brevity, we’re not going to re-hash that here. Suffice it to say that the Vicious X.A.C.T., with the 28% average stretch, lives up to its claim of delivering less than many of their competitors.
This is cool!
The other component of this particular line that got us thinking, is not a feature of the product but a commitment by the company. Vicious is going to be donating a portion of the proceeds from every spool of X.A.C.T. Sold to the Tackle The Storm Foundation – an organization that purchases rods and reels for children affected by natural disasters.
This line retails for between $7.99 to $9.99 with most of those spools carrying 330 yards of line. Being the old dog that I am, I like this amount of line on a filler spool ‘cause it will handle at least two reels unlike line that is packaged at around 200 yards. A good value by todays standards.
Just an aside, there aren’t any little recessed parts on the spool so its easy to handle when you’re loading up your reel. Man do we ever get tired of getting our fingers clipped by those little notches, not to mention how they tend to make spooling your reel a bigger pain ‘cause the line catches on the notches.
How does it perform on the water?
We’ve been using the Vicious X.A.C.T. for a couple of months now and have been impressed with it in every area that we consider critical for line.
It’s very smooth off the spool which translates to easy casting, increased distance and manageability on either spinning or casting reels.
We’ve tied on lures using all of our favorite knots and had no issues whatsoever with breakage or knot fatigue.
We’ve run this stuff over, under and through every kind of underwater obstruction we’ve found including rock, wood, stick-ups, emergent grasses and surface slop just to see what it takes to knick it up.
Not to mention the occasional cast into a tree that magically appeared in front of our lure! We called our shot, it was intentional.
The abrasion resistance is well above average in our opinion. The X.A.C.T. Copolymer has handled every fish that we’ve hooked without ever feeling as though we had reached its breaking point.
It is more sensitive than a great deal of the lines that we have fished and less than some but easily in the top 20%.
This line is an excellent choice for fun fishing, the weekend angler on a budget, the youth angler as well as the experienced angler looking for a mono for specific conditions.
| The New Vicious X.A.C.T. Copolymer Line | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| An excellent value priced line | |
See ya’ on the water …