ACE VELOCITY

Tapered Leader Line

Reviewed by Lloyd Rush

RRP £8.99

Tapered Leader Lines are nothing new, they offer a level of safety and insurance against the dreaded 'crack-off' - expensive at best and deadly at worst!

The main advantage of the taper over standard leaders is the ability to tie the thinner diameter line onto the mainline in a small, cleaner fitting knot with improved knot strength. A great idea and effective solution, however Velocity eliminates the knot completely in a single shot 300m Spool with Tapers at BOTH ends.

There a host of advantages for not having a knot, indeed, why would you want a knot? For those who prefer a level wind when Up tiding on a boat, look no further - I'm a massive fan of the albright knot and bimini twist but I've an idea I'll be using them less in the future.

The sizes are geared at Carp Anglers with a 10lb/25lb, 12lb/30lb & 15lb/30lb - but any of those will fit in very nicely to light tides and where casting 3oz Grippers or Bass fishing with 3oz Bombs. Remember to use 10lb of breaking strain for each 1oz you want to cast. As such, I'd like to see a sea version of the line in a 15lb/60lb ratio and a 12lb/40lb ratio too. I'll be approaching ACE to see if it's possible; we'll keep you posted.

Once you get over the brilliant feature of the double taper, you'll need to take a long hard look at the line itself. Like all mono's you'll want to balance how stiff the line is against memory and also consider stretch and abrasion resistance. Something I think a lot of Sea Anglers DO NOT take into consideration?

Stiffness/Limpness: Velocity has it spot on, the line feels right on the rod and smoothly beds into the common knots use on leaders to swivels. The scales would swing towards Stiffness but your not using this for snoods, it's an out and out casting line - a great balance and key feature No2 for me.

Memory: It's not exactly got Alzheimers but a pig tail can be stretched out with a couple of retained pulls. The line will load very well and even better if dropped in a bucket of warm water prior to loading a spool. For the best temperature you could also do it when the 'good lady' is in the bath, but mine takes umbrage so I'd watch out!

Stretch: As expected the 30lb Shock has more stretch than the 'body' 12lb line, overall the line has enough stretch to get you out of jail on a diving Bass or Pollock but not too much that light bites are absorbed over distance [and you'll find plenty of distance believe me]

Abrasion: We've used it in testing over mixed and clean grounds and we've noticed a good abrasion resistance, indeed we didn't notice any abrasion! time will tell and we'll revisit the review should we find anything other than a "Well done ACE, two credits and a house point!"

Low Visibility: Constructed in a low viability Brown the line is designed to be stealthy for the most wiley of Carp! against Sandy and mixed grounds seeing this stuff will be like Mr Magoo looking for a needle in a haystack! I've been told by a respected Carp angler that the line has a slight colour change along it's length to assist in the 'Camo' breakup - but his eyes must be better than mine because it looked the same to me. Non the less, this is very good Low Visibility Line that would be at home on any South Coast clean/light ground marks.

Taper Length and Casting: The taper starts to noticeably thin at about 30-34ft giving even long rods a good number of winds onto the reel for casting. The line casts as well as you would expect it to, after all it was designed for fishing at extreme range for the Specimen Anglers. The potential for Sea Anglers is huge, I hope ACE take it up. In the short term there are 3 very good lines on offer.

Don't just think about trying some of this line, hunt some out and give it a go. We're sure you'll agree that the good quality line is only eclipsed by the outstanding 'Parallel Leader' which allows for reversing of the line should the worst happens or a few months have passed and you want to get the most out of the product. Without doubt, this is the best 'NEW' product I've tried this year. I too walk passed the Specimen Section in tackle shops and think 'what strange people' but take a closer look at some of the tackle next time, you'll be suprised what might give you the edge in the next match!