Tried & Tested | Nufish Detexion Fishing Line

Since its introduction earlier this year, Nufish’s Detexion line has caused a big stir, and loads of anglers are now switching to using it. And not just for their feeder fishing, but for floatfishing as well.

There have been "All-round" lines introduced before but they just never really hit the mark, they would excel in one area but would be slightly lack-lustre in another, so how well will the latest Nufish addition fair?

With so many people raving about it, is it really that special? Luckily, I received a few sample spools just before its release, so I feel I’m in a great position to tell you more about it.

Initial thoughts

First, it’s low stretch. This is an attribute known to be of big benefit when conventional feeder fishing, as it allows for more accurate casting and increased bite detection – hence the name Detexion.

It has also been designed as an alternative to braid, which can be too harsh when fishing at close range, is often tricky to sink, and is banned on many waters. The line is very smooth, beds onto the reel really well, and the curling some lines can suffer from with early use is all but eliminated!

Key features

The stretch reduction is achieved by using a hard coating that boasts a number of other benefits as a by-product. Not only does it prevent knots from bedding in too tight and cutting into themselves – meaning the line has a high knot strength for its diameter – but the coating is super-smooth so it casts exceptionally well and sinks quickly, almost slicing through the water.

How did it perform?

I first fished with this line during the winter and chose the 4lb breaking strain for my light skimmer work with small hooks and a cage feeder. I was very pleased with it, but it didn’t blow me away – it performed much like most other ‘feeder’ lines I’ve tried.

It was only once the weather warmed up, and I used it for Method feeder and pellet waggler fishing, that I got really excited.

With the Method, I’ve found my feeder lands better on the water with less of a slap. I think this is ordinarily caused by the feeder being pulled back towards me due to the spring typically found in other lines. Casting up to islands is an absolute dream – my feeder now lands exactly where I’ve clipped up, rather than in the reeds if I hit my clip too hard.

The 6lb Detexion is perfect for this, and it’s a lot stronger than you’d think, comfortably handling fish into double figures when matched to a soft rod.

On the pellet waggler, its low diameter keeps me in direct control of the float and the reduced stretch helps to set the hook and connect with the fish quicker.

Although it’s a sinking line, it doesn’t sink overly fast or deep, meaning a minimal bow to pick up on the strike. For this style of fishing, 4lb has seen the most use, stepping up to 5lb on venues with bigger fish and even 6lb at Boddington, which in hindsight was probably stronger than I needed to use, despite the 12lb average size of the fish caught.

The only breaking strains I have not tried yet are 3lb, which would be great for conventional waggler work, 8lb, for very big fish on the feeder, and 10lb, which I reckon would make an ideal shockleader line.

Any downsides?

Fishing is a very subjective sport, and as such, there will be people who both love and loathe this line. However, I would be hard-pressed to find any fault with it. It is a fantastic line for both waggler and feeder fishing, and it does exactly what it has been designed to do. My only real gripe with the line is that it comes on 150m spools. While this is great for the thicker diameters, it often requires some backing on the thinner ones, which makes it difficult to turn the line around on the spool as it gets older. However, for £5.99, you could probably stretch to buy a new spool when the time comes to refresh it.

As you can imagine, if the only downside to a line is the amount available on a spool then you would be correct in thinking it is a very good product. The appeal of this line is that it is very good at everything. If you're an angler with limited kit, you can load a reel with 5-6lb Detexion and use it on most waters for most species, from trotting a float for chub to chucking a method out for carp and it will perform admirably.

The word ‘hype’ normally implies exaggeration, but that is not the case with Detexion. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that everything you’ve heard about it is probably true.

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Author Dan Webb first became involved in angling journalism in 2015 and has worked as Tackle Tester at Angling Times since April 2021. He is a fanatical all-round match angler and former England Youth International.