A.C.E (Advanced Carp Equipment)

Velocity Tapered Leader Line

Tapered Leader Lines are nothing new in the sea angling world, 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 A.C.E 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? A knot flowing over the guides on the cast will lower the distance cast to a certain extent regardless of what anyone says (could be a few inches or feet but it will) - I'm a massive fan of the albright knot and double grinner but I've an idea I'll be using them less in the future.

The sizes are geared at specimen anglers with a 10lb/25lb, 12lb/30lb & 15lb/30lb.When winding up a really big cast with heavy leads, it is best to use 10lb of breaking strain for each 1oz you want to cast. As such, I'd like to see a heavier version of the line in a 15lb/60lb ratio and a 12lb/40lb ratio too. UKMA will 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 specimen 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 you’re not using this for hooklinks, it's an out and out casting line - a great balance and key feature No2 for us.

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 (mine doesn’t mind, but cannot guarantee that yours will be the same, and if you do, do it before she puts bubble bath in!!).

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 powerful carp or catfish but not too much that light indications 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 visibility 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! The line has a very slight colour change along its length to assist in the 'Camo' breakup. This is very good Low Visibility Line that would be at home on most venues.

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 this line to be picked up by Sea Anglers is huge, I hope A.C.E or the specialist sea angling centres 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. Without doubt, this is one of the best 'NEW' products UKMA have tried this year.