hey chuck is it possible you got a "bad spool" of line, back when i was a little more serious about my fishing i was taught how to read "date codes" on line, the way your describing the breakdown of the line leads me to believe there could be underlying conditions that caused the line to appear low quality, i know there are a lot of folks that like it..

BTW, i was in a bind one time (of many[:-][:@]) and bought some berkley big game (if there were only one line this would be my one) i was out and all the discount store i went to had was the "clear" i always use the "green" big game, this clear would break like sewing thread, a friend of mine, who i consider very knowledgeable on such matters said the line had been in heat and UV light for an extended amount of time causing the breakdown, since then i have not had a bad spool of line, but i'm also not getting line that has sat in a suppliers store or warehouse for an extended amount of time avoiding exposure to elements that will break line down[:@]..

the memory, haven't seen very many lines that had what i would call low memeory, trilene xl always seemed like it was ok, but wayyyy too strecthy for my likes...[&o], ah the search continues for the perfect line