Gordon,if you are fishing the canal that is twenty metres wide a 2lb line would allow you to use a lighter float,cast underarm to the far bank,accurately,sink the line easier,presentation would be improved,similarly on lakes(and rivers)without the expectations of lots of carp,or big powerful fish,unless you load spools up and give it a go the benefits won't be comparable,Mark Pollard,Mark Bird,Paul Combes,Rob Hewison from the Blackhorse team used to fish 1lb 8oz Maxima mainline for waggler fishing the grand union canal,I preferred 2lb,but hell,I wasn't in their league,they wouldn't have done it if they didn't think it necessary,casting 2bb floats to within inches of the far bank,when needed...we only dream of being that good...