Flourocarbon lines

Moderators: mpallett, bakerjw

Post Reply
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Flourocarbon lines

Post by silencertalk »

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluoroc ... stpg6.html

I made some effort to score these based on knot strength, abrasion resistance, material strength per diameter, and price. Bass Pro Shops XPS is the winner for low cost, superb abrasion resistance, and the highest strength per unit of diameter. I will get some this week.

Bass Pro Shops : XPS FC 80 131KSI - excellent abrasion, 7 cents/yard.

Toray : SuperHard 82.6 127KSI - excellent abrasion, 24 cents yard.

Sugoi : Fluorocarbon 89.6 109KSI, 22 cents yard.
Seaguar : Invisx 92.7% 83KSI - poor abrasion, 8 cents yard.
P-Line : Fluorocarbon 81.8 111KSI - poor abrasion, 7 cents yard.
Berkley : Vanish Transition 80.7 100KSI - poor abrasion, 6 cents yard.
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

People complain about the 'coiling' it does on spinning reels. So that would be the reason to only use it as a leader.

The thing is, it has the outstanding strength and abrasion resistance due to the high grade/high PSI material. There are people who review it that are unhappy because they wished they had paid more for better line and say "I guess you get what you pay for." That is just dumb. The negative coiling of this line is NOT due to it being cheap. Quite the opposite. It is due to it being higher grade materials.
Griz
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 330
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:35 pm

Post by Griz »

I don't spool the reel with it because, as you found, it typically has a lot of memory and just doesn't behave nicely on the reel. It also can be fairly large in diameter and you cannot fit as much on the reel as a similarly rated braid.

That usually isn't an issue in freshwater, but when I go for something like false albacore or big stripers on light tackle, I like to fill up my reel with lots of braid so that I don't get spooled if/when I hook up with a big fish.

There are fluorocarbon lines made to work better on the reel, but they are a compromise and are not as tough or as invisible as fluorocarbon leader. I've tried many different lines over the years and have settled on just using a fluorocarbon leader with either braid or mono on the reel depending on the target species and techniques.

One thing that those knot sites may not have stressed enough is that you *must* lube fluorocarbon line when you tie a knot. If you don't, friction will heat it up and weaken the line and it will break off at the worst time. A little spit is enough lube... I just wet the line in my mouth right before pulling the knot tight.
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

What knot do you use to tie the leader to the line? Do you use the same test for each?
Griz
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 330
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:35 pm

Post by Griz »

rsilvers wrote:What knot do you use to tie the leader to the line? Do you use the same test for each?
I use an albright knot and trim the tag ends tight so that it flows through the guides on the rod. I usually use a heavier test leader than my line since it is subject to a lot of abuse.
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

Is a 10lb flourocarbon clear line harder for a fish to see than an 8 lb smoke colored Fireline? I guess I could compare them in my fish tank.

I bet if I do the leader I need a loop knot like the Rapala for lures. My entire basis for not believing those knots mattered was that I use thin test braided line.
User avatar
dfire
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:43 pm
Location: FL

Post by dfire »

I use Berkley Vanish for my leader and Power Pro for my line ,30lb on both. Of course the braided line has a 8lb diameter. + 1 on the albright knot.
Don't look at me with that tone of voice !
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

Vanish was the very lowest rated of 14 lines tested for deviation of rated strength (their 12 lb should have been called 10 lb) and the 4th worst for abrasion resistance.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbontest.html

But it may other advantages such as less memory, for example. Though they could have not cheated on the test rating.
User avatar
dfire
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:43 pm
Location: FL

Post by dfire »

Hmmmmm... maybe I need to rethink my choice of leader. I was using Catch, Andys, Berkeys.......any mono, usually double than the test strength , or equal to the test strength of braided. I have been using Vanish for around a month and have had no problems , but I was doing just as good using mono. Thanks for the site and reviews, you may have saved me from saying "the one that got away".
Don't look at me with that tone of voice !
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

It is not bad in the sense that you would have a problem. It is just that their '12 lb' is as thick as other '12 lbs' but only 10.7 lbs in reality. So you could use another brand of 10lb and have as much strength as the Vanish '12' lb but with less thickness.

Not a big deal but I plan to buy the Bass Pro brand tomorrow as it had the highest strength to thickness (highest KSI of material strength), the best abrasion resistance, and yet the cost per yard was one of the cheapest. On the downside, it is pretty stiff line and is said to coil on the reel. For a leader that should not matter.
User avatar
dfire
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:43 pm
Location: FL

Post by dfire »

I've never used more than 3 ft of leader at one time.
Don't look at me with that tone of voice !
User avatar
silencertalk
Site Admin
Posts: 33978
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:31 am
Location: USA

Post by silencertalk »

I know I said Vanish had poor abrasion but the memory on this Bass Pro is extreme! It won't even stay on a spool at all.

I can see Vanish making it soft on purpose and maybe that is best.
User avatar
yellowfin
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 582
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:52 pm
Location: south PA
Contact:

Post by yellowfin »

I want to try it out as tippet for fly fishing at some point, preferably on bonefish or redfish.


...Hell, I just want any occasion and excuse to go catch them.
"You can't stop insane people from doing insane things with insane laws...it's insane!"-- Penn Jilette
http://www.NYShooters.net
User avatar
Hush
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 65403
Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 7:07 pm

Post by Hush »

I remember years back when I first tried braided line, I thought it was the cat's meow, nice flexible limp line, until I hooked something and saw how much it stretched, what a waste, do the modern braids still have that stretch or have they been improved?
Demand stringent background and mental health checks on your politicians.
pdemos
Elite Member
Posts: 1946
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:38 pm
Location: OR

Post by pdemos »

Hush wrote:I remember years back when I first tried braided line, I thought it was the cat's meow, nice flexible limp line, until I hooked something and saw how much it stretched, what a waste, do the modern braids still have that stretch or have they been improved?
No, things like spider line(which is braided) have zero stretch in fact some of the complaints about it was because people were straighting out hooks with it. It is very small and light but extremely strong. I have use it and didn't like it because I would rip hooks out of the fishes mouth. But I have used the fluorocarbon line before and liked it for steelhead and salmon. Only thing is I always had to use one size bigger then I normally used because it would break if I didn't. But that wasn't a problem because the line diameter was always smaller compared to other lines of equal lb. strength.
West Chester1
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:58 pm

Re: Flourocarbon lines

Post by West Chester1 »

Fly Fishing tippet is much better than spin fishing fluoro.
57fairlane
Silent But Deadly
Posts: 707
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:20 pm
Location: The South

Re: Flourocarbon lines

Post by 57fairlane »

never had a problem with BPS flouro on spinning reels. I usually buy 10-12#s in the largest amount I can and use it on most my baitcasters and 1-2 spinning setups that I use for weighted/bottom setups like a dropshot or carolina rig.
Post Reply