Thread: What brand fluorocarbon?

I used that Yo-Zuri hybrid a few years back and it came apart on me while I was fighting a big jack. The outer fluoro coating peeled off because it could not stretch with the mono. I did manage to get the fish in anyway, but it was kind of surprising.

Just sayin'.

I would think a line conditioner or coating would negate the light refraction properties of the fluorocarbon-which is closer to that of water than monofilament. The 8lb Seaguar red label worked just fine a couple of hours the other night after you left.

I haven't thought about refraction ratio -- I know the KVD conditioner is not oil based like some others (if you wonder, see if it will burn when sprayed). Reel magic will and so will the BPS stuff and line butter. KVD is a polymer blend that dries on the line. I put it on while spooling up and when I get back from the salt -- sometimes the night before while loading up I will spray again.

I've never had any problems with the floro coating coming off on yozuri hybrid, except for the time I had a cracked rod guide. I got shredded on a pilon last year when the sail I was fighting went north around the corner before I could catch up with it...but I still fought it back to the pier before I broke it....The Wal-Mart in Pensacola the other side of Perdido had all 600 yard spools priced at $8.95 the other day. It usually goes up the higher the pound test, but not there. I've found other walmart's on the coast that do the same thing.

There may be a difference between fishing the red seaguar for trout and for spanish making hundreds of casts with jigs and gotcha's....I saw my casting distance go way down after only one day when I used it. But again, that's just my experience. It didn't work well for throwing crappie jigs, either. But maybe throwing skrimps is different....

I've had poor luck with Seaguar and Berkley Flouro.. It's to fragile for me. It gets damaged easily. I re-spooled all my ultralights with 4 and 6lb this weekend and I like the 6lb spider wire the best. Especially for creek fishing, it is tough and has a high break strength.

I pulled a nice channel cat 1.5lb out from under some willows with a 1/32oz beetle spin on 4lb spiderwire this weekend.. man what good fight. I have no doubt my flouro would have given up on me.

This guy will be sticking to mono...

Originally Posted by Rich1

Tuck, I've tried the red seaguar a couple of times on spinning tackle, thinking the lower stretch of Floro would help me on feeling bites and hookups. Instead, I found that even the best Floro creates challenges on spinning tackle due to line memory. I treated the line with Kevin Van Dam's line conditioner and it didn't help much. That was just my experience, so no claim to being knowledgeable, and I don't fish for speckled trout....or at least, haven't yet. I went to yozuri hybrid in the green color in 4lb test for crappie in fresh water and spanish in the pre-sharkageddon days at GS. It's mono with a floro coating, and up to 15 lbs is the toughest stuff I've found. It does have some memory issues at 15lb, but the Van Dam line treatment helps a lot IMO. No problems at all at 4lb test. Clear is good, too.

Thanks, Rich! That's some good info. I've been reading a lot on the web about fluorocarbon line, and the more I read, the more I am leaning toward just using it as a leader. I bought some Trilene fluorocarbon line last week to use as a leader (6# mono to 6# floro) and was not happy with the splice. I used uni - uni knot and after the fourth try, I finally got a knot that didn't break when I gave it a good tug to test it. I was careful to wet the line before slowly senching the knot, made sure coils were not crossing each other also. The Fluorocarbon would break at the knot. I guess it could have been old line or maybe defective, either way I don't like the Trilene Fluorocarbon. That's the reason I am trying to get input on what brand people have had good luck with. What is the difference between the Fluorocarbon line and fluorocarbon leader material (other than price)?

Originally Posted by ChileRelleno

I'm the forementioned guy ^^^
Just getting up to hit the creek now

G'morning Tuck, how're things in Crenshaw county?

I just use a long FC leader and do pretty good the times I target them lil'speckled bastards.
And I use the Seaguar brand in 10#.

Thanks John! Everything is wet right now in Crenshaw County, got 4" of rain from Alberto. I see you and Nate are having a ball with the speck's cousins. Stay safe, hope to see ya'll soon on the pier.

Trikfish Flouro. Very manageable, very strong, and knots easily

Originally Posted by TUCK

difference between the Fluorocarbon line and fluorocarbon leader material

Usually the leader is stiffer and the line is more supple. You'll probably find the leader to be rated more conservatively for the illusion of greater strength.

Give the blood knot a whirl in place of uni-uni for similar diameters.

For what its worth, I wanted FC line to be pointless (because it is so damn expensive). Unfortunately, I have become completely convinced that it gets more bites than mono of same size.

A general point in line strengths that many people overlook is that manufacturers will use different strategies when it comes to labeling line strength. You might have two brands of #30 and what the heck, this one seems way stronger than the other! Look closely and it might be significantly larger in diameter.

I need to correct my previous post where I said I tried Trilene FC. It was STREN, not Trilene. I was making up some pompano rigs for my wife last night and saw the spool in my tackle box. I hope my mistake didn't damage Trilene's image, I actually like Trilene XL and XT mono line. So, now that we have determined that I just need to use a FC leader instead of spooling the reel, would you just buy FC line or FC leader? Also is there a difference between FC for freshwater vs saltwater? Thanks for all the input so far!

When I use FC, it is typically when trying to catch the biggest, smartest snapper out of a chum line. They will gulp piece after piece of chum, swim up to the one that has a hidden hook, eyeball it carefully, and often disappear in a flash. It really is entertaining to watch. In this application all I want is about a 4 foot section of FC. I'll use #80 when they aren't too bright and gradually work down toward about #40 as they get pickier. For specs it'll be a similar situation, just change the #80 to #8 and the #40 to #4. I don't worry about leader vs line in my use, but I can see how sometimes you'd want stiffer leader to help keep a free swimming bait away from a splice/swivel whatever is connecting main line to leader.

I've used expensive Seaguar, Yozuri, and cheapo triple fish FC with good success. I haven't fished opposing brands side by side enough to have a strong opinion on one versus another.