Florocarbon

[Williedrifter]

I've heard alot about this stuff and was just wondering if it was worth the extra money or not? I usually use Berkley XT on a level wind reel, in a 12 pound test and was thinking about trying berklys Vanish florocarbon. Is there any advantages/disadvantages to this stuff?

[Jigman]

The advantages are: The line is invisible in the water, it's dense and sinks well(good for drift fishing, bad for float fishing), has excellent abrasion resistance, has very little stretch(tends to be more sensitive). The big disadvantage is it heats up quicker than mono making it tough to get a good knot, they require a good amount of lube to get them to hold well. The line is also stiff and tends to explode of a spinning reel....works best on a baitcaster.

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Fish the best....Rainbow Jigs!

[Snagly]

DO NOT under any circumstances fish with Vanish as either your main line or as leader. This is not quality line, and every fishing bulletin board I've visited has no shortage of people with their own tales of woe.

Main line: breaks below rated strength. Poor knot strength (as per Jigman's post) -- both heats up and slips. Can't be joined to a mono leader with a bloodknot (slips).

Leader: Less abrasion resistant than Max Chameleon. Perhaps on par with Max UG. Poor knot strength.

I took two spools of 12lb Vanish and returned them both to Berkley direct. The kind folks there gave me what I wanted: a spool of 300 yds of FireLine (equiv. retail price) shipped free to my US tackle bunker.

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New topic: Why you SHOULD consider using FC leaders made by Stren, P-Line, Seagur and Orvis (Mirage) for applications OTHER than steelhead/ salmon (e.g. swamp fishing):

1. Proportional strength: knick mono 1/4 of the way, and the line loses, say 3/4 strength. Knick FC half way and still fish with half strength.

2. Abrasion resistance: all the lines listed above are stiff and have hard finishes. Too springy by far for main line, but just what you need with toothy critters around sharp objects

3. Ties well to braids: my saltwater fishing is almost 100% with braided lines (gelspun polyethylene). The coated line (e.g. FireLine) AND the soft uncoated line (e.g. Spiderwire) each maintain near full strength when joined to heavy mono shock leaders using complex knots.

4. UV resistant: should be able to use your FC leader spool for several seasons (good thing, given the price).

I don't necessarily believe that FC's allegedly lower viz to fish is a reason to use it. First, I don't think many types of fish are leader shy (New Zealand trout, Henry's Fork 'bows, Keys bones etc etc excepted). Second, I'm not convinced that a sunken FC leader with a refractive index near to water is ALWAYS less visible than a floating (less line under the water) mono leader. I suspect that water color, weather, light penetration, fishing method, etc introduce too many variables for a blanket statement to be made.

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The worst steelhead season in Oregon is still better than the best steelhead run in Singapore!

[This message has been edited by Snagly (edited 01-18-2001).]