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Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:23 am
by Brownie
Hi guys. Just trying to understand something with flouro leaders.
I do use it from time to time but recently thought, what's the difference in buying a made as leader flouro compared to buying say a spool of Berkley Vanish to use for the same purpose? A spool of dedicated leader is often dearer than a spool of Vanish which contains 3 or even 4 times the amount! Is it because maybe the dedicated leader is a bit tougher abrasion wise? Other than that what's the real difference, if there is any, because it would be way cheaper to buy Vanish otherwise!?

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:35 am
by bowl
Few guys on here have had trouble with the vanish breaking.
I currently use Sunline fc rock leader for kgw whiting...

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:47 am
by Stumpjumper
I've found FC quite brittle in the knots and stiffer and thicker than mono. Mostly hype and WOFTAM in my opinion. And Vanish is one of the worst for weak knot strength.

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:32 pm
by cantcatchem
Brownie wrote:Hi guys. Just trying to understand something with flouro leaders.
I do use it from time to time but recently thought, what's the difference in buying a made as leader flouro compared to buying say a spool of Berkley Vanish to use for the same purpose? A spool of dedicated leader is often dearer than a spool of Vanish which contains 3 or even 4 times the amount! Is it because maybe the dedicated leader is a bit tougher abrasion wise? Other than that what's the real difference, if there is any, because it would be way cheaper to buy Vanish otherwise!?
Absolutely nothing wrong with vanish, if you want to pay more for fluro then you are just getting sucked in by marketing, never had a problem with vanish and know many fishermen who use it

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:37 pm
by STriplett1997
For Whiting and Squid I just use any 10lb mono from the spool, never had a problem with catching my bag that way. Wouldn’t bother wasting extra $$ on buying leader of its intended for that sort of fishing. For Snapper and bigger species I use Black Magic leader products, find they are really good and never fail

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:02 pm
by Sinsemilla
I'm with bowl. Sunline FC rock if you want to use flouro

Anth

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:00 pm
by ango
I had the same idea quiet a while ago, tried Vanish & could not get reasonable knot strength form it no matter which knots I tried, thought it was a crook spool but seems like others have had the same issues.
Cheers,
Ango.

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:03 pm
by smile0784
I use 12lb fluro for my squid rod but thats about it.
On my other rods i run braid straight to a snap swivel

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 4:58 pm
by dazz999
fluro for me started using it for garfish 3years ago my catch rate doubled

Re: Fluorocarbon leaders?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 5:46 pm
by skronkman
I don't rate fluorocarbon highly enough over mono to jstify the price but I do use it sometimes just because I have some left over. I do have a spool of 8lb vanish I bought for the same reasons as Brownie is thinking (300yrds for $25). I can't say I've had any problems with it but I will now keep an eye on it more closely. I don't think my catch rates change between mono and fluorocarbon but I definitely think that going as light as possible makes a difference, I'm no stranger to 4,6,8 lb leader and my bigger concern is losing quality lures to snags more than losing a fish, I have drag for that!