Flourocarbon reliability ?

[Andy Thatcher]

I went carping yesterday with a brand new spool of flouro, 12lb. I lost 2 fish were the hooklength had broken in the middle for no discernable reason. I went back to my normal hooklength material and had no problems.

What do you think dodgy batch or has anyone else come across this ? For the record it was Berkleys Vanish. The spool can now be found residing in the dustbin.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Flouro is not too great at resisting suddon shock. It tends to just go for no apparent reason. What breaking strain was it and did it break on the strike/run?

 

[Philip Inzani]

I have seen exactly the same thing, where a hooklength breaks in the middle and apparently not anywhere near what you would have thought was a weak point such as a knot. I examined very closely the point where it broke and it seems to be a very clean break with no visible stress on either side its almost like the line was too brittle and just snapped in the middle under stress.

 

[Paul Williams]

I'm also not to happy with fluro, even had it go whilst testing it with a hook puller......i have had better luck with other "modern" hooklengths such as Reflo, but this is only available up to 9lb BS.

 

[Stewart Bloor]

Andy, same thing happened to me last year when I was using another brand, but while using Invisiline I've had no problems and had fish to the b.s and above.

 

[Ron Clay]

There are some really rubbish "fluorocarbons" on the market that are giving the product a bad name. Invisiline seems to be good in the larger breaking strains.

For finer stuff, up to 7 lbs I like Match Special by Preston Innovations

 

[Philip Inzani]

Hang on a moment Ron....are you telling me that although you favor a forked stick cut from the hedgerow for your rod rest your using flurocarbon for your hooklengths?!?

....I had visons of cat gut and starback reels (-:

 

[Stewart Bloor]

Ignore him Ron...he's probably a Marxist revolutionary in disguise...hahahahha

 

[The Gaffer]

Hi all, Andy, I think you'll find that Berkley Vanish is actually a fluro' coated mono, not a true fluro which actually defeats the object!

I've used Vanish extensively in all manner of ways and came to only one conclusion, it's rubbish!

Fluro's in general rquire fluro' friendly knotts.
I've found that different makes of fluro' have their own knots, use the wrong knot and you get problems.

Personally I prefer to use the Korda IQ fluro', I've used it for a couple of seasons and can honestly say it's never let me down.
BTW I'm not on commission for selling it! ;-)

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Stewart....how much do u get paid to plug Suffix line )

 

[Carp Angler]

I've posted many times before that certain lines, e.g. flouros, braids etc etc do not break at the knot when it is tied poorly/incorrectly.
The shock transfers down the line and it breaks several inches away.

This is not meant as a slight against those whose knots go, but unless the knot is tied perfectly, braids and flouros leave no room for errors, unlike normal mono which has very elastic and forgiving properties.

Certain 'flouros' are not and this is why Berkeley have been fined in the US.
I've used Vanish in 12 and 14lb and have found it OK, not spectacular, but not complete rubbish either.

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Interesting feedback.

I was testing it at a fairly easy water that if you have your head halfway right you can get a good few runs. I intend to do a bit more carping this season so thought it best to get everything up to scratch and I had that spool of flouro that I had brought back from the US. The breaks happened during the fight.
I have pulled the spool of 12lb out of the bin and have done some tests.
I was using the Knotless Knot. The line broke consistently at 5lb. More than a little worrying especially as I had tested the line before fishing with it and it averaged 9lb pull for a break.
5 turn grinner next. Again unimpressive 6lb.
Palomar. Back to 5lb.
Mahseer Knot. Broke at varying pressure between 10lb and 7lb.

This was done five times per knot. I always make certain that every knot I tie is sound. If I have any doubts I'll start again. Imagine standing by the lake with that nauseous in your stomach as that fish of a lifetime heads for freedom with a hook embedded in it's mouth. I always check !

On the whole I think I'll stick with my Snakeskin, Snakebite & Supernova !

Cheers
Andy

 

[Jake Lewis]

Glad someone has brought this up. I've tried five or six different types over the years and found them all to be totally unreliable.All have ended up in the bin after lost fish.How come this is never mentioned in tackle reviews? To recommend something as dodgy as this is putting fish in danger, which is unforgivable.One day I was chatting to the boss of a firm which markets a fluorocarbon while he was fishing.I asked him if he had had any similar problems with breakages and he told me that it did not happen with his firm's brand.He then proceeded to lose two carp in open water to unexplained line breakages. I walked off,too polite to say any more,but I do find it disturbing that this problem has not been acknowledged by any dealers or manufacturers.Do these people really have carp safety in mind,or just profit? I wonder......

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Yet again I'm impressed with someone's restraint ! I couldn't of helped commenting !

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Fast buck syndrome!!
Next companies will be bringing back the bent hook...damn...they already have!

 

[Ron Clay]

Aye goode mafters, maketh sure thy fluoro hooke leyngfts are wythoute galles or scabbes when ever a-fyffhing thou goest.

 

[gary magee]

The problem with florocarbon is its lack of stretch and its abrasion resistance.I come at this from more of a match anglers(maggot drowner) point of veiw.Iwould`nt use fc as a hook length in any length less than 12" because of its lack of stretch and thats with mono rig line and pole elastic.And definately not in a snaggy area.Fc was originally brought to the carp market as a stiff link material and was there fore used in the higher breaking strains which overcome the stretch problem to some extent.The simple fact is fc is not designed to be tied in 7" hooklengths with an angry carp at one end and 3oz lead at the other in its lower bs (under 12lb).
p.s could the mysterious mid hooklength breakages be caused by the serrated first ray of the dorsal fin of the carp catastrofically weakening the fc due to it sad abrasion resistance.

 

[Mark Tullett]

I've used the ESP flouro in 12lb for alot of Carping although I have to say I've not had a fish over 17lb on it. That said from what I've seen most mid-doubles fight pretty hard and alot of the fish I've caught have been in margin swims where fish can/need to be held on a tight clutch, they don't get alot of steam up! I've used Grinners & palomars with no problems.
If you're after a mono that's almost as 'invisible' as flouro Berkley Sensi thin is pretty good although it is pre-streched.

 

[Pete Chilly]

i have used 20lb vanish for short stiff rigs, several times afterlanding a fish, the hair has been missing. this is using the knotless knot.what breaks a 20lb hair?
i also today had a 20lb vanish leader of 12ft snap like cotton when a piece of flannel weed caught on a ring during an underhand lob.
However i also landed a12lb carp on 6lb vanish on my tench tackle.It was my success with tench on 6lb that prompted me to try vanish for carp

 

[Birds Nest]

I've been thinking about knots quite a bit over the past month.. Mainly becaise I'm moving towards Braids and Fluo's for hook lengths (more out of interest than anything else). Im quite happy with the knotless know now (thanks for the help chaps) but what are the best knots for the swivel end ?