I am ready to put new line on some reels to ease up on the cabin fever.

I've been thinking of trying fluorocarbon - again.   My only experience was not a good one.   I tried the Gamma brand line & was not impressed.  After 2, or 3 casts it coiled right off the spool of my reel.  I was using a 7' med action Fenwick Techna AV rod & an Abu Garcia Cardinal 802 reel. 

I would be interested in hearing any opinions on  fluorocarbon.

Thanks for looking.

I don't find it best for a main line, but maybe 2 feet or so in front of a swivel makes a great invisible leader. Also, make sure you get 100% fluorocarbon, its most true to the properties of fluorocarbon, meaning that it actually has the same refractive index as water, so it disappears.

I'm new to fluoro too. I made my first attempt at it last year. I tried the Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon as main line on a brand new Pflueger baitcast reel. All-in-all it was the perfect storm. A brand new reel plus I was new to baitcasters as well and a new line type. Turned into one big huge mess. Burned through the entire 250 yard spool because I ratted it up so bad I couldn't undo it, and had to cut out the rats nest because it crimped so badly. I respooled twice with that line then gave up and put mono on that new reel and didn't have troubles the rest of the year. Turned out later I did research and found that Vanish fluorocarbon is EXTREMELY more rigid because of the color change qualities compared to other "normal" fluorocarbon type lines. I jumped into the deep pool too quickly and I paid the price.... about $20 bucks and a few hours of my life trying to dig out a rats nest I'll never get back.

But I'm trying again this year, and I'm starting with something a lot more simple like Triline 100% fluorocarbon, Bass Pros XPS, or maybe Stren brand fluoro. And I won't be setting it as my main line this year. I'll use it as leader first and see if I like and make that decision next year.

Good luck, let me know how it turns out.
-j

Armstong: Did you use Vanish Transition? I tried that stuff and it was AWFUL. The regular Vanish that does not change color is nowhere near as stiff, but I prefer the Cabela's house brand. I have also found that fluoro sold as leader is not the same as that sold as mainline. Most of the mainline stuff is sadly lacking in abrasion resistance compared to leader material.Disclaimer: I don't use fluoro or mono on my levelwinds (Baitcast and trolling) they are all spooled with some type of braid or fused line like Power Pro. Another point to remember is that fluoro sinks, making it a poor choice for any topwater lures. Tom

Its great on leaders , but I would not use it as main line!

Yeah it was Vanish Transition Tom. As a leader it might be great, I just happened to load it up as mainline and it was a mistake on my part because it was so stiff. Lesson learned... don't use Trilene Vanish Transition at least not for mainline.

But that makes me think, if you use Vanish Transition as leader then wouldn't that negate the use of the color change unless you got a 20' leader? The color change is so you can see your line better, but if you've got a 1'-2' leader then it'd be underwater so you're not going to see it anyways. Unless you were using a top water, and like you said, fluoro sinks to you wouldn't want flouro on it anyways. So.... why use Trilene Vanish Transition at all?

I'm wavering between Trilene 100% fluoro & BPS XPS. Only issue with me getting the BPS fluoro is I have to order online because there's no BPS around me. Live in Indy so it's drive to NW IN almost up to Chicago or south IN almost to Louisville to get it in hand. I have Stren #14 mono on one of my reels and I have have really liked it is why I'd consider the Stren Fluoro brand.

The Transition worked very poorly for me as a leader due to the lack of abrasion resistance. Since my disappointing experience with Transition, I have tried regular Vanish, Cabela's No-Vis and Triple Fish fluoro with good results but the best thing I have found for leader material is the Cabela's/Seguar fluoro leader material. It is quite a bit more spendy than regular fluoro but I find it money well spent. Believe me I learned this stuff the hard way. Tom

I have used nothing but Maxama Ultra Green for years on my Salmon rigs and the bait casting rig I use for Sea Run Cuts and Dollys, I don't know why but I bought and tried Vanish Regular on my trout rig. BIG MISTAKE, Within 30 minutes birds nest, Jack Knife job. respool with the rest of the Vanish, adjust the reel, another birds nest, jack knife job.I give up. out of Vanish. Dug in the locker found some 10# Maxama. Good to go. By the way I am 71 years old and old school, never owned a spinning reel. Except the one the club gave me for being a life member. Fluorocarbon might be ok for spinning rigs.I wouldn't know.

Use Mono filament! Best all purpose line there is! Except for the Berkley brand of it the club sends you. That stuff coils like a friggin' snake! A bass pro that was speaking at a convention in my area told me a secret of the pro's. A brand of mono that many big time pro anglers use. It has NO MEMORY and even if you somehow do get a bird's nest, you can usually pull it right out by hand in one try! If you want to know the brand send me a Private Message and I will tell you...

The Gamma Flourocarbon line is one of the softer variety of flourocarbon lines and it does still spring off the spinning reels. I haven't used much flourocarbon lines in recent years, so I'm pretty vague when it comes to all the available lines out there. I would pay close attention to the actual line diameter size of the flourocarbon lines rather than just go with the box listed test strength. For example, Berkley Vanish is a much thinner diameter line compared to Berkley 100% Flourocarbon.

Trust me Frank F, Mono Filament is the way to go. You can use it in virtually any condition. Secret of the pro's.

There is not a pro fisherman on any of the circuits that uses only one type of line. Note that I said type, not brand.While nylon mono will probably remain the most common line due to it's versatility, fluoro and braid have their place. Both allow diving baits to reach deeper depths and braid's lack of stretch gives great sensitivity. All my trolling and baitcast reels are spooled with either braid or fused line, usually with a fluoro leader. As an aside, it is suprising how many pros use a brand of line other than the brand that sponsors them-they just won't talk about it! Tom

Of course, braided line has it's place. You wouldn't try pulling an 8 pound bass out of thick weeds and lily pads using 6 pound mono filament! But for the average fisherman fishing open waters, streams or rivers, mono filament is a good all purpose line. And just because a pro is on T.V. doesn't mean he is going to tell you all his secrets!

I fish with 4,6 and 8 lb test braid all the time. I use it because it has a very low (3%) stretch as opposed to the 20-28% stretch of mono and fluoro. Try feeling the bite while fishing for perch in 60 feet of water with mono. Tom

The lowest possible stretch is not always necessarily a good thing. Low to no stretch means that although you can get a better hook set on a fish, the line itself can break at the weak points, like the knots, when a sudden force is exerted on them. Or if your drag is set to heavy, the line can break then as well. Some stretch in the fishing line is a good thing. That's why I would recommend mono filament. I would not recommend using braided line on a spinning reel as it can damage the reel if it is sucked into the spool because of it's small diameter. Every fisherman has their own preferences.

How in the world can a line get "sucked into the spool" of a spinning reel? I have used braid on my spinning reels for over 15 years and that has never happened to me or anyone I have fished with. I have heard of braid getting inbetween the body and spool of casting reels, but even that is rare. Yes, fishing with braid requires a different touch than mono,the hookset is more of a twitch than a yank but it can be learned. Tom

I don't how to explain it any clearer. I thought is was self explanatory... if for some reason you do decide to fish with braided line using a spinning reel, make sure to use a mono filament leader. That will allow for some stretch so that your line doesn't break and you lose your fish.

As a west coast salt angler floro is a god send. I only use seaguar brand and the new Tatsu is great. If you want to fill your spool with floro use seaguar invizx, it's soft like mono with the properties of floro. Great on spin or bait cast reels.
If you want a good mono, try Izorline XXX. It has very low memory, the smoke color blends well with most water colors, even coastal blue/green.
I've tried many brands and have found after 3 yeas of testing that Seaguar has the best floro and Izorline XXX is hard to beat.

Izorline XXX; As an example I had a 40lb tuna pull under the boat scraping the line for about 30 feet on the keel, followed by me not being able to chase the fish causing the line to cut across the wood rail. After I landed the fish I had 35ft of line on the spool with chaffing and red paint. Well since this was early in the testing period I did not strip the line down and continued to fish it seeing how far I could push it. I was able to land 3 more fish in the 30lb range before I was forced to strip it down. Big Game failed in simmilar situation as did Ande.