Leader: Mono or Flouro

[kzoo]

I was using a palmor knot, because I needed it for drop shotting, and of course, I wet all my knots when I tie.
When I tried P-line flurocarbon, the problem whet away.

[Bigbass Dez]

I was using a palmor knot, because I needed it for drop shotting, and of course, I wet all my knots when I tie.
When I tried P-line flurocarbon, the problem whet away.

Thats because P-line rules KZOO ..Im still tring to get a better unstanding between there Halo & 100% fluro .. Halo seems to be stronger but its because they add something to the fluro to make it stronger but yet they still advertise it as 100% fluro (thats confuses me) .. hmmmm kinda like makes me think about something one of my teachers once said , 100% and PURE are two different things and that applies to anything ..

[bionic_one]

I'm gonna trust you guys on this and switch to the other brand - but I have to say, I've never had problems with Vanish when I use double clinch knots. I've landed several chum, some Silvers, a 28.5" and 32" Steelie on them. Also got hung up quite a bit when trolling in shallow for fat rainbows, and it never broke off, always get my gear back. Maybe cuz I was using 20# test though

[Teal101]

Whatever you do stay away from Berkley Vanish. Took the rod out this weekend and had the line splinter break twice on casts. This line was on my cranking setup. Luckily I had been waiting for this line to crap out and switched it over to 12lb yo-zuri. It's stiffer than mono, but I like its characteristics.

Totally agree about Vanish! When I started out with Fluro I was using Vanish, I had horrible time with it. The big thing about it, it didn't have any knot strength and in a couple weeks it would break anywhere on the line, not sure if the sun or the water had to do something with it.

What kind of knot were you using? The box shows a specific type of knot that must be used to retain strength. You also have to wet the knot before you tighten it, or the heat created will cause the line to become brittle.

It wasn't breaking at the knot. I know I need to wet tie the knot for it to retain strength. That stuff is just garbage. I didn't have too many problems with it last year. Caught plenty of bass, bluegill, and had a few musky on with it, 12lb test. but when it breaks throwing a weightless senko theres a problem...

Couldn't be happier with my yo-zuri hybrid. A little stiff, but it casts like a dream.

I still have a reel spooled up with it and I'll prolly try some p-line out on it. Thanks for the tips guys!

[Marc Olsen]

Change your line to green braid. Keep in mind every thing under water is green.

[Trent Hale]

You said it Marc, thats what I would have done. Leaders "over kill".

[fishnazzi]

Got to agree started fishing the Vanish..................JUNK. Bass pro brand floro was my next try........works great almost reasonable if you buy the big spools...........

[afk]

I too have to agree that Berkley Vanish is junk! I was fishing Sockeye in Lake Wenatchee a couple years back & thought I'd really fool'em with bare hooks & Vanish leader. Twice I pulled in shredded leaders. VANISH is a disgrace. It fooled me twice shame on me. Never again. And yes if a Berkly Rep. would like to contact me, please do. That was a couple years ago & I'm still peaved!

[basser90]

I've had bad luck with Fluro. I was using 8# Seaguar w/ 10# Powererpro this past weekend at Rooosevelt. That was the only way I was feeling light bites with the wind. Fish were far and few between, so every bite counted. I got on a spot and it was fast and furious. These were small keeper fish and out of 8 bites on that pile (about a 20 minute bite) I only got 3 fish in the well. Broke one off on a hook set. Another time after making a cast it snapped at the leadhead on a cast. The jig fell perfectly in the hole but wasn't connected. It was such an important cast because if they short stuck, if I quickly threw back in I would get bit right away. Pissed me off. I was using a double improved cinch, and then I tried a polomar. I think I'll go back to co-polymar.

[Bigbass Dez]

I've had bad luck with Fluro. I was using 8# Seaguar w/ 10# Powererpro this past weekend at Rooosevelt. That was the only way I was feeling light bites with the wind. Fish were far and few between, so every bite counted. I got on a spot and it was fast and furious. These were small keeper fish and out of 8 bites on that pile (about a 20 minute bite) I only got 3 fish in the well. Broke one off on a hook set. Another time after making a cast it snapped at the leadhead on a cast. The jig fell perfectly in the hole but wasn't connected. It was such an important cast because if they short stuck, if I quickly threw back in I would get bit right away. Pissed me off. I was using a double improved cinch, and then I tried a polomar. I think I'll go back to co-polymar.

Basser , Dont let Roosevelt take your confidence away from fluro !! I have fished that lake about 4-6 times and one important factor is that fact that the lake has a great deal Boulders , Rocks , rock ledges , etc ! With that being said I learned early on that Co-polymar was more suitable for that structure .
If you have #8 seaguar w/10powerpro , You better be using it for only dropshoting on dropoffs ! If your throwing a leadhead on this set-up it you would need to have re-tie atleast every 30 min a new leader , what happens on "those" rocks is that there are soo many that have very sharp edges and it doesnt take many cast at all for it to starts to were on your line .

I use P-Line 12 cxx for my lead heads over there and sometimes Gamma in 10Lb Co-Polymer . I keep a close eye on the first 10ft my line all day long period , And iv found myself cutting off about 10ft for a re-tie about three times in an 8 hour day some days . Those darn rocks over there will kill a spool of line on your reel in a heart beat and it tuff to advoid them , so it's better to get as beefy as possible IMO !!!

Just food for thought Basser90 ...

BBD

[basser90]

Good words BBD. It seemed my problem was more in the knot for me. But, indeed that's one rocky lake. I'm heading for a 10 day Lake Powell trip tomorrrow AM and talk about ledges and sharp rock. So I'll need to really pay attention to my leaders. Here's a question, Between my PowerPro and leader, I tie a bloodknot, should I be using a different knot there or maybe a small swivel? I'm not sure if I have the confidence that my bloodknot will hold up with the leader on a quality fish? I seem to get better feel with that setup, then with just straight Fluro ar CoPoly. Any thought's

[G-Man]

Basser90,

If the lines are of similar diameter the blood knot works fine. However, having watched a few episodes of knot wars, I started to use the leader knot whenever I joined braided lines to either mono or flouro and have never looked back. It works as advertised and I have never had either line fail at the knot.

[Bigbass Dez]

Good words BBD. It seemed my problem was more in the knot for me. But, indeed that's one rocky lake. I'm heading for a 10 day Lake Powell trip tomorrrow AM and talk about ledges and sharp rock. So I'll need to really pay attention to my leaders. Here's a question, Between my PowerPro and leader, I tie a bloodknot, should I be using a different knot there or maybe a small swivel? I'm not sure if I have the confidence that my bloodknot will hold up with the leader on a quality fish? I seem to get better feel with that setup, then with just straight Fluro ar CoPoly. Any thought's

Trust me when i say "I know what you mean" !! haha Just involving an extra knot that close to my bait will sometimes keep me up all night wondering if its the best choice !! So what I have done is decided to go with a UNI ~ UNI and i havent have any problem thus far and i say this in the most humbled way possible!

G-man is on the money with the line diameter thoery !! But im not fully 100% sold due to lack of time use with this set up on my part. So to add more Confidence and gaining more sleep at night , The most recent thing i now will do is just tie a really long leader ..haha yep my knot is atleast 20yrds away from the bait ! Doesnt have any negitive effects outside of using more of the $ line IMO !!

[basser90]

Thanks G-man that's the tip I believe I was looking for. I'm not familiar with that knot, but I'll find it and I'm sure I'll try it down at Powell. I've been tying bloodknots w/mono for fly fishing for years, but now w/ the braids and Fluro' it's time to try something new. Des, 20 yd. leader. I love it. But, I but I'm looking at about a 6 or 7' leader. I'm still expiermenting with the lengh I like best. I'll be looking at the UNI-UNI as well. I'm glad I'm not the only one that lays in bed at night thinking and worrying about trying to be the best they can be.

[Bigbass Dez]

Thanks G-man that's the tip I believe I was looking for. I'm not familiar with that knot, but I'll find it and I'm sure I'll try it down at Powell. I've been tying bloodknots w/mono for fly fishing for years, but now w/ the braids and Fluro' it's time to try something new. Des, 20 yd. leader. I love it. But, I but I'm looking at about a 6 or 7' leader. I'm still expiermenting with the lengh I like best. I'll be looking at the UNI-UNI as well. I'm glad I'm not the only one that lays in bed at night thinking and worrying about trying to be the best they can be.

And who dat said that our state team members dont strive for greatness ..lol

[tagwatson360]

I have some answers to a few questions and some advice to offer on this thread. Please trust me, this is rock solid advice:

*Use a San Diego Jam knot or Rivers Inlet knot with fluorocarbon. A Palomar knot is ok and very easy to tie but it is not a great knot for fluorocarbon. The Trilene knot is even a better knot than a Palomar with fluorocarbon line.

*Use the Slim Beauty Knot for joining braid to a fluorocarbon leader. It is much stronger than a Uni to Uni, significantly smaller in size and both tag ends face back towards the reel resulting in smoother casts with nothing catching on the guides.

Dez, I spent a lot of time a couple winters ago testing different lines, knots, braid to fluoro unions, etc. on a special testing machine I borrowed. The Halo has a slightly higher tensile strength than the P-Line 100% fluorocarbon. However, the 100% has a higher knot strength. I also found the 100% to have better shock strength as well. For this reason, I prefer the 100% fluoro over the Halo. The Halo has slightly better abrasion resistance but I've never had any issue with the abrasion resistance on the 100% Fluoro.

Now go catch some giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2000subaru]

Here are some quick reference links for those interested in Tag's advice.


San Diego Jam Knot

Slim Beauty Knot

Both drawn out and animated for those of us who are visual learners. Thanks Tag.

[tagwatson360]

Thanks for posting the links, Subaru.

One thing to note: When tying the Slim Beauty Knot, it is not necessary to double up the braided line unless you are using heavy tackle applications. It is added bulk that is not necessary in many of our bass fishing applications. This knot was originally developed by tarpon, snook and redfish anglers. It makes the Uni to Uni obsolete, literally.

[tnj8222]

Thanks for posting the links, Subaru.

One thing to note: When tying the Slim Beauty Knot, it is not necessary to double up the braided line unless you are using heavy tackle applications. It is added bulk that is not necessary in many of our bass fishing applications. This knot was originally developed by tarpon, snook and redfish anglers. It makes the Uni to Uni obsolete, literally.

I have been using uni to uni with no problems. I will give them a try though.

[Bigbass Dez]

I have some answers to a few questions and some advice to offer on this thread. Please trust me, this is rock solid advice:

*Use a San Diego Jam knot or Rivers Inlet knot with fluorocarbon. A Palomar knot is ok and very easy to tie but it is not a great knot for fluorocarbon. The Trilene knot is even a better knot than a Palomar with fluorocarbon line.

*Use the Slim Beauty Knot for joining braid to a fluorocarbon leader. It is much stronger than a Uni to Uni, significantly smaller in size and both tag ends face back towards the reel resulting in smoother casts with nothing catching on the guides.

Dez, I spent a lot of time a couple winters ago testing different lines, knots, braid to fluoro unions, etc. on a special testing machine I borrowed. The Halo has a slightly higher tensile strength than the P-Line 100% fluorocarbon. However, the 100% has a higher knot strength. I also found the 100% to have better shock strength as well. For this reason, I prefer the 100% fluoro over the Halo. The Halo has slightly better abrasion resistance but I've never had any issue with the abrasion resistance on the 100% Fluoro.

Now go catch some giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Tag , I was just talking with chris a couple of weeks ago about halo & 100% . And he said the same thing , so as of last week i put in an order for some 100% in bulk spool ..Btw that stuff is pricy !!! WOW !