Is This Seaguar's Most Popular Fluorocarbon? AbrazX

Total Score: 8.0 - GREAT

Introduction: Seaguar is a bit of an anomaly in the fishing line market. Their specialty is fluorocarbon. Their parent company, Kureha, is one of  the very few companies in the world with the resources to manipulate the raw fluorocarbon resins. This puts them in a position similar to that of a rod company who rolls not only their own blanks, but custom specified blanks for other manufacturers. Our favorite product of theirs is no secret - Tatsu. I personally fish Tatsu to the exclusion of all other fluorocarbon product by Seaguar. Well, I figured it's about time to correct that oversight. Here now is a closer look at what is Seaguar's arguably most popular fluorocarbon mainline product, AbrazX.

Quality : AbrazX comes to us precision wound on to two hundred yard filler spools. Precision winding refers to the practice of line manufacturers carefully laying the fishing line onto the spools so it lies side by side and doesn't cross over itself. This is done to preserve a more consistent diameter through the length of the line as it sits on the storage spool waiting to be used. Whether or not it's actually needed or even effective is up for debate, but it certainly inspires my confidence when I see a line presented in this manner.

Time for a deep dive into Seaguar's AbrazX Fluorocarbon

Whether a line is precision wound onto its spool or not, our first test is to always check the consistency of its diameter and to do so across several different strengths. Across the many brands and strengths we've measured diameters, the average deviation is just 1.0%. For AbrazX at 12 pound, that number was 0.72%. The table below represents the average diameter we tested across several strengths of AbrazX.

Otherwise, running a length of line between my fingers, AbrazX felt very smooth and has the typical body you'd expect from a fluorocarbon line - kind of stiff. It does not, however, jump off the filler spool like some fluorocarbons hinting that it might be easier to handle than some once on a fishing reel.

Filler spools are precision wound

Lab Tests: But before a new to me fishing line earns a spot on one or several of my reels, it needs to be run through our gamut of lab tests so I can be mindful of what to expect out on the water hopefully minimizing the occurrence of lost baits and fish.

Tensile & Knot Strength: AbrazX at 12 pound test comes to us in a very thin diameter of only 0.285mm. That's among thinnest 12 pound rating line we've tested but the closest strength to 0.300mm in diameter available to run our comparative analyses. AbrazX at 15 pound, the next strength up, measures on average at 0.330mm. The actual, tested tensile strength of the 12 pound strength was 11.5 pounds - pretty close to the rating. Knot strength was tested, on average, at 70% - above the average of fluorocarbons we've tested (63.7%).

This fish inhaled my Phenix Baits Pro-Series Flipping Jig and had its mouth closed over my 10lb AbrazX leader

Abrasion: Ironically, where AbrazX performed less than average was in our abrasion tests lasting, on average, 11.7 cycles compared to the overall average of other tested fluorocarbon lines, 14.5. This lower number can likely be attributed, at least in part, to the line's diameter. Common sense tells us, the thicker the line, the better it will stand up to abrasion. Since AbrazX at 12 pound is among the thinnest we've tested among similarly rated lines, it stands to reason its abrasion numbers would be among the lowest.

Because 10lb AbrazX is so thin at only 0.268mm, I thought for sure the fish was going to bite its way free, but the line held up!

Case in point, in the above table, Sunline's Crank FC at 12 pound test is similar in diameter at 0.289mm and had similar numbers in our abrasion tests. Tatsu, AbrazX's sibling, is an anomaly at only a slightly thicker diameter but much better abrasion numbers.

While I fished AbrazX as a mainline on a couple of reels, my strategy these days is to use fluorocarbon as a leader attached to hollow or standard braid

Stretch: For stretch and deformity numbers, AbrazX performs with the average and actually with lower numbers than its sibling, Tatsu which has above average numbers in this area. AbrazX's numbers are similar to that of Sunline's Sniper FC, so that gives me a good idea of how AbrazX should handle out on the water.

This combo features a top shot of 25lb AbrazX