|
Sunline's Top End Offering: Shooter Fluorocarbon
| Date: |
1/31/08 |
| Tackle type: |
Fishing Lines |
| Manufacturer: |
Sunline |
| Reviewer: |
Cal |
Total Score: 7.3
Introduction: The long awaited first official review following our Fluorocarbon Showdown parts I and II is finally here. What does all that data we collected mean and how does it translate to on the water performance or lack thereof? Let's start with a line I've been using for the better part of almost two years now, here is our take on Sunline Japan's Shooter Fluorocarbon!
|
Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon Specifications
|
| Line Type |
Fluorocarbon |
| Colors Available |
Clear Only |
| Colors Tested |
Clear |
| Line Weights |
7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, & 25 |
| Line Weights Tested |
10lb, 14lb & 20lb |
| MSRP |
$28.99 (14lb/150m or ~164yds) |
Impressions: One of the benefits not touched upon in our Fluorocarbon Showdown articles was the longevity of these lines versus monofilament. Fluorocarbon, reportedly, lasts longer on your reel than your typical nylon line because it doesn't break down under UV rays. Well, no matter the truth to these claims or not, the one factor with Sunline Shooter that is difficult to overcome - especially on first impression - is the cost of this product. Almost $30 for a spool that will fill one, maybe two reels is a pretty hefty obstacle to tackle when you're used to paying six or seven dollars a package for twice this amount of line. Not surprisingly, I was the only one of the TT Editors to even take a chance with this product.
|
|
|
Introducing Sunline's premium offering, Shooter Fluorocarbon
|
Out of the package, Sunline Shooter feels very smooth between the fingers, but typical of most
fluorocarbon lines, also very stiff. It does have the tendency to want to jump off the spool so I knew right away, it was probably not something I'd enjoy with spinning reels. Stiff line, however, has never bothered me much on baitcasters.
|
|
|
Sunline's Shooter FC comes with a light blue indicator every 75 meters so you can
gauge how much line is left on your filler spool.
|
Lab Tests: So how did Shooter fair in the Showdown? To find out, we took an average of all the data points collected over the entire sample range and then pitted those same
data points for Sunline Shooter against the average values. What we found was that Shooter performed above the median in every instance and was tied for second highest value in material strength with the Toray Superhard. Maxima's
Fluorocarbon product
came in with the
highest material
strength value at
137,687 psi.
|
Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon Lab Tests (14lb)
|
|
Tensile (lbs)
|
Material Strength
|
Abrasion (vs avg*)
|
Change in Abrasion Resistance After +2 Hr Soak
|
**Stretch / Deformity (+2hr soak)
|
|
(psi)
|
(vs avg*)
|
|
15.8
|
127,742
|
11% higher
|
9% higher
|
16% lower
|
6.3% / 0.0%
|
| *Average values taken from data on 14 products tested during TackleTour Fluorocarbon Showdown |
| ** Average Stretch/Deformity values for 14 products = 10%/2% |
Average knot strength for Sunline Shooter across our five test knots was only 71.4% of tested tensile strength which actually computes to about 11.3 pounds for the 14 pound test product (~81% of rated strength). Not great depending on what you expect out of your line and certainly something of which to be
leery.
|
Sunline Shooter
Fluorocarbon Knot Tests (14lb)
|
|
San Diego Jam
|
Improved Clinch
|
Trilene
|
Uni
|
Palomar
|
Avg Knot Strength
|
|
71%
|
78%
|
67%
|
69%
|
72%
|
71.4%
|
| Values expressed as percentage of TESTED tensile strength |
Field Tests: Curiosity as to how this product stacked up against the competition is actually what spawned our
Fluorocarbon Showdown. I actually fished this product for over a year before we sat down to conduct those tests so it was interesting to see how it all played out. While the knot strength results surprised me, it did not deter me from continuing to use the product even to this day.
|
|
|
10 pound Shooter FC on a Daiwa Pixy
|
Casting Gear: The stiff nature of this line might be a turn off to many, but I found it very manageable on casting gear and feel none of this affected my casting or pitching results. Granted, my line of choice before deciding to try the Sunline Shooter was Yozuri Hybrid - a very stiff copolymer line. The only area to really be careful with on casting gear is after that inevitable professional overrun. Get a good enough kink in your line with any fluorocarbon product, and you can create an unfortunate point of weakness. Some will argue that stiffer lines are more susceptible to overruns on baitcasters, but I'm such a pro at this aspect - with any line - I'm not one to evaluate this tendency.
|
|
|
Evergreen Temujin Crossfire Steed paired with a 2004 Custom TDZ in Metallic Black spooled with 14lb Sunline Shooter FC using a Megabass Vision 110 in Pro Blue. The result? this chunky 5lb bass!
|
Spinning Gear: The only version of this product I managed to try on spinning gear was the 10lb test. This was on several reels with 2000 sized spools and the results were not good. The stiffness that did not bother me with casting gear approaches nightmare status with spinning gear. I'm sure a lighter pound test or even a wider spool would handle better, but admittedly, fluorocarbon on spinning gear is just not something of which I'm fond. I much prefer to rely on a finesse baitcaster if at all possible.
|
|
|
Casting the 10lb Shooter on a Spinning Reel
|
Sensitivity: With that stiff characteristic of this line comes some incredible sensitivity. This is the primary reason I continue to use this line. The sensitivity is really extraordinary and it's difficult to reach for any other line (except maybe braid) especially when I'm fishing a jig. I really cannot say enough about the transmission qualities of this line.
|
|
|
The business end of a shakey head rig. This Spot Stalker Jighead is tied to the end of some 10lb Sunline Shooter FC.
|
Next
Section:
Abrasion
resistance
and
Visability
|
