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Gamma Fluorocarbon Leader Material?

John Cook

John Cook

Senior Member
Hi All,

Any members used Gamma fluoro as a hooklink? Had a look at some today in 10bs. and it seemed limp and memory free also has a fine diameter, any thoughts or reviews?:)
 
Used the 8 &11lb, handles nicely, the mahseer knot seemed to give the best connection, handled salmon to 15lb(8lbBS), but doesn,t like snags (not much does!!!), OK with just weed, but the hard stuff(rocks etc) not good, even in 11lb. In a relatively clear river, with only weed to contend with, fine, but beware in amongst heavy snags.
peter
 
I've tried and have little trust with the durabilty with all the gamma line range. In first instance they seem good like most others but to me they do not stand the test of time.

Cheers
Jason
 
fluro

hi everyone
Ive tried most makes of fluro over the last couple of seasons and the one ive found best was the wychwood trout fluro..its bloody strong stuff with small diameter it only goes up to 10lb but you will have great difficulty snapping the stuff its also fairly limp compaired to most others and also alot cheaper..:)
 
Hi Lads,

Thank you for your thoughts, I tried the wychwood and drennan products a few seasons and found them to be reliable but was wondering what these newer more softer materials were like.
 
Frog hair fluorocarbon gets my vote, extremely supple for a fluoro and as tough as you can reasonably expect a fluoro to be. Not cheap mind at about £8 for 25m. I use the 11 and bit lb stuff.

Conrad
 
I used the Gamma flouro last season ( 8 lb ) and didn't have any problems. Satisfied with mine. I'll be using it again soon, targeting some nice sized tench. :)
 
Got some stuff by Lazer labelled as PVDF line (no idea what that means) 0.14, used it last season for fly tippet material and it is really good for that. I can't see it at all in the water (doesn't mean the fish can't). Haven't tried it as a hook length for coarse fishing but can't see why it wouldn't work well. Quite cheap as well if you buy a 100m spool, which is enough for quite a few seasons.
 
Just Lazer being clever, PVDF is short for polyvinylidene fluoride or in layman's terms fluorocarbon.

Part of definition stolen from Wikipedia:-
"PVDF is used for specialty fishing lines sold as fluorocarbon as a replacement for nylon filament. Optical density is lower than nylon which makes the line less easily discernible. The surface is harder so it is more resistant to sharp fish teeth and wear. It is also more dense than nylon, which makes it sink faster."
 
Hi Lads,

Thank you for the thumbs up regarding the gamma fluoro, however i have just recieved a spool of spiderwire ultracast fluorocarbon in 12bs. and it looks to be good, very limp a small diameter and knots nicely, i have knotted up a couple of 20inch lenghts tied to swivels and given them some rearlly hard tugs and sudden shocks and they have not parted so quite pleased with it:)

Will get a spool of gamma though just in case:eek:
 
With fluro, how much weaker is it in terms of knot strongish (if at all) than mono? The stuff I have got just gives a breaking strain (1.7 Kg for a .14 line...I assume the actual knot strength will be lower than this? I really wish there was some standardised way of manufacturers giving these figures. The other thing I noticed with the stuff I have is that it has quite a bit of stretch, I was expecting fluro to be like braid and have none, so I must have got that wrong. For tippet material I would really prefer no stretch, but for hook lengths when fishing for barbel I would prefer some give as I usually use braided mainlines these days. Does this vary according to manufacturer?
 
John Cook said:
Hi Lads,

Thank you for the thumbs up regarding the gamma fluoro, however i have just recieved a spool of spiderwire ultracast fluorocarbon in 12bs. and it looks to be good, very limp a small diameter and knots nicely, i have knotted up a couple of 20inch lenghts tied to swivels and given them some rearlly hard tugs and sudden shocks and they have not parted so quite pleased with it:)

Will get a spool of gamma though just in case:eek:
Click to expand...

I have some of this John as advertised on the fly fishing forums, it is really very good indeed and as it's only £5 for 100m it is a bargain. I have tested it against Gamma Frog Hair tippet material and I am struggling to tell any appreciable difference. I will give it a good go next season.

Conrad
 
I find tying fluro a real hit and miss operation.

I used to love using ESP Ghost 10lbs b/s but i found that at least one in three knots would fail/slip. I tried a few different knots and even tried rig gluing them, that only made the fluro brittle.

I remember using the Krystonite when it first hit the shops and found it to be a truly shocking product, the line twist was terrible and it "shone" in sunlight.

I will track down a few of the products mentioned in this thread and have another go.
 
tough

Conrad,

I have been taking lengths of the ultracast around the garden running it over objects like fences and rougher objects, believe me this is tough stuff.....:) think i will forget the gamma and get some more breaking strains of this for next term.:D
 
Have used the Gamma fluoro a lot for my barbel fishing and have never had a problem with it - unlike other fluoros that I've tried over the years.
It knots very well and seems more tolerant of a variety of knots than other fluoros I've tried (still prefer a Palomar though).
Have had it on one of my reels (12 lb breaking strain) for around three years now and as long as you clean it every now and again it is as good as new.
 
Found this on an American Bass forum.

"Gamma gets out 1/19/2010

Gamma Technologies is pulling out of the fishing-line business. The news was announced in a note to its pro staff, which stated that henceforth, Gamma would focus solely on its tennis division, where the company has been exceptionally strong for almost 3 decades."

So if you want to use Gamma grab it while stocks are still available, apparently it's disappearing from US dealerships already.
 
Wow good job that i found an alternative then:)
 
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