Berkley Vanish Flurocarbon, Let Me Count The Ways You Suck

[Slade House]

I just wanted to say that Berkley Vanish Flurocarbon is pretty much one of the worst products ever made, period.  I forgot how bad it was till i had to use it out of necessity a week ago.  never had so many random line breakages ever. POS.  I know that there are only about 3 manufacturers of flurocarbon out there, so who makes this crap?

 

[Cgolf]

I have used this stuff as leader material with no issues over the years, and the only time it breaks is when I hang up and break it off. I do wet the knots when I make them if anything it may break right at the pound rating, where I think braid has a higher breaking strength than rated.

I even use this stuff as leader material when fly fishing for trout and smallies.

[Shanes7614]

Only 3 flouro manufacturers??? May want to check out a better bait shop... BERKLEY vanish I would guess is made by BERKLEY.... I've used their line from 6lb test drop shotting in Cali up to their 20lb for leader material for several types of fish and never had any issues. Sounds to me like it may be faulty knots or user error.

[iceintheveins]

It's the most horrible, brittle garbage ever.

[nascar2428]

It's the most horrible, brittle garbage ever.

My thoughts exactly!!

[shanksmare]

Maybe you guys are dealing with old spools of Vanish that have sat on store shelves for a long time. I used Vanish about 10 years ago as leader material when fly fishing the surf for stripers. It indeed was terrible. I had 20# test break on several ocassions while lifting 5# stripers. I finally tossed out the spool because of all the unexplained lost fish caused by broken leaders.

 

However recently I bought a spool of 20# Vanish and used it on a baitcaster with no breakoff issues. I stopped using it because of the curling tendencies it had in cool (here in FL it would be considered cold) weather. Many times when I got snagged in on of the many rocks where I fish, I had a hard time breaking the line. It also breaks at the knot which secures the hook unless you use a Flouro friendly knot like the San Diego Jam or one of its varieties.

[annexation]

Vanish was my introduction to fluorcarbon - and I had some mixed results with it. Spooled up with straight 12 lb. I had zero issues with it. It was fine and acted exactly as I imagined fluorocarbon should.

 

Using 8 lb. Vanish as leader material, though, I would break off all the time when the line should have held.

 

Given that it was my first foray into fluorocarbon, I think it's more likely my inexperience in tying leaders and not wetting my knots that led to this happening.

 

That said, I'm in no hurry to go back to Vanish - Seaguar has been doing me just fine, both on the spool and as a leader.

[lmbfisherman]

When I first got into bass fishing and tried FC for the first time (Vanish).  Vanish turned me off to FC for awhile, using it as main line many random break offs.  Definitely crappy as a leader material too. I made the switch to Seaguar Red Label and never looked back.

[ripinit]

^{Vanish is terrible, and definitely one you don't want to tie a knot with. After some thought though, its name is very appropriate if you think about it....}

[riverbasser13]

It's been hit or miss for me, okay for leader material, not so good as a mainline, at least on spinning gear. Getting it at the clearance aisle adds a little redemption though. I've learned with FC just to pay a little extra.

[kickerfish1]

Surprised the line is still in existence. Used it for a walleye trip up north and didn't care for it.

[hawkoath]

I started out with this stuff and had issues with breakage and it was quite brittle. Surprisingly after tossing half a spools worth of line away the breakage issues got better and it might be just my imagination but it seemed to curl less and have less memory. Probably just my imagination. 

[Abuss55]

I also have had problems with it, and quite frankly it may have been due to the spool sitting on the shelf in the store for an extended period of time. I was attempting to use it for trout fishing in 4 lb, and realized that after loosing 2 big fish and having a lot of issues with the line becoming damaged easily I realized that I can use Trileen green or blue in 4 lb and have had no issues on the trout seeing the line and havent had a line break since other than on a bad snag.

 

A wise man once told me there are a thousand of different ways to catch a fish at any point in time, its simply a matter of knowing how to apply them.

[the reel ess]

I like it. I use 17# on a BC combo for my T-rigs, pitching, etc. It's a good low-vis, low stretch option for slow baits that fish get a good, long look at. I didn't like it on a spinning combo and started using braid, no leader. Dark water here.

[FryDog62]

I used my old spool of Vanish last December to hang some Christmas icicles over the center island in our kitchen..

[lmbfisherman]

I used my old spool of Vanish last December to hang some Christmas icicles over the center island in our kitchen..

It didn't break on you? 

[FryDog62]

my mistake, when the line snapped I tried to catch the descending icicle... d**n that line !

[S Hovanec]

I got burned by it three different times. You would think I would have learned. first time was when it was new. I spooled it up on my steelhead rod and broke off every fish I had on in the morning until the temperature got to about 40 degrees.I tossed that spool and swore it off.

Tried it again a few years later on my bass rod. I figured maybe it was just a cold temperature thing. I was wrong. Stripped that spool off and swore it off again.

the last time I tried it was when they supposedly reformulated and improved it. put it on my drop shot rod again. I don't think I landed a fish that day.

switched to P-line Halo and was extremely happy for many years. when I ran out of my 2000 yard spool, I switched over to Powerpro and floro leader.

[Ozark_Basser]

I have used it a few times as a mainline for jerkbaits and smallmouth up to 3 lbs. It worked okay until it was out in the summer heat for a while. It is pretty much useless after one trip. I tried it once fishing for largemouth in grass....never again. Broke at he knot more than once trying to pull 2-3 lb bass out of the grass.

[Felix77]

I have used this at 6 and 8 lb test.  It is the only FC which I have literally thrown away even for fun fishing or as leader material.  Way too many line snaps for no odd reason.

 

For the record I have used all the Seaguar (except Tatsu), Berkley 100%, Spiderwire FC.  None of those failed me like Vanish does.  My preference is Seaguar Invizx.  Red Label in a pinch.

[the reel ess]

Man, you guys are really making me rethink it. I may scrap it in favor of a heavy braid with a mono leader. The line I have on that reel is pretty old, but has really not been used much. I've caught some decent fish on it with no problems. And I really liked the lack of stretch when I set a hook. I haven't had a bad experience with it, but I haven't hooked into a trophy and lost it because of FC either. I am using tungsten bullet weights now and I know those have a tendency to nick FC knots.