Which do you think is the better fluro to use as a leader for finesse (Ned) fishing rivers - Sniper or Seagur Blue?

[Ohioguy25]

I have heard sniper is very stiff, but wouldn’t this be exactly what I want for finesse sensitivity, minimal stretch? I am running 10 lb Suffix high viz neon lime to an 8-10 ft 8 lb fluro leader on a 6’10” MLXF Legend Tournament Bass, fishing river smallies and mostly using a Ned rig with this setup. Thanks!

[J Francho]

When I use a leader, it's always Seaguar Blue or Gold Label. 

[Ohioguy25]

33 minutes ago, J Francho said:

When I use a leader, it's always Seaguar Blue or Gold Label. 

Have you tried sniper?

[J Francho]

Yes, it's fine. Seaguar is better, plus they support this forum. 

[FishTank]

Tried some leader material from Sunline and it wasn't bad but I prefer Gold Label from Seaguar.  It holds up better and the knot strength is marginally better.

[ErieCan]

Sunline makes a dedicated leader. It's good stuff.  50yd spools. I use it form 6lb to 20lb.

 

 

[roadwarrior]

Give Gold Label a try, you won't be disappointed!

 

                                        

[Lead Head]

Seaguar sponsors the site, so many will always recommend it first and foremost. The thing is, Seaguar products really are great. Personally, I'm more of a Sniper guy. I think the only reason I like Sunline more is because it was the first "good" floro I tried. If I had to use nothing but Seaguar from now on, I wouldn't really miss my Sunline much at all.

 

Sniper will be stiffer than your mono, but its one of the softer floro lines out there. About the same as invisx and in my opinion, it has a little less of a stretchy feel (compared to invisx, it will feel way less stretchy than most mono).  I use Sniper for a couple of leader applications, mostly because I run it as mainline on a couple reels and its what I have on hand. 

 

If you are cool with buying small spools of line for leaders, go with the blue or gold label. Keep in mind, line sold as leader material is almost always more stiff than line sold as a mainline. 

 

You will be fine with whatever you pick, you already have it narrowed down to a point where there isn't a bad choice.    

[newapti5]

I am not sponsored by Seaguar (I hope so though), but I still prefer its Blue Label or Gold Label. It's among the thinnest leaders on the market, and it's still quite abrasion resisted. These are the two major characteristics I care about when choosing fluoro leaders. 

[gim]

I use a fair amount of Seaguar Blue Label fluorocarbon.

[Ohioguy25]

6 hours ago, ErieCan said:

Sunline makes a dedicated leader. It's good stuff.  50yd spools. I use it form 6lb to 20lb.

 

 

What is the difference between this and Sniper? It looks like Sniper I can buy in bulk and save quite a bit, but if this is superior I’ll get it.

[ErieCan]

37 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

What is the difference between this and Sniper? It looks like Sniper I can buy in bulk and save quite a bit, but if this is superior I’ll get it.

 

Someone on this forum asked Seguar this question a few years back. Below is the quote (I'm assuming Sunline is the same. But if you run long leaders, I don't see why sniper wouldn't do the trick.  BTW, I have used Blue Label in the past and it is very good as well. I just liked getting double the amount of leader for roughly the same price with the Sunline leader. I mostly use 8lb tied to a 15lb braid main line.  I've caught plenty of hard fighting lake Erie smallmouth with that set up.  Never an issue with it. 

 

"

What are the differences between Seaguar fluorocarbon Leaders and Seaguar fluorocarbon Lines?

Strength – While both are strong and will withstand the lb test listed, leader is stronger over shorter lengths and are not designed to be a long, main line product.  The main lines are designed to take the impact load over a much longer distance, transferred throughout the line.

Double Structure Technology – Our FC, FP, GM, and FX are all Double Structure, (2 to 80 lb), a Seaguar exclusive process that injects two different molten resins through a special die.  The resins are extruded as one solid piece.  The harder, inside resin contributes to the Tensile Strength, while the softer, outside resin creates greater Knot Strength.  Our current main lines are single structure.

Price – Leader is more difficult to produce because of double structure and the resins involved, therefore line is less expensive and leader costs more.

Resins – The resins in our line are different than the resins in our leaders."

 

 

[Ohioguy25]

19 minutes ago, ErieCan said:

 

Someone on this forum asked Seguar this question a few years back. Below is the quote (I'm assuming Sunline is the same. But if you run long leaders, I don't see why sniper wouldn't do the trick.  BTW, I have used Blue Label in the past and it is very good as well. I just liked getting double the amount of leader for roughly the same price with the Sunline leader. I mostly use 8lb tied to a 15lb braid main line.  I've caught plenty of hard fighting lake Erie smallmouth with that set up.  Never an issue with it. 

 

"

What are the differences between Seaguar fluorocarbon Leaders and Seaguar fluorocarbon Lines?

Strength – While both are strong and will withstand the lb test listed, leader is stronger over shorter lengths and are not designed to be a long, main line product.  The main lines are designed to take the impact load over a much longer distance, transferred throughout the line.

Double Structure Technology – Our FC, FP, GM, and FX are all Double Structure, (2 to 80 lb), a Seaguar exclusive process that injects two different molten resins through a special die.  The resins are extruded as one solid piece.  The harder, inside resin contributes to the Tensile Strength, while the softer, outside resin creates greater Knot Strength.  Our current main lines are single structure.

Price – Leader is more difficult to produce because of double structure and the resins involved, therefore line is less expensive and leader costs more.

Resins – The resins in our line are different than the resins in our leaders."

 

 

Where you finding leader cheaper?

[ErieCan]

39 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Where you finding leader cheaper?

 

I meant that a 50yd spool of Sunline FC Leader is cheaper than 25yd of Blue Label. 

[RDB]

14 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I have heard sniper is very stiff, but wouldn’t this be exactly what I want for finesse sensitivity, minimal stretch? I am running 10 lb Suffix high viz neon lime to an 8-10 ft 8 lb fluro leader

At the end of the day, any good quality fluoro will be fine and you won’t see much if any difference.  The only thing I would change is your braid test.  I would bump up to 15-20lb braid to your 8lb leader the next time you re-spool.

[throttleplate]

 Last year I had 30 # spiderwire braid with 30# seagur blue and i got snagged in the pads when wading up to my chest.

I couldnt walk any deeper, i grabbed the line, wrapped it around my gloved hand and pulled that line out with everything i had and with it came the pad stem stuck on the 4/0 ewg texas rig.

I also winched out the bass that were just burying themselves in the pads. I never broke off that day.

Here was the 30# blue label leader that did the winching that day.

 

Using palomar knots the blue label just winched itself out and give credit to the spiderwire as it served me well also. The only bummer is the high cost for 25 yards.

 

 

[Revival]

1 hour ago, RDB said:

At the end of the day, any good quality fluoro will be fine and you won’t see much if any difference.  The only thing I would change is your braid test.  I would bump up to 15-20lb braid to your 8lb leader the next time you re-spool.

Why should he bump up to 15-20lb braid?

[Bluebasser86]

Gold Label is excellent, top of the line leader material. 

 

I've been really impressed with the SPRO Finesse flourocarbon leader material also for a cheaper option. 

[Ohioguy25]

8 hours ago, RDB said:

At the end of the day, any good quality fluoro will be fine and you won’t see much if any difference.  The only thing I would change is your braid test.  I would bump up to 15-20lb braid to your 8lb leader the next time you re-spool.

Why would I bump up to 15-20 lb braid for river smallies?

[RDB]

2 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Why would I bump up to 15-20 lb braid for river smallies?

You may not want to…I was sharing what I would do.  I feel like you get a more stable knot when the braid diameter is slightly larger than or close to equal to the fluoro.  The diameter of 10lb braid is quite a bit smaller than 8lb fluoro while 15lb is about equal.

[Team9nine]

12 hours ago, RDB said:

At the end of the day, any good quality fluoro will be fine and you won’t see much if any difference.

Pretty much this IMO, especially in regard to sensitivity. To that point, a good mono/copolymer might do just as well. Since this is a leader to braid setup, you will naturally lose a good bit of sensitivity vs. a straight run of either parent material due to the connecting of two totally different materials (with differing material properties). Some papers have referred to this as “impedance discontinuity.” These days, I’m 90% braid to mono when I have to go that route for a variety of reasons.

[Ohioguy25]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:46 PM, Team9nine said:

Pretty much this IMO, especially in regard to sensitivity. To that point, a good mono/copolymer might do just as well. Since this is a leader to braid setup, you will naturally lose a good bit of sensitivity vs. a straight run of either parent material due to the connecting of two totally different materials (with differing material properties). Some papers have referred to this as “impedance discontinuity.” These days, I’m 90% braid to mono when I have to go that route for a variety of reasons.

Do you find you break off less in addition to the lower cost?

[Team9nine]

18 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Do you find you break off less in addition to the lower cost?

Not necessarily - its been pretty similar overall. I think paying attention to your line diameters to achieve a good setup is the more important thing, not whether you choose fluoro or mono. Don’t go by pound test rating. Also pay attention to your knots depending on which material you use.

[Ohioguy25]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Not necessarily - its been pretty similar overall. I think paying attention to your line diameters to achieve a good setup is the more important thing, not whether you choose fluoro or mono. Don’t go by pound test rating. Also pay attention to your knots depending on which material you use.

Are you saying the ratio of braid to leader effects breakage? I am exclusively breaking off from abrasion on the 8 lb Sunline FC Leader I’ve been using. What do you suggest?

[PourMyOwn]

5 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Are you saying the ratio of braid to leader effects breakage? I am exclusively breaking off from abrasion on the 8 lb Sunline FC Leader I’ve been using. What do you suggest?

If it's abrasion I would jump up to 12 lb leader and change it more frequently. I also use mono/copoly leaders instead of fluorocarbon.