FC Sniper Problems/Breakoffs

[Deer Tic]

I've recently been trying FC Sniper 7lb. do to it's popularity, but I'm having a heckof a time with break offs. I have used a lot of 6lb mono over the years and never had this problem. No way i would ever use it in a tournament! Who knows, perhaps i got a bad spool... Talking to Scout'nStripers and apparently I'm not the only one out there with this problem! Been spot fishing Lanier since the 80"s, so it's not my first rodeo.

 

[Coenen]

I spooled my shakey head rod with 8lb Sniper and had similar issues. I think some of it comes from hookset. I am 10 times more likely to break a fish off if I lose my cool and try to hit him with a KVD Hookset.

If I stay smart and go with the "lift and reel" I'll have no problems.

YMMV, of course!

EDIT: To expand a bit, the rod in question for me is on the stiff side, so the shock of a "big" hookset was getting absorbed by the line. No problem with mono or copolymer. Since fluoro has less stretch, I ended up needing to 'relearn' how to handle that setup.

 

[BASS1FUN]

I have the 7lb test on my dropshot rig and up to 18lb test on various reels and it has made me go back to monofilament, I had the same issues with Seaguar. I’m about done with fluorocarbon

 

[Fullnet2]

I have the 7lb test on my dropshot rig and up to 18lb test on various reels and it has made me go back to monofilament, I had the same issues with Seaguar. I’m about done with fluorocarbon

I've been using seagar and super sniper 8 and 7 pound for a couple of years without problems. Am using a medium rod and trilene knot. Since I have a little age on this old body my hookset may be lighter than yours but I don't miss many fish. Good Luck.

 

[Browniez]

Sniper has been tougher than nails for me for several years, especially as a leader material on braid setups.

I’ve had these issues on a recent spool of 10#. I’ve checked all the boxes on gear/guide maintenance and not ratsnest/kinking it.

The product they’ve put out for a long time will keep me in the fold until I run into another couple bad spools.

I’d guess a majority of Fluoro breakoffs are not wetting the knot or kinking line though.

 

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I’ve only used 20# and 12# in FC sniper, but that’s all I use for leaders. I’ve had zero issues. Haven’t used anything lighter, though.

 

[GThunter5]

I was breaking on hook set with 10lb

Moved to 12 and no issues.

Thinking about going back to 10 and trying not to jack their jaw

 

[theefisherman]

Sniper has been tougher than nails for me for several years, especially as a leader material on braid setups.

I’ve had these issues on a recent spool of 10#. I’ve checked all the boxes on gear/guide maintenance and not ratsnest/kinking it.

The product they’ve put out for a long time will keep me in the fold until I run into another couple bad spools.

I’d guess a majority of Fluoro breakoffs are not wetting the knot or kinking line though.

I had some issues initially but it seems to come from 2 issues
1- as Browniez said - flouro can burn pretty easy (compared to mono) so you have to wet the knot before you tighten it down
2- Everytime you fold flouro it weakens. When I first started using it I was using the standard knot (only one strand wrapped around the hook eye) and it broke a lot. I switched to using a triline or palomer knot (mainly the later) and have had much fewer issues (two line strands holding it to the hook).

With those two notifications I almost never break off now. I still do occasionally, but it's mainly my own fault for not re tying often enough when it gets super cute up from the rocks on Lanier. Good luck!

 

[MikeyD6]

Sniper has been tougher than nails for me for several years, especially as a leader material on braid setups.

I’ve had these issues on a recent spool of 10#. I’ve checked all the boxes on gear/guide maintenance and not ratsnest/kinking it.

The product they’ve put out for a long time will keep me in the fold until I run into another couple bad spools.

I’d guess a majority of Fluoro breakoffs are not wetting the knot or kinking line though.

Yep, have to get the knot wet before you cinch it down. I was losing crappie this year with 8 lb seaguar because I wasn't getting it wet first. Flouro doesn't like dry knots at all.

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

My issues with fluorocarbon have been with dry knots as well, seaguar seems to me to be worse about burning when tying the knot, otherwise its great.

 

[BASS1FUN]

My breaks are not on hook set but on the spools while casting on my spinning and baitcaster reels, my eyelets are good I’m going to recheck everything

 

[Deer Tic]

My breaks are not on hook set but on the spools while casting on my spinning and baitcaster reels, my eyelets are good I’m going to recheck everything

Similar strange breaks. Also, been wetting knots before flouro was around, 30+ yrs. I'm guessing bad spool. 8lb red label works like it should with no problems!

 

[Scout'nStripers]

I've been using 8lb Sniper for almost a year on my spinning gear. This morning I loaded up one of my spinning reels with some new 7lb sniper I just got from TW. I had 3 breaks today. One on a snag that broke fairly easily, and break off on a cast and a break at the knot. I always wet my knot so I'm not sure about the knot break but I made a few observations. First, the 7lb line diameter is noticeably smaller that the 8lb. On the snag break-off it took little force to break it. With the 8lb, when I have a snag and need to break it, I have to pull it hard. The break-off on the cast was weird. The line just snapped and my swimbait went flying into oblivion.

The 7lb is definitely different than the 8lb in line diameter and strength. I think abrasions are more of a factor in the 7lb and I'm not sure I trust it yet. I'm going to give it one more try but if I have more issues tomorrow I'll be switching back to 8lb.

 

[Deer Tic]

Just about ditto to what I experienced. Think I'm going to move on back to what I know. Also, may send it to Sunline just to see what they say after testing it.