Wimpy fishing line isn’t an option when you’re pitching and flipping heavy cover. I’ve been through countless lines over the years and, quite honestly, have been disappointed by several. There’s nothing worse than setting the hook and hearing your line snap like a gunshot. It’s the most sickening feeling in the world.
I’ve had an opportunity to test the new Seaguar Flippin’ Fluorocarbon for the last several weeks. Bass fishing legend Denny Brauer designed this particular line to stand up to the nastiest cover you can possibly find. Whether it’s flipping docks, laydowns, grass or concrete pilings, he wanted to have a line that could stand up to the toughest abuse he could imagine.
What you’ll like about it
There’s a misconception among anglers that, in order to find a strong fluorocarbon line, you need to sacrifice manageability. Fortunately, that’s not necessarily the case.
Seaguar Flippin’ Fluorocarbon behaves quite well on the spool; especially for a line that’s designed for strength and abrasion resistance. You’ll find a lot of fluorocarbons that tend to coil and turn into a slinky within a day or two of being on the reel, but this particular line has been on my reels for about a month with no issues to speak of.
This excellent manageability is largely because Seaguar and Denny Brauer made this line stronger without increasing its diameter. I’ve been using 20-pound Flippin’ Fluorocarbon and it has the exact same .016-inch and .405-millimeter as 20-pound Seaguar AbrazX, another one of my preferred flipping and pitching lines.
You’ll also love the pure strength of this line. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to break Seaguar Flippin’ Fluorocarbon. In order to test its impact strength, I’ve purposely buried my jig in brush piles and set the hook as hard as I possibly could. At the time of this writing and after dozens of fish catches from heavy cover, I have not experienced a single breakage issue with this line. The knots have also held excellently with no slipping to speak of.
Anglers will also be extremely happy with this line’s abrasion resistance. I’ve fished a lot of shallow rock and concrete dock pilings with 20-pound Flippin’ Fluorocarbon and have simply been blown away by its resilience. I’ve pulled fish over branches, around concrete pilings and through shallow rock piles with barely any abrasions. The stuff that usually makes you cringe when pitching and flipping aren’t a problem with this particular line.
Lastly, you’ll notice much less stretch in Flippin’ Fluorocarbon. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of Seaguar AbrazX for close-quarters flipping, and Flippin’ Fluorocarbon seems to have even less stretch. This is advantageous for two primary reasons: Quick bite detection and effective hook penetration.
My experiences with it
Because I live in a fairly warm climate, I’m fortunate enough to be able to flip and pitch throughout the entire year. So although it’s January, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time testing and learning about the various qualities of this line.
I’ve really liked how well Flippin’ Fluorocarbon skips when I’m fishing docks. I know that’s a weird thing to say about fishing line, but it doesn’t jump off the spool as my jig is skipping across the water’s surface. I’m able to skip my 1/2-ounce jig from the front of the dock all the way to the seawall without any loops or knots in my line. When the jig comes to rest underneath the dock, I’m not left stripping several feet of loops from my spool. I can immediately start working my jig instead of messing with the line.
I’ve also noticed that this line doesn’t dig into itself whenever I set the hook. I can execute a big hookset, unhook the bass and immediately make another skip without digging line out of my spool.
In regards to strength, Flippin’ Fluorocarbon certainly passed all my tests. I haven’t broken any fish off and, like I mentioned earlier, when I’m hung in a brush pile the line is strong enough to actually pull my boat to the brush pile. I’ve horsed fish over cross beams, thick limbs and concrete pilings without any worries of failure. When I get a flipping bite, I want to get the fish out and away from the cover as quickly as possible and the strength of this line has allowed me to do that with the utmost of ease.
Final impressions
If you like to pitch and flip in heavy cover, this line absolutely deserves your attention. It’s tough as nails, manageable and has allowed me to present my baits in some very precarious places with plenty of confidence.
Seaguar Flippin’ Fluorocarbon Line is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
