It’s hard to find a good leader line for finesse fishing. I’ve tried a bunch of them and I tend to get let down a lot. Some leader line is way too delicate, some doesn’t hold knots well and others flat-out break on even the smallest hooksets. The night before my last tournament, I picked up a spool of Vicious Fluorocarbon and I’ve been raving about it ever since.
Extremely tough
The fish are in a major funk right now, prompting me to break out the finesse gear and target deep, gnarly cover with very subtle presentations. I can honestly say that the abrasion resistance of Vicious Fluorocarbon has absolutely blown me away.
My love for this line was solidified two weekends ago. I was casting a shaky head toward a 35-foot deep tree on a river channel and right in the middle of the thick stuff, I felt a bite. I reeled down and stuck what felt to be a good fish, but it was totally buried in the tree. My drag was screaming and I could feel my line scraping against the branches. After keeping steady pressure on her for what seemed like an eternity, I was finally able to manipulate a fat 4-pounder out of the tree and into my boat.
Getting the fish in the boat is great, but when I ran my fingers down my 6-foot, 8-pound Vicious Fluorocarbon leader, I didn’t feel a single rough spot—seriously. I retied to be safe, but caught my next four fish on sharp rock bluffs on the same leader. I checked the line after every single fish and never felt a bad spot.
Feel more bites
I’ve also fished with Vicious Fluorocarbon in some pretty nasty conditions—we’re talking 30 mile per hour winds and pounding rain. Again, I was fishing deep structure with my finesse setup and despite the wind, I could feel everything my shaky head was doing. Each time it fell down a rock shelf or bumped against a rock, I felt it.
Wintertime bass bites are notorious for feeling “spongy”, resulting in a lot of missed hooksets. Since using this line as my finesse leader, I haven’t had to guess on any of my hooksets. Each time I’ve swung on a fish, I’ve fully expected to connect with it—and I have.
Great knot strength
I’ve fished with fluorocarbon leaders before that, even though they’re super tough and almost impossible to break, will not hold a knot no matter what I do. I can tie a double hexagon glitter knot or a triple sow cow money knot—I made those up—and the knot breaks on the hookset. It’s frustrating and in my line of work, ultimately costs me money.
Vicious Fluorocarbon hasn’t failed me yet. I’ve been using it for about a month now and the only breakage I’ve had occurred after dragging a brush pile about 15 feet. That ain’t bad for an 8-pound leader in my book.
Incredible price point
When I bought my 250-yard spool of 8-pound Vicious Fluorocarbon, I paid $9.99. If you think that’s a good price, consider this—with that single spool, I can tie 41 6-foot leaders for less than 25 cents each. Let’s say I use one leader each week—one spool of line will last me for over 10 months. In my opinion, that’s incredible value. I don’t see how the Vicious folks make money with these prices, but this guy sure as heck isn’t going to argue about it.
If you’re looking for a solid fluorocarbon leader, consider trying Vicious Fluorocarbon. In my tournament experience with it, I’ve found it to be tough as nails, sensitive and insanely affordable.
Vicious Fluorocarbon is available at TackleWarehouse.com.
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