Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon FC Super Shooter Fishing Line page2

Abrasion: Unless you're getting wrapped around a dock or submerged timber, abrasion on the water can be a difficult characteristic to assess. The way I've equated this aspect on the water with Shooter is the frequency by which I felt I needed to retie my line. To be quite honest, there were many days out on the water fishing a jig on 14lb Shooter in the rip rap of the California Delta, and on a shakey head rig in rocks and around docks with 10lb Shooter where I did not feel the need to retie the entire day. Another quite surprising result.

Memory of this line is a bit high especially with spinning gear

Visibility: We weren't able to conduct any real world tests of underwater visibility but more important to some anglers is visibility of their line above the water. Sunline Shooter FC is a clear line with fair visibility above the water. It's certainly not as visible as a brightly colored line, but it is also easier to see than some lines that are colored with some kind of green or other tone.

Megabass F5 1/2-68XFti Diablo SB matched with a modified Daiwa Millionaire I'ZE Light 103L spooled with 20lb Shooter FC used to throw a Lucky Craft Pointer 100DD. The result? This hard fighting 7lb striped bass!

Stretch: In our lab tests, Sunline Shooter demonstrated less than the average 10% stretch over our test sample length and after a 3+ hour soak in room temperature water. In fact, at 6.3% stretch, Shooter FC had the best numbers out of our entire sample base of 14 products. What's more, this product was the only one out of the entire field that did not deform under our 3lb load. Impressive indeed.

Jig fishing with the Daiwa Steez STZHFBA711 Compile X

Out on the water, in real world conditions, all this translates into quick and sure hooksetting performance by Shooter FC, but if used for techniques that benefit from a little stretch in the line (e.g. jerkbaits and cranks) it might be best to compensate with a rod with a bit more forgiving tip. Otherwise, if your reflexes are slow, like mine often are, don't worry about it and just fish!

Sunline Shooter FC is a clear line that, unlike some fluorocarbon lines, does not turn milky once exposed to the sun

Longevity: So just how do those claims that fluorocarbon lasts longer than other lines on your reel pan out with Sunline Shooter? I can report that the only reason I've found the need to respool any of my reels lined with this product was due to a profession overrun gone extremely wrong. In fact, I've had this line on some reels for well over a year with no ill effects. Nor is this product one of those fluorocarbon lines that turns milky white after time out in the sun. I'd rate the longevity of Sunline Shooter very high.

Megabass F3 1/2-65GTC Hien Type-S matched with a supertuned Daiwa Pixy spooled with 10lb Sunline Shooter FC used for fishing a shakey head rig in and around the docks of Clear Lake, California.

Application: I enjoy this product so much that the only applications for which I don't use it is with certain topwater baits (because it sinks) or when punching (where braid is more beneficial). Naturally, I don't use it on my spinning gear either, but where needed, I can substitute most all spinning applications with my collection of Daiwa Pixy reels where the 10lb Shooter handles just fine. Jerkbaits, cranks, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, soft plastics, you name it, Shooter FC can just about handle it.

Ratings (We've re-calibrated our ratings standard for 2008 and have included a key at the bottom of the following matrix as a guide):

Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	A very high quality line	8
Performance	My only remaining area of concern is knot strength	7.5
Price	Among the most expensive fluorocarbons on the market	4
Features	Good abrasion resistance and incredible sensitivity	9
Design (Ergonomics)	Clear fluorocarbon - the only color that makes sense really for FC	7
Application	Can be used for a broad spectrum of applications where a sinking line is ok	8
Total Score		7.3
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable!

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus Minus
J Good Abrasion Resistance	L Might be too stiff for most
J Outstanding Sensitivity	L Definitely on the pricey side
J Proven longevity	L Questionable knot strength
J Confidence inspiring clear color	L Not available in any cool colors to coordinate with my gear ;)

The first fish I ever caught on Sunline Shooter FC, an 8.5 pound jig fish!

Conclusion: I did have one very unfortunate incident while using some 20lb Shooter tossing a swimbait. It was on my first cast of the day with a new, handmade, $150 bait. Just as I let go on my cast, there was a loud explosion. All three of us looked up in shock thinking I had broke my rod only to see my exclusive, hard to get bait sailing off into the horizon. Zander yelled, "GO GET IT!!" I looked at him, in resignation and said, "won't do any good, it's a sinking bait". We motored over in that direction anyway to search and sure enough, it was too late. The bait was no where to be found. The reason for that failure had to be the knot. Either I tied a bad one or I reached the peak of the line's strength at that point in the cast. Whatever the case, it happens, but that event was yet another factor in the development of our Fluorocarbon Showdown. That singular event together with our knot strength tests have made me very cautious when tossing those big, expensive lures when using fluorocarbon but for everything else, Sunline Shooter FC has really proven itself to me. What it comes down to is if you're looking for a line with low visibility in the water, very good abrasion resistance, surprising sensitivity, and you can get over the roughly seventeen cents per yard cost, you owe it to yourself to give Shooter a try.

Want to give Shooter a try? Tackle Warehouse has a great assortment.