Berkley Transisition Line

[NitroPopPop]

Hi, Is anyone else having trouble with this line? It seems to shred for no apparent reason. It has happened twice on a cast and once during a retrieve. It has never happened to any other line I've tried. Water temp was in low to mid 50's, if that might make a difference.

 

[Mike Cork]

Ooooo, not good news I just bought some of this and have only used it once. Now it did very well and I was impressed with how easy you can see it above the water. We didn't have a problem with it but more testing to come soon.

NitroPopPop, was there anything that caused it to shread? and when you say shred? do you mean in was coming apart length wise?

[NitroPopPop]

Yes, it came apart length wise. It looked like a rope end with alot of smaller strands. The times I was casting, they were NOT whip casts but rather light side arm casts. The time I was retrieving, it felt like it was hung in grass so I pulled alittle harder and it came apart. Not much strain at all.

[OHbassaholic]

It sure sounds like you have an insert that has popped out of one of the eyelets on your rod, or maybe just cracked.  I've run into this before.

[NitroPopPop]

OHbassaholic - I never gave that a thought. I definitely will check it out. I believe it happened on different rod, but I check them all. TKS.

[cable guy]

this line is great,it really gets gold in the sun and you  can really see your line but not under the watrer. i have 14/lb on my bottom rods, 8/lb on my spinning rods. the only problem i have found is check your line alot it frays and the line will break.the sensitivey is unreal no memory casts great.and it sinks when fishing bottom lures aand it works great on texas rigged weightless senko it makes the bait sink a little different, tried it in the bath tub.  give it a try downt use it on anything topwater the lure will dive instead of skip, works great on crankbaits when you see the line coming up on something you can really see it.

[Mike Cork]

NitroPopPop did you find anything? I didn't get to get out this weekend but will next for sure to give it some more feild testing

[OHbassaholic]

I may just spool up a reel with this stuff.  I'm not big on worrying about fish seeing line in my neck of the woods, but maybe it will be worth trying during the regional T this coming w-end...

[Mike Cork]

It definately works the way it says it will, it is bright and easy to see above the water I haven't used it much yet to get and accurate test on durability, but all day beating off cypress trees, lilly pads and hydrilla and no defects yet

[NitroPopPop]

Mike & OHbassaholic - I checked all my Rods. The Guides look good, none missing and no cracks that I could see. I will try again when I go out on Thursday. Good luck on your own field testing.

Mike, your right. I works just as advertised, bright above water, clear below.

[Rickoos]

I have been using this line for about 6 months now and I like it. The only problem I have found with it if you backlash the line and how a hook set, it will sometimes shock the line and it will break at the kink point of the backlash......This has happen several times to me so far, but every time it  could be traced back to a backlash not being completed cleaned before recasting.......

Great line, easy to see, great for flipping too!

Ricky

[NitroPopPop]

Rickoos , What you've described is common to all Co-Polymers (IMHO), I've even noticed it in Bass Pro Shop's Excel.

[Pferox]

I ordered some in 40 lb for toothy salt fish, been usin vanish in 20 and 10 for catfishin and little salt and have had no problems, except when kinked or too many bite marks. So I just check the line every time I get a snag or hook up and retye if a problem is found.
My observations on the clear, haven't tried transition yet. It is more flexible than floro, makeing it easier to tie, and gives more action to lures, it is more reselient than mono, lasts longer in abraisive conditions, although not as tuff as pure floro, and still has a little stretch to use it as a shock leader.
I am very pleased with vanish performance, although I don't spool the whole reel, I just use it as leader material.

[cmegee]

I've been using it now for a couple of months, and haven't had any problem with it except with toothy critters getting a hold of it. But then again they will tend to break any line they get a hold of . I used it this weekend on Lake ouachita up in Arkansas and it did very well in the gin clear water up there.


Haven't seen a fishing report yet

[FlyRod]

I've given Berkley VanTran a fair trial and here is the verdict.

Plus: Improved visibility over green braids.
        Pretty when wet, but so are girls.
Minuses: Springy, lots of memory. Reminds me of a Slinky(TM) toy.
             Fragile...again, like girls .
             
My Vanish got "vanished" to the dumpster. From now on it's either P-Line CX or P-Line FluoroClear OR TUF with Fluoro leader ($^#@%$! J-Knot ).

[Pferox]

Fishing Report:
Tried Transition in 40lb as bite leaders at the Sunshine Skyway pier.
Sharon caught 3 Spanish Makerls in a row on the same leader.
The line dosen't look chewed up like you would see with regular Floro leader, instead it looks shredded, with a small nick in the core. It is real easy to see on quick checks.
It held up well, I usually have to retye after every catch on mono, and Floro might be good for 2 maybe 3 fish, this one looked like it might hold on to another couple of em.
Makerl fishing is done in spurts, after you catch one the quicker you can get bait into the water, the better the chance of catching another one. I usually keep throwin bait in after a catch until they break off then am forced to retie, or retie when the bite quits, preparing for the next school to run by.
I believe that this stuff will get me more catches per run.
I am impressed.
I had 2 complete bite offs probably shark, didn't even see the rod bend, probably would have bitten off wire leaders too.

Spanish are funny, sometimes a wire leader will work, other times it will spook em, if single strand gets kinked, it will break off faster than line will, and seven strand shows up in the water, I had a rod with 7 strand and never had the bait touched, now if they would make 7 strand with a floro coating we would be all set. 

[Sc Bassin]

I too have tried Berkley Vanish Transition. I also think it's crap. It breaks often & the memory is high. I can not figure out how anyone likes it. My buddy does though. His theory is that he gets more bites so he don't care about the break offs. Believe me he gets plenty of break offs. I keep telling him to do the math. Like flyrod I switched to Pline cxxx in December last year. I use baitcasting equipment & I have just noticed some twisting starting to develop on my worm & creature rigs & spinner & buzz bait rigs. If its not pouring rain tomorrow I am going to drag the line behind the boat to straighten it out & try it again in case its an operator problem.

[Mike Cork]

I have been using the Transision for just a few trips now and still like it. I haven't had a break off yet but I use 17 pound. Seems to be doing well in the heavy cover that we fish. Only time will tell

[Chris]

Mike ,I too have used 17 lb Transition for the last two trips and havent had any problems with it. I was fishing deep brush piles with it in my last trip and it was outstanding.

[cmegee]

I went sunday and caught 15 using the 10 # version on my crankbait rod, not a break off or lost fish, I really like this line.

[Mike Cork]

I wonder with the completely different reviews on this line, if there wasn't a bad batch sent out regionally?

[Pferox]

AT the Sunshine Skyway I used 40lb Transition as bite leader.
It worked better than the stiff old florocarbon leader materal I was using, easier to tie, and allowed baits more action.
Sharon caught 3 Spanish makerls on one rod with this leader, and continued to fish the rest of the day with it, catching various other non toothy fish, when we got home, I was doing inspections, and this is what I found.
The leader looked stringy, that was the floro coating seperating from the core, the core had numberous bite marks in it, but when I pulled on it, it was still quite strong.
I am assuming that when the floro coating is compramised, water gets in and it begins to separate from the core. It is a great visual identifier as to when to cut off and retie.
I had 2 bite offs from very large fish, probably shark, they are even rough on heavy wire leader. The end of the bitten leader looked more like braid that was cut with a dull knife, interesting to see, wish I had the capabilities to take pictures of this and post it.
Although I only use at most 20 or 30 feet as shock leader and then mostly 10 inch to 18 inch pieces as post swivle leadey, I am quite impressed in it's performance.
It worked much better than mono leaders or Pure Floro leaders, although I might opt for the stiffer floro on larger, more aggressive species.

[OHbassaholic]

They only send the good stuff to LA, Mike.  They are afraid they would get a major Cajun wuppin if there were any problems!

Folks seem to buying it up here in Ohio too.