yellow door 1

a few more options

I just went down to have a scaling comp between the store bought and the diy bottle top version Both were good but the store bought version wins by a nose - I think it was due to the pulling action used with the red tool

For those hard to remove scales

Yeah I like the sound of that

Yeah I've always been a skinner - but I want to see how the skin reacts to hot oil in the pan

Yeah I havent tried snapper withthe skin on so I want to give it a go

although this method look pretty good too

Yeah I havent tried that one but it does look good thanks Dmck

Yeah his testing rig is slightly more sophisticated than mine - and using Standard uni knots definitely weakens the line and is not a true test of the lines actual breaking strain - but it gives me a base line I can work from. I was able to achieve higher than stated breaking strain results by passing the line through the eye of the hook twice before finishing the Uni - so it shows the importance of knot selection in line strength tests Heres my rig in action on some snaps

I get the 300m spools and just topshot my reels with 100m of braid - At the time I was buying it it was around $8 on ebay (Its since gone up to $12 for the 300m spool) - and it passed all my tests - so it turns out to be a very economical braid thats nice and limp. I tested the 8lb most thoroughly and with the way I test my lines - it breaks at 75%+ when dry and using a uni knot - but if you pass the line through the eye of the hook twice before finishing the uni, it will break slightly above stated breaking strain. If I tie an FG with 8lb Kast king braid to 8lb Vanish leader - the line breaks at the lure out in the field And the 30lb Flourokote I use for Jewie leader breaks around 35lb with a standard uni knot. I did have some unexplained breakages on the 6lb braid but all the other classes above it have been very well behaved. As you might have guessed I like looking for cheap stuff that works good - In my experience - Kast King lines and Sunnies fit that description - But as you know - this is just what happens when I use the line - results can and do vary based on who's tying the knots and the testing method.