I keep reading about using fluorocarbon leaders. How important is this and when are they needed? How are they helpful?
Fluorocarbon is less-visible underwater. Granted, if you’re fishing murky/stained water, it’s not needed but if you’re fishing clear water, some believe it’s a “must have.” Braid, depending on the “pound test” (diameter), braid is far more visible than fluorocarbon. I use something with a 4lb-6lb test diameter (14-20lb breaking strength) so it’s not as visible.
Fluorocarbon is far more abrasion resistant (not as abrasion resistant as braid) and has less stretch than mono (braid has virtually zero stretch) but it sinks (mono and braid are more buoyant) so I wouldn’t recommend it for towpater baits.
I always keep some in the boat but I mainly go straight braid on all of my baits (I primarily throw artificials). If I find I’m not getting bit, and the water is relatively clear, I’ll tie a leader on and see if it makes a difference.
Earn it everyday
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet.
Never needed, truth is any line will work, it’s how you feel about it. Confidence while fishing is everything.
Fluoro leaders are supposed to be less visible, so you may feel like it gives you an edge over mono or braid.
Fluoro is stiffer/harder than mono.
Fluoro is more abrasion resistant than mono and some braided lines.
Fluoro is less knot friendly, find a good fluoro knot.
I keep a top shot of flouro on all my rods. Main line to fluoro (uni-uni knot), then tie on your rig.
Use it above the popping cork to keep the main line from twisting around the cork.
Use it above a Carolina rig to allow the egg sinker a place to slide.
Use it above your artificial baits to keep your braid from getting fuzzy which can happen after a long day of casting, but if you have that top-shot of fluoro, it takes the brunt of the friction from your rods top eye when casting.
Typical setup:
Casting - Penn 2500 - 15lb braid - 20lb fluoro leader
Casting - Penn 3000 - 20lb braid - 20lb fluoro leader
Bottom - Penn 4000 - 20 or 30lb braid - 20lb fluoro leader
Bottom - Penn 6500 - 30lb braid - 80lb mono leader
Thanks for the info.
They’ve come a long way with newer fluorocarbon and it doesn’t have near the memory the old stuff did, making it more limp and castable. Granted, you get what you pay for in any line, let alone fluorocarbon.
I’ve heard some people talk about the “not knot friendly” characteristics of fluoro but if you handle it properly, it won’t give you any trouble. “They say” to never use a palomar knot when tying on your lures with fluoro but I’ve been using that exact knot forever and have yet to have a knot failure while using fluoro. The key is to lubricate the line well before cinching down your knot. After I tie the overhand portion of the palomar knot, I put the line, just above the lure, into my mouth and let it slide through my mouth as I cinch the knot down tight. If you don’t lubricate the line, friction will cause heat and that will weaken the line and subsequently the knot.
Earn it everyday
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet.
The only big difference between fluorocarbon and mono leaders for me has been the price. Usually if I have a problem with a leader its the length.
17’ Mako
283 Grady White Release
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Thanks to all who responded.
Myth- Fluorocarbon line is more abrasion resistant than mono. Fluorocarbon LEADER is better, but still is less abrasion resistant than mono of the same diameter. Fluoro is less visible in some conditions than mono, but spooling up with castable fluorocarbon is a waste of money and will cost you fish. It has terrible knot strength and is very brittle; therefore any wind knot or backlash will cause a compromised spot in your line. Don’t get caught up in the hype!
I agree. I use mono 95% of the time. It’s been working good for 50 years. Tried Fluoro many times and don’t really like it. I don’t think I’ve ever lost a fish because my leader was mono instead of Fluoro.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
HAHAHAHA!!!
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
I’m an old school freshwater fisherman and have gotten by with mono since the 50s. I have learned a good bit from those who responded. I think I’ll skip the fluorocarbon.
We hired a skipper the first time in Venice back a few years ago.
One-Eyed Eddie. He had us run to several spots to load up on live bait but had no luck after 3 locations. We varied the sabikis, I had a dozen different brands, colors and sizes. @ the 4th spot, One-eyed Eddie pulled a few packs of sabikis out of his pocket and suggested we try them. They were loaded up each cast and we went off to catch yft the rest of the day:)
The sabikis were rigged with fluorocarbon. I wasn’t a believer until that day.
Out of Charleston @ the channel markers and the weather buoy a fluorocarbon rigged sabiki will do better on a bright sunny day catching bait.
One thing to keep in mind: face into the sun and throw to the buoy. Less chance the line will be ‘lit-up’ on the side the bait is hiding. With the sun on your back the line will be illuminated toward the bait hiding in the buoy ground tackle. Something to do with refraction maybe. Not like I watched it on Jacques Cousteau, just makes sense.
Chunking & live baiting off Venice we got hits on fluoro of heavier rating than mono. Do I rig with fluoro often, negative! If the bite is slow and fish are marking - gotta do something different. Always good to have some optional gear to put things in the coffin box.
We haven’t had to use fluoro targeting bottom fishing in LA or Charleston. If they are under you, present them something they want. Things are slow? try one fluoro rigged hook and see if that makes a difference.
Striper fishing in MA we will go thru a few different colors of mono before finding out their preference. Hook tied directly, no leader, no extra knots in the line. Now & then a bluefish will clean the hook off…
Run your finger/thumb along the line after each hit/fish. Sad to part the line due to a nick ya could have cut out.
Mark your storage bags so ya don’t use the $$ stuff for friends in the boat, give them the hi-viz leaders, someone needs to be cutting bait.
A couple of thoughts on this. I’ve seen situations, mostly offshore, where fluoro made a huge difference due to the visibility. One instance was sabikis in the Gulf just as DG34YF mentioned. There’s no doubt in my mind that fluoro is less visible underwater. Does it make a difference around here inshore? Probably not the vast majority of the time. But the cost of fluoro is minimal in the greater scheme of things, and it certainly doesn’t hurt from a visibility standpoint. If it means a couple more bites on a tough day, I’ll take it.
As far as abrasion resistance goes, I think it has more to do with the hardness and diameter of the material rather than whether it’s fluoro or mono. Hard fluoro or mono leader material is going to be more abrasion resistant than a softer material. I use Gamma fluorocarbon because it is very hard but not too stiff. Some of the other fluorocarbon leaders I’ve used (e.g., Seaguar) are very soft and not very abrasion resistant it all. Same with mono too (e.g., Jinkai). Not all leaders have the same thickness, either. I focus more on diameter than advertised breaking strength on leaders, and 20 lb Gamma seems to be the right balance for me. One big mistake a lot of anglers make is using regular line as leader. Line is much softer and not nearly as abrasion resistant, whether it’s fluoro or mono.
Another common misconception is that braid is more abrasion resistant than mono. This isn’t the case at all. Because braid is made of individual fibers, it’s prone to fraying and then breaking when pressure is applied.
I’ve found that the uni-to-uni knot works very well for braid to leader connections, much better than the albright or triple surgeons knots where the braid tends to cut through the leader. The uni-to-uni is fairly easy to tie on the water as well. For very light braided lines (<10 lb Power Pro or some of the new superthin 8-strand braids), you can double over the braid to prevent the braid from cutting the leader on the uni-to-uni.
Those are a few
It’s not as simple to simply say one is better than the other. There are several variables that impact comparison and certain applications favor one over the other. The are different quality nylon monofilament lines and there are different quality fluorocarbon lines. There are nylon mono lines meant to be more “limp” and some that are “stiffer.” Same for fluoro. Comparison test environments will impact results.
Apples to apples, fluoro is roughly 30% more abrasion resistant than nylon mono in a dry test environment. Get the two lines wet (you know, like when we’re fishing) and nylon mono is typically over 50% less abrasion resistant than when it was dry (has to do with the porous nature of nylon mono and he fact it absorbs water).
Fluoro IS less visible than nylon mono in the water. Fluorocarbon line comes the closest to the light refractive index of water so it is and this is why it is less visible than nylon mono. Because of fluoro’s construction, it is less-porous than nylon mono and it is more UV resistant. These two characteristics give fluoro a longer “shelf life.” Meaning, you have to change fluror line less often than nylon mono, so yes it costs more but you’re getting more “uses” out of it. Pound test to pound test, fluoro is a smaller diameter than nylon mono. Fluor has less low end stretch than nylon mono (it takes more pressure to get fluoro to stretch). As stated earlier, fluoro knots are plenty strong…as long as they’re tied properly. I’m not talking about how you tied the knot. I mean proper lubrication of the line. Regardless if you’re using nylon mono or fluoro, if you don’t lubricate the line when you tie the knot, it’s going to fail, period. That’s not the line’s fault though.
Craig, use whichever line you wish and you have confidence in. After all, confidence is the most important lure in the tacklebox.
Earn it everyday
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet.
This nails it and is only learned through years of personal experience with ALL types and brands of lines. You will be sorely mislead by only reading articles on the subject.
quote:
Originally posted by The DudeA couple of thoughts on this. I’ve seen situations, mostly offshore, where fluoro made a huge difference due to the visibility. One instance was sabikis in the Gulf just as DG34YF mentioned. There’s no doubt in my mind that fluoro is less visible underwater. Does it make a difference around here inshore? Probably not the vast majority of the time. But the cost of fluoro is minimal in the greater scheme of things, and it certainly doesn’t hurt from a visibility standpoint. If it means a couple more bites on a tough day, I’ll take it.
As far as abrasion resistance goes, I think it has more to do with the hardness and diameter of the material rather than whether it’s fluoro or mono. Hard fluoro or mono leader material is going to be more abrasion resistant than a softer material. I use Gamma fluorocarbon because it is very hard but not too stiff. Some of the other fluorocarbon leaders I’ve used (e.g., Seaguar) are very soft and not very abrasion resistant it all. Same with mono too (e.g., Jinkai). Not all leaders have the same thickness, either. I focus more on diameter than advertised breaking strength on leaders, and 20 lb Gamma seems to be the right balance for me. One big mistake a lot of anglers make is using regular line as leader. Line is much softer and not nearly as abrasion resistant, whether it’s fluoro or mono.
Another common misconception is that braid is more abrasion resistant than mono. This isn’t the case at all. Because braid is made of individual fibers, it’s prone to fraying and then breaking when pressure is applied.
I’ve found that the uni-to-uni knot works very well for braid to leader connections, much better than the albright o