Fluorocarbon vs. mono

experimenter

Fished a competition at the weekend and had two breaks of 4lb fluorocarbon leader using dry fly... never had breaks like that before..

First and maybe my last time using it...

Think I might go back to Maxima mono:(

Any thoughts?

bitemybanger

There is no comparison between fluro and mono for dry fly fishing. Fluro is more prone to windknots and will break easier when you get them, but it's not that bad. The advantages of fluro far outweighs getting windknots for me. Presentation is key in dryfly fishing

stevenmu

Was it the line itself breaking or just the knots?

When using flouro I find it's very important to take a bit of time and tie the knot very neatly, and very important to lubricate the knot before tightening it. I'll also give the line a good pull and see if the knot will hold or come loose. Most times it will loosen a bit, in that case I just tighten it again and it always seems to hold. If I can pull the knot through I just snip that bit off and tie the knot again from scratch.

ironbluedun

as flouro sinks quite quickly (1.5 times the weight of mono) i dont like it for dries, only wets and then i use 0.18 - 0.19mm diameter, which is about 6-7lbs, depending upon product......for dries i use a Rio Powerlfex 5x which is about 0.18mm (i think) and around 5lbs it is smashing line, if i was fishing two dry flies i use a riverge 1mm leader ring to form the dropper knot, i feel the dropper knot is less likely to break when a small rounded leader ring is used rather than the standard dropper knots....of course copolymer has to be de-greased to get it to sink slightly below the surface which can be hard to do at times....

its simple for me flouro for wets/sunk/nymph and copolymer for dries.....but in using flouro i would not go as low as 4lb as it will be too fine and will break to easily.... and for wets/sub-surface work there is no need to use too fine a diameter line....as mentioned above correct neat knots in fluoro is vital.....my thoughts anyway.

experimenter

If I remember one was a clean break and the other was a knot break...
Cost me dearly on the day..

Funny thing was, that's all I had in the fishing jacket, 4lb Fluorocarbon, left the other spools in the car

Ah lesson learnt, I have ordered some Drennan in th meantime..

Octopus

I stick to the mono myself (tried flurocarbon) maxima ultra green or drennan sub surface. Both good lines.

Flurocarbon does have its uses especially early season buzzer fishing where you want to get the buzzers down that bit quicker.

The thing that amuses me most is that whilst flurocarbon has a smaller diameter when comparing breaking strain to mono, you have to increase the breaking strain of fluro your using as the knot strength is less than the quoted breaking strain. This increase generally means your fishing the same diameter fluro as mono. Hard to explain that one properly.
4lb mono @ .18mm or 6lb fluro @ probably 0.16/0.17mm.

BoarHunter

well you can use the fluoro for a tail leader and mono for the rest of it.

experimenter

All interesting comments, thanks.

My problem was I had no mono only flurocarbon, real disappointed with it, as it lost me some nice fish.

I always used Maxima but wanted to try the fluro but competition day was the wrong to test....

But at least I am alot wiser now, and I suppose if it's not broken don't fix it...

Back to Maxima at the weekend, or probably from now on.

Regards, Rob

SeaFields

Dont like Maxima, ever use it as leader. Use Drennan sub surface green. i only really fish wets so not a problem with dries being sunk.

I hear very mixed reports on fluoro. It could be down to the amount of them that are on the market? Finding the quality ones is hard?

wgsten

experimenter wrote: »

Fished a competition at the weekend and had two breaks of 4lb fluorocarbon leader using dry fly... never had breaks like that before..

First and maybe my last time using it...

Think I might go back to Maxima mono:(

Any thoughts?

Would you have left your fluorocarbon in direct sunlight at any time?
Direct sunlight can make flouorcarbon brittle.
wgsten
http://www.irishflyfisher.ie/

ironbluedun

experimenter wrote: »

All interesting comments, thanks.

My problem was I had no mono only flurocarbon, real disappointed with it, as it lost me some nice fish.

I always used Maxima but wanted to try the fluro but competition day was the wrong to test....

But at least I am alot wiser now, and I suppose if it's not broken don't fix it...

Back to Maxima at the weekend, or probably from now on.

Regards, Rob

the question is Rob do you think you would you have hooked the fish in the first place if you were using a larger diameter more robust and more visible mono? i like maxima ultra green as a line, but i think its too bulky a line for very clear water. why not try a stronger fluoro? i know its all you had but 4lb is too weak for loughs.

experimenter

Good point...

Honestly I think I would...

But I am heading to Loch Mahon at the weekend, I will test both fluoro and mono there.