Flouro in topwater

[maltembu]

Today I was advised not to use flouro leaders when trolling in topwater as it shines a lot..

Any comments ?

[MartinB]

If im using my reel spooled up with braid i use a mono leader (diam. depending on what im fishing for) for top water lures & as i mostly use top water lures in the hotter summer months i don't like to use flouro as ive found its a bit more brittle than mono.

[clutch_kick]

Today I was advised not to use flouro leaders when trolling in topwater as it shines a lot..

Any comments ?

Fluoro? Shines? That's weird!! the whole point of using fluoro is because it's refractive index is similar to water, so it basically disappears.

As Martin said Fluoro is a bit brittle compared to mono, so make sure you use a qood quality line like Varivas.

[shanook]

I think that if u are trolling or spinning the bad sides of fluorocarbon far outweigh the good properties. I use fluorocarbon when fishing for Kahli or very clear water with rod, otherwise I dont bother. In tolling or spinning the diameter of the line is more important than if it is seen or not.

[benri]

I Didn't quite understand Shanook! Why do you think the diameter is more important in trolling?

[camkev]

It's like instead of having .35 florocar better having .25 normal line!!!...i think so!!

[The_Gaffer]

I Didn't quite understand Shanook! Why do you think the diameter is more important in trolling?

Benri, I'm happy to suggest some research into this.  The philosophy behind leader thickness and different brands is that the better the presentation the more fish you will hook and the more chances you have of catching fish.  In trolling, there are some basic facts that come into play.  The thicker and longer the leader, the more cautious the fish tend to be. The amount of drag when fighting a fish is also detrimental.  The lighter the drag, the more the leader tends to hug the fish's body, and the heavier the drag will keep the leader away from the fish's body, however it will increase the wear if and when the leader rubs against the fish's body or mouth!.  Another factor to consider is the effect of lure performance the leader has.  The thicker the leader the more restricted the lure's action will be.  There is a whole school of thought behind leader theory, and I would suggest a visit to peter Pakula's site on www.Pakula.com.au.  
One phenomenon which is overlooked by us anglers is leader bubble trail.  This is caused by the vibration of the leader in the water and is often mistaken by fish as the source of attack, rather then the lure.  This explains why sometimes you get a very short ZzzzZZzzzz (strike) on your gear only to discover a missed hookup.  What happens is that the fish strike the bubble trail left by the leader, and can be evidenced by the scuffing and abrasion of the leader some distance away from the lures.
I hope this answers your question.

[shanook]

MMMMMMM the gaffer is goooooooooooooood...
Benri in trolling the diameter makes a difference becasue of the reasos that Joe said. the bubble and vibration caused by a thicker line can either cause a false strike or else scare the fish or at least make it more cautious. so better to have a thinner line that can be seen than a line like fluoro which tends to be thicker (for same strength) and definitely stiffer. My reasoning and this is for trolling. there are lot others who say different.

[shanook]

you think right camkev.................

[benri]

Thanks for the info The_Gaffer & Shanook. Makes sense!

[skip]

This is an interesting topic and something I had experimented with a couple of years ago. most of the lures I was buying all came with ridiculously thick pre-rigging, say 130lbs+ and one particular summer I was getting no hits at all. The water that year was abnormally clear so i had switched down to 60lbs fluoro and the strike rate increased considerably.

To be honest however I didn't try say a good brand of 50lbs mono which might have been equally as good and certainly cheaper. On the one hand you don't want to go too small that you get your line cutting and on the other hand too heavy for the reasons mentioned above.

Probably for Alungi a 40lbs good quality mono would suffice but get hit by a 30kgs+ tuna and hope that a) you have lots of line to play with on your reel and b) you are happy using a light drag. With heavy leaders you can afford to be more aggressive but at the expense maybe of less hook ups.

[clutch_kick]

I prefer lighter thinner tackle. The use of finer control on the drag, and being patient playing the fish will make up for what the gear lacks in strength. 

[MartinB]

I think that if u are trolling or spinning the bad sides of fluorocarbon far outweigh the good properties. I use fluorocarbon when fishing for Kahli or very clear water with rod, otherwise I dont bother. In tolling or spinning the diameter of the line is more important than if it is seen or not.

This seems to be the general consensus and its what i personally think,or rather have found through experience...& the experience being, having some nice fish bust me off on flouro which has become brittle,even when ive upped the diam.to try and offset this problem  ..Personally unless there are some decent sized kahli around i stick to a good quality mono leader

Leader length is a whole different story! With spinning it depends on whats around (which is a bit lame i admit,as you never know!) and what rod im using also where im fishing from,so there's no real "One solution fits all" answer to this imho,you just have to go with what you think is right for the above mentioned conditions and take it from there...