fluorocarbon

[busumark]

this year we went fishing for squid with the boat one with fluorocarbon line and the other with  normal mono line. the fluorocarbon didnt do better than the normal line. any experience with fluorocarbon?

[skip]

I think it depends what you're targetting. Fluoro is used for shy game fish when trolling or if using Live Bait if I remember correctly. Squid jigging it seems doesnt make much a a difference based on your experiences.

[gottie]

Based on my experience it makes alot of difference. As i said in a different topic I tried an experiment, using same lures , one with fluoro and one with mono and the results were dramatic.

[sergio]

usually as far as i know , fluoro is used for fish that can see the line . fluorocarbon has very low visibility in the water , making it ideal for shy fish . it's not as strong as regular mono though , and quite expensive

[gottie]

Yes, fluoro carbon is invisible in water because it has the same refractive index as water.  Its quite expensive, but you only need a small piece as leader so a roll will last long. Fluoro is also more stiff than mono so its important to make a good knot.

[fin]

Dear all,

this year SKIP and I plan to simply go fluoro on all we have and see if our takings will be substantially higher for this season.

we beleive this should be the case however the proof in the pudding is in the making we shall keep you posted as time goes along!

FIN

[skip]

Just to clarify, we are planning (as its not cheap) to re-rig all our lures with Fluoro which should take care of all issues as most have 6 foot leaders. I reckon this should suffice, thoughts?

By the way the reason for this change is because of the abnormally clear water we have in '07

[busumark]

skip to be sure if flouro is better than mono you have to have at least 2 rods rigged one with flouro and the other with mono of the same diameter and using the same lures using them at the same time. you cant compare last year with this year.

[skip]

I reckon it's definately not going to be worse, but yes you make a good point.

[Jonathan]

The problem with fluoro is that it's brittle & though its true that its less visible than mono in the water, you stand a much higher probability of the line snapping on the knot. I personally prefer going as low as possible  on the diameter of normal mono rather than going for fluoro.

[skip]

Hi Jonathan,

It's an interesting point and certainly one that warrants some thought. The problem with going as low as possible is that if you do come across a decent sized fish, whilst your rod, reel and main line can take it, if you've gone too low down to the lure then not only do you risk losing the lure but also the fish.

Lures arent cheap but then again neither is fuel! so on the one hand by going as thin as possible you are increasing your strike potential but at the same time risking losing the terminal tackle and fish, yet if you go decent sized you are potentially reducing your strike potential and ultimately coming back with no fish and a big fuel bill, which nobody likes.

All the lures I bought pre-rigged from the US came with like 150lbs+ mono and the strike rates were very low in comparison to others. When we did a test and switched to fluoro the strike rates in the same area with the same lures increased. We didnt have any thin mono so we couldnt test with that.

I suppose if you feel that you got a big fish on which is bigger than what your terminal line can handle then you have to play the drag very carefully and spend a long time fighting the fish. One such experience was when I went out with Twoutes and Redbus9, officially for lampuki and we were rigged with small diameter mono on the terminal side along with some small pin minnows. We unexpectedly came across 8-16kgs Tuna which of course snapped the terminal line.

So it's not an easy balance, short of maybe being stocked with various line options on board to quickly re-rig on the fly. But I also reckon that not all fluorocarbon is created equally, so perhaps some further research might reveal a specific brand or type of fluoro that is well suited for the application required.

What do you think of this scenario:

Have a 6 foot fluoro leader (they say the leader should be at least as big as the fish you are trying to catch), on one end use a crimp to create a loop along with some chaffe protection, and do the same for the connection through the lure to the hook. The crimp on the lure side will be hidden/protected by the lure/squid skirt.

Thoughts?

[Jonathan]

Regarding the pre-rigged lures which I see in several of the local tackle shops my opinion about them is quite blunt - they are absolutely unsuited for the type of predators which most of us tend to go out for. I can see them being appropriate for seriously big game such as marlin, swordfish, tunas and other 40kg+ stuff but how many of us are fully equipped for such species (with a fully fledged fighting chair, full back fighting harness, open stern with platforms to tie the fish onto, etc)??

Regarding crimping, I think that is worth a thought. I have never crimped lines so far and I'm not sure how it's done but I think that system would make a difference.

Other than crimping if the choice is between fluoro and mono, using normal knots I'ld unhesitatingly say go for mono. For example re alungi, I use rods set up with good 0.60m. Most people use 0.70 or even 0.80mm on their rods, then on the other end of the scale there are other guys who go as far down as 0.50mm.

[skip]

Worth doing some experimentation I reckon, would provide some good material for a review on what lines to use for what etc and techniques adapted to the local environment.

Fin has a complete crimp set, so am guessing it will be put to good use hehe. In our case we are set up for very big game fish that we dont really find in Malta anymore. Two of our rigs can easily handle a 200lbs Tuna and have the line capacity for such a fish with matching reels and rods plus a full Braid Powerplay harness. Fighting chairs are a thing of the past and no longer required, very much a 70's thing. Standup Tuna fighting has become the new thing, Fin has a fantastic video by Dennis Braid 'Stand up to a Giant' where he fights like a 500lbs tuna on standup equipment. It's all about correct technique and equipment, specifically the harness, not a small belt.

What we do lack is the correct stern layout, where you can get right to the back of the boat, which has coaming pads and toe bars to grip your feet under, along with a nice platform or alternatively the preferred option of no platform and a big tuna door! We can but dream of such a boat and since the tuna farming of such a fish.

[givella]

I was surfing the net to find an adequate knot to tie fluorocarbon to braided line since this year I wll be using it for the first time. The below link may be useful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGZ8SBI8sGI

From the comments of this video was a note stating that one should never ever touch fluorocarbon with bear hands due to skin oil unless you rub the line with alcohol afterwards.
Anybody knows the reason for this? Is it because the oil from the skin makes the FC line visible in water or the oil will weaken the FC?

[The_Gaffer]

No, the oil from the skin will reduce the friction on the knot.  Floro to braid is a very slippery knot.  The knot would easily slip on braid.
The double uni knot is the best knot to secure floro to braid.  I use it all the time, never had a failure yet.