From what I’ve read these lines sink rapidly. They are not bio-degradable, which is not a problem as I never discard “Used” line in the stream, only in the trash barrel or campfire. (not when I’m cooking!!)
Question, should they be used with small dry flies? Should I change tipets/leaders from dry to wet?
Cactus
I use fluoro with dries (big and small) all the time. Works fine.
Dennis
I have to dissagree. It is just to stiff for dry flies. I like it in saltwater and that is about it for me. When I am fishing dries I like a limp material that well let the fly float as free as it can. I want the fly to act like a natural as much as possible. Stiff tippet material on dries or nymphs will not let them do that. It may work OK on fast water but not were it counts on the slower section or spring creeks.
I know some people swear by it but I have tried it along with the normal Mono in all my fresh water fishing and find that I do not catch as many as I do with the mono. For the extra money it just isn’t worth it to me. In salt yes In fresh no. JMO Ron
I use Fluoro for nypmph and streamer fishing only…when I go to drys I, if I’m not using a floating line alreaady, I change the spool to floating line and use a tapered furled leader with a mono tippet as small as I think I can get away with. The Furled leader is dressed with Aboline.
Snow on the roof with fire in the hearth
I think certain brands of fluoro are the strongest per diameter of any tippet material I’ve ever used (i.e. rio fluoroflex plus, new orvis mirage). I’m getting to the point where I’ve actually straightened out small dry fly hooks with 5x! You can’t do that with mono. So, anywhere you’re fishing smaller tippets and need to horse on fish to get them in - like on big freestones - you can overcome the sinking factor by keeping the tippet lightly greased w/ floatant. I really like it because now I can use 5x or 6x on a heavily-fished big-water freestone and actually have a chance of horsing a big fish in quickly instead of chasing the thing up and down the river for 10 minutes.
Good luck,
-John
[This message has been edited by ktokj (edited 24 February 2005).]
I too use a furled leader with a mono tippet as small as I feel comfortable with. 5x or 6x usually. I have used the flourocarbon, greased to help it float, and have found no major difference in castability. While it was stronger for the same diameter, being roughly twice the price has led me back to mono again. I can get a 300yd spool of maxima for the same price as a 25yd spool of flouro. And by the way John, I love getting dragged up and down the river by a big fish on 6x 
Just one of those little things that make me smile.
Have fun, Jeff
Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.
Thanks for the info All! Gives me lot to consider but you’ve raised another question. Furled leadrers? I’m having some made but don’t quite understand them. Kat gave me a couple last year and is making some more for me.
Cactus
There’s quite a bit of info on this site about furled leaders…go to the archives and search. Basically, a furled leader is made up of a single strand of thread looped through itself at different dimensions, twisted, doubled and retwisted (the other direction). The looping process is what determines the taper. One can cast a furled leader making it’s own small loop. Can’t do that with mono. Furled leaders float very well (I help mine with Aboline) and last easily a season (unless you catch as many fish as JC of course). Not everybody likes a furled leader but those that do (like me) swear by them.
Snow on the roof with fire in the hearth
Silvertop2;
Thanks again. You have mentioned Aboline treatment, what is it and where do I get it?
Furled leaders seem “Short”!! Why? and how do you compensate for this?
Cactus
I use the small diameter floro tippet material for dries when enountering “educated” trout that appear to be leader shy. It will often make a difference.
[This message has been edited by sjh (edited 24 February 2005).]
I have used nothing but Flourocarbon with the exception of 10X for 3 years. I don’t even carry mono anymore.
Silvertop,
I read some of the archived stuff on furled leaders on FAOL and elsewhere. Could you briefly describe how you set yours up?
In particular, I’m wondering whether you use a straight chunk of mono as the tippet or do you taper that down as well?
Jeff,
I guess you’re just like me and still have all those spools of maxima left over form AKWest :> ). But that stuff’s more like cable than tippet (hee hee). Well, I guess it’s just like I told Derick Cole on the Truckee a few years back - you can take the boy out of Alaska, but you can’t take the Alaska out of the boy!
Thanks for the laugh,
-John