I understand the different X nbrs for tippet material. Where I fish the water is pretty clear. I have been using 2 lb. Maxi ultra green mono which was recommended by the boss at the tackle store.
A. My question now is what about this florocarbon line for tippet material? I could go up to 4 lb. and not run the fish off and have the extra strength in case I would get a big fighter. They tell me that 4 lb. mono scares the fish off.
B. In my last post someone mentioned laying the line on the water and watch for a shadow on the bottom of the stream. Would florocarbon line be better in this case?
All opinions and comments appreciated.
Flourocarbon material is not invisible. You can see it, I can see it, fish can see stuff we can’t so they can see it. It casts a shadow to. You can test this for yourself.
It may be slightly less obtrusive than mono in some situations and this may lead to more hookups. The best way to find out if it will help you is to obtain some and try it out.
Personally, I have never fished in a situation, whether it be freestone or spring creeks for trout, clear or murky for bass or panfish, or any saltwater situation where the use of flourocarbon made a difference.
A few months ago I was fishing midges on a mountain lake. A couple of anglers insisted that 6x flourocarbon tippet was required to get bit. They each caught about a half dozen fish in a couple of hours. During those same two hours I caught and released more than 20 trout - using 3x tippet because I didn’t have anything lighter due to some poor packing before I left the house. Obviously the difference wasn’t the tippet. But I may very well run into a situation where it does make a difference some day and am open to that. So I try it sometimes because if I don’t try it, all I can do is speculate.
So, like I suggested, try it and see what happens. It won’t hurt. It may make a difference in your success, but presentation and technique may also make a difference.
Just be aware that florocarbon doesn’t break down like mono . The stuff left behind ( in snags and such ) is there to keep on killing fish and birds for many years to come . For that reason alone , I use it very sparingly .
Fluoro or mono, they’re both going take a long time to break down granted regular mono (nylon) is going to break down faster due to UV succeptability and being more prone to abrasion, it’s not going to make a huge difference compared to fluoro (PTFE…aka Teflon). It’s going to take hundreds if not thousands of years to break these materials down. I think your best option is to use what works for you and be responsible about it. Don’t discard small pieces when tying flies on or new pieces of tippet. I’ve walked down “fly only” streams and picked up plenty of entire leaders that people just leave behind, if you want to make a difference, clean up after yourself and the other people who for some reason can’t.
-Pemi
If you are worried about using fluoro because it takes so long to degrade then you best just stop fishing alltogether. Mono discarded in a stream will be around longer than you will be on this earth too. No matter what you use just do your best to carry out what your brought in.
I have in fact been in situations where fluorocarbon made all the difference. Some were saltwater chasing Bonefish and Permit and also Tuna and then in the fresh for Trout, Atlantic Salmon and Steelhead. There certainly are cases in which mono will perform just as well as fluoro if the bite is on but I have seen enough that I use it all the time now except when dry fly fishing. Fluoro sinks faster so it pulls dries under easier than mono does. I rely on Seaguar’s Grand Max for lighter applications and their new Fluoro Premier for anything over say 20lb or so. Nothing better on the market today.
When noodling through just what leader size (fluoro or mono) you should pay close attention to the actual diameter of your leader, not so much the X rating or pound test rating. This is what’s most important. Maxima was mentioned above and they are notorious for under rating their lines. 12 pound actually breaks at over 20 so if you look at the pound test rating alone you are not fishing what you think you are. Most other line mfr’s are guilty of this as well.
ya, you don’t want to be leaving it around in the environment so you need to use the weakest tippet to fly knots which would be the clinch knot or the improved clinch knot.
Then you want the strongest leader to tippet knot you can use which probably is the bloody quick knot (ligature knot) http://www.froghairfishing.com/__knots.cfm?ID=6
or
http://content-angler.com/steelhead2.html
:roll:
Scruffy…
"
ya, you don’t want to be leaving it around in the environment so you need to use the weakest tippet to fly knots which would be the clinch knot or the improved clinch knot."
Now that’s something I totally agree with…sure it[they] work sometimes…but…
oooppps …we’re highjacking
i heard of someone useing sewing machine thread as a tippet. is that worth trying?
Bob Miller wrote the book Tricos in wich he mentions the use of transparent nylon thread or “invisible thread”. He says you can find it at most fabric stores and it is the equivilant of 7x and 135 yards will run less than $2.
I believe fluorocarbon makes a difference but I generally save it for when I’ve tried everything else and remain fishless. Before I do that I will usually try a very long tippet of 4ft. or more as I believe this reduces drag wich is a bigger factor than the visibility of the line. I also like to use softer tippets like Dai Riki Velvet wich also helps with drag. Maxima is a stiffer mono as is fluorocarbon so is it visiblity or drag? I don’t know but when I’m not catching fish I like to have an option.
Tailing loop, I don’t think comparing your success to that of others using a different tippet than you is a good way to judge the effectiveness of the tippet material or diameter. Maybe your just a better fisherman than those guys are. You would have to use both tippets yourself to see what difference it makes for you. Maybe you would have caught 30 trout.
Turk
2 Bead Pupa - Just curious, did yo pick a whole bunch of names for your FAOL monicker and throw them in a hat and 2 Bead Pupa came up? Very interesting. My number one son is a pattern maker for Columbia Steel in Norther Portland. I imagine West Linn is growing like crazy? I always liked your community. I lived in Milwaukie and Scappose for years.
I have always gone to a tapered leader over the years. It suits me and my way of fishing. 3X has been used by mre more times than any other tippet size. I used Cortland and Glading leaders in the early years, Fenwick and Orvis today. Does anyone remember Cat Gut/woven silk?
You might find it intersting, I have a new, nevr opened, price tage marked 1973 Cortland 3X 9 ft. tappered leader, the price is 35cents.
I would find it particularly difficult to thread 3X through the eye of a midge hook. Unless we’re talking a size 14 or 16 midge…and then it ain’t a midge. Maybe it’s just me.
Marty
No problem threading 3x into a size 22 Tiemco 100 hook. The flies I was using on the cited example were 16 and 18.
that settles it, I have to cut back on the coffee! :lol:
marty
I use fluro tippet sections in most of my fishing. The only probelm with it for dries is, it tends to sink a bit. The lighter stuff floats ok.
I’ll take a li’l sinking over ten thousand birds’ nests any day!
M