Running a fluorocarbon tippet with regular line?

[1hook 0]

I have been wanting to get into the fluorocarbon game and Other than noticing that fluorocarbon tippet manufactured for fly fishing has a higher breaking strength for the diameter...does it matter if you just purchase regular fluorcarbon fishing line and connect it to your mono leader. Essentially using it as tippet.

 

The price difference between the two is huge and I have a feeling that this is another one of those things to catch fisherman. For five bucks you can get 100 yards of fishing line. Vs 15 bucks for 30 yards of fly fishing fluorocarbon tippet.

 

I know which one I'm trying first.

 

I'll be using it pretty much for nymphing only or dropping a wet of the back of a dry.

 

What are yor thoughts or experiences with this?

[keep_lookingup 0]

Don't know, I have always bought tippet but sounds like a good idea. I really do believe in the advantages of fluorocarbon. I switched 7 years ago and haven't looked back. If you fish clear water over picky fish it will make a difference.

[sandflyx 0]

properties, most flouro for spinning is limper and won't turn over as well. It works but there is a difference.

[1hook 0]

Yea I wondered if that might be the case. For the ten bucks I paid for a spool if 4lb and a spool of 2lb it's worth a try. I guess if I'm not happy ill just throw the line on my spin gear.

[Crotalus 0]

For dry fly fishing i use the dedicated tippet material, for streamers I use the spinning fluorocarbon.

[Hoyt archery 0]

All last year I used 6 lb. regular spinning gear fluorocarbon as tippet material. I thought it worked great. However, I haven't ever tried actual tippet material. So I can't say if "real" tippet works better. But I do fish some Ultra clear sand pits for Bass (at least Ultra clear by Kansas standards). And the fish seem to respond great to the fly. Some of the larger flies don't turn over very well, but I figured that was more my casting "style", than tippet problems.

[zOnk 0]

I don't mix fluorocarbon tippet with mono leaders if that was the original question. In my experience the fluorocarbon can cut the mono at the knot when tying and fishing. "Knot failure" on big fish can actually be "knot cutting".

 

I think fluorocarbon has incredible advantages for a number of situations. I fish wet flies down and across in a team and I'm of the ilk that changes flies often until I hit the team that is tearing them up. I'd spend a lot on fluorocarbon and frankly I haven't found one that rolls over a team of flies as nicely as mono.

 

When it comes to big fish, I'm in the same school as Piker20 on Maxima for the stretch on hookup -- it's hardy line with a built in shock absorber. On steelhead I fish confidently with Maxima.

[Peterjay 0]

I've been using Seaguar regular fluoro for my saltwater tippets for years with no problems whatsoever. A friend of mine who uses the exact same setup that I do would tell you the same. I use Big Game Trilene for the rest of the leader with loop-to-loop connections, and I've never yet had the fluoro damage the standard nylon. If they stand up to tuna, I'd say they'd stand up to anything. Just make sure your knots and connections are solid. (which you should do anyway) I don't know about superfine trout leaders, but for the heavier stuff, it's a no-brainer. The difference in price is huge.

[robow7 0]

Like Peterjay, I make my leaders out of Trilene Big Game and finish off with a tippet of Seaguar spinning fluoro and have never ever had a problem with one cutting the other. Well tied double/triple surgeons or blood knots shouldn't cause a problem.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I'm another saltwater guy so this may not be helpful to freshwater anglers - but I use Fluoro extensively in the backcountry of the Everglades, as well as on the flats for bones and permit. Fluoro is definitely quite a bit different than mono in several respects (and any fishing line marked "fluoro" that feels like ordinary mono ... is probably not fluorocarbon at all....). I use the stuff in two ways, for shock tippets (or bite tippets) and as the terminal end on "poor boy" leaders. Last first... a poor boy setup is nothing more than a level portion of fluoro that's three to as much as five feet long with a surgeon's loop in one end and a fly on the other.... That loop is connected to a permanent butt section of much heavier ordinary mono (I've always been partial to Ande premium for all of my butt sections...). Butt sections are usually four feet of 40lb for an 8 or 9wt line, five feet of 50lb for a 10wt, and six feet of 60lb for an 11 to 12wt line. Each butt section is nail knotted (on heavier line or particularly intermediate line -I use a double nail knot...) to the fly line and has a surgeon's loop at the bitter end. All a "poor boy" is intended to do is provide a partially tapered leader - with no shock tippet at all. On an 8 or 9wt the total leader is 8 to 9 feet long (usually 40lb mono spliced to 20lb Fluoro). You're taking a risk with snook or small tarpon with this setup - but you'll also get a lot more bites, period. In heavy cover the fluor section is 30lb...

 

Although Fluoro leader is advertised as "invisible to the fish" I find it's real value is it's abrasion resistance (that's what allows us to do without shock tippets unless we know we're in big fish.....). The other thing I use Fluoro for exclusively is bite tippets for flies and ordinary leaders for spinning gear... Yes, it's a bit costly but the results are well worth it. For big tarpon my standard bite tippet setup has us using 20lb hard Mason leader spliced to 80lb Fluoro... In clear, heavily pressured waters, I'll go all the way down to a 40lb bite tippet (and sometimes we beat big fish with that light setup...). If I have an angler that has to use spinning gear - the first rod I hand him or her has only 10lb line - but the short leader is 30lb Fluoro....

 

By the way, there's such a noticable difference between Fluoro leader material and Fluoro fishing line - that I suspect fishing line marked as fluorocarbon.... isn't. Hope this helps.

 

Tight LInes

Bob LeMay

(954) 435-5666

[Peterjay 0]

When fluoro first became popular, I did visibility tests on various brands compared to regular mono, and much to my surprise, I could see all of it about the same. There wasn't anything invisible about any of it, and I can still see the stuff that's around today. It's the abrasion-resistance that keeps me using it. Bob may be right as to the composition of various fluoro material, but the fact remains that the Seaguar line is very tough stuff that's cut back on my tippet changes considerably. We fish a lot from barnacle-encrusted jetties, so it's no small issue. Regular mono, even the good stuff, gets nicked up pretty quickly, and as every saltwater angler knows, gamefish cruise the shorelines looking for guys changing tippets, and that's where they strike. The only situation that attracts more fish is an angler visiting the restroom.

[ditz2 0]

The only situation that attracts more fish is an angler visiting the restroom.

 

 

So that is my problem. I will need to start carrying an MT bottle.

[Peterjay 0]

The only situation that attracts more fish is an angler visiting the restroom.

 

 

So that is my problem. I will need to start carrying an MT bottle.

 

Now you know why I always bring a case of bottled water out onto the jetty for my friends.