I've always fished with just nylon. Obviously I'm missing out on the joys of fluorocarbon.
So what are the pros'n'cons? And good & bad ways of using it?

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Plenty of threads on the subject Idris if you care to search.... It's just one of those topics that crops up every 3 weeks or so Thus far though, I've never been @rsed to contribute, so here's my two pennorth..

Pro's:

1. Errr... it sinks. But don't be fooled by lighter stuff... it still floats like anything else, and needs a helping hand through the surface tension.

2. Stiff. Has it's benefits for droppers/presentation

3. Low refractive index. Supposedly more or less invisible in water.

Cons:

1. Expensive. Needlessly. We are all being taken for suckers. Me included

2. Stiff. You'll need a low breaking strain Fluoro if you want your flies to 'articulate' at all.

3. Kinks... as soon as you look at it Kinks can usually be removed by pulling through a rubber pad... careful with that pad though Eugene.. don't wanna 'burn' it now do we?

4. Legend has it that one has to be careful with knots. I just chuck any old granny knot on the stuff though and it's always been fine

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Buzzers 2012


Fly Clips & Stands

Hi idris, I fished to-day beside a guy who was using florocarbon it was a brand new spool and he was broken 5 times, he asked me what I was using which was Drennan sub surface green, so he changed to Maxima and fished with out any further breaks and caught at least 10 fish.Some anglers like florocarbon but I've never used it, It seems to be very pricey. Robbie

Hi', Scratch. I tend to agree with you. I think there is a bit of 'The King's Birthday Suit' about tippet material. When we had only plain, ordinary nylon monofil, we caught fish. I don't remember people twining on about knots, or line kinking or 'It's too stiff' or 'It's too limp'.
Yes, the stuff is finer in diameter today; but nylon monofil was finer than gut of the same breaking strain, and more consistent in strength and less temperamental; but Halford caught fish, as did the late Ed. Hewitt, who introduced dry fly for salmon, using gut, and if he can be believed ( I believe him ) then he must have been one of the most productive fly fishers who ever lived.
Fluorocarbon and copolymer monofilament materials are over-priced. Like a sheep, I have followed the trends, but I don't catch any more of the fish I cover, as a percentage, than I did when I used Luxor Kroic, which was Charles Ritz's favourite -- he could fish, too. I used to do pretty well, river and lake fishing, with Drennan sub-surface green nylon. I think if you believe a product is better than what you had before, you pay up and smile, even if it isn't!! TerryC
PS Your buzzers look great, Scratch. What do they taste like? They look good enough to eat. Great pics, as usual.

Flouro CONS:

It is pre-stretched and thus more susceptable to breaks - especially sharp shocks. Nylon has more stretch and is therefore more forgiving.

It also sinks and so is a curse for fishing a dry fly necessitating some form of grease/floatant to stop it dragging down the fly.

It kinks at the slightest rough touch and so is even more expensive in that one has to keep renewing the tippet (at least)

Stick to Maxima - stiffer Chameleon for the thicker end of your leader to encourage better turnover and limper Ultragreen at the thinner tippet end for delicate presentation. You will have to degrease the final section to stop it floating.

P

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Trout fishermen revere the trout; trout, on the other hand, unaware of their sublime standing in man's world, revere nothing, including man, a creature they seem to view with special contempt. Nihilism is a rare trait in fish but trout are full of it. The old men liked that.

Hello Idris

We all have to learn from someone and then make our own decisions on the path we choose to follow after getting our feet wet.I experimented with fluorocarbon based on information passed on by folks who more or less fly fish for a living.This is where my learning curve currently stands.

Without going around the Mulberry bush I have good reason to believe it can make a marked difference using fluoro for nymph fishing on reservoirs and rivers especially in clearer water.Thicker diameter fluoro will also sink quicker if you need to get a team of nymphs down to the feeding depth fishing from a drifting boat as one example.There is no way mono of the same diameter will do this.I can only say I have seen fluoro leaders outfish mono in specific situations too many times by sometimes an alarming margin for it to be a coincidence.Two anglers in a boat same methods/set ups except the leaders.

I have tried a few flouro's and settled on Riverge Grand Max.It is not a budget brand but it fishes better for me and I have no problems with it to date.I often fish a team of four nymphs/buzzers so if tangling or kinking was factor it would have been a problem by now.

I use 9.5lb & 12lb when using 7wt rods.If I go lighter I use 5wt rods.

I use Maxima ultra green mono,Stroft PTFE Monofil and Orvis Extra Strong Copolymer depending on how I am fishing or presentation I am trying to achieve.

Fluoro is used only for a specific purpose.Mainly nymph fishing or sometimes from a tip I picked up as the final tippet on a dry fly/emerger cast if fish are being really difficult.

You really must destroy fluoro as in burn it when disposing of waste product.

JP

You can't beat a quality fluorocarbon for nymph fishing reservoirs,excluding top of the water stuff.Half the diameter of nylons and, yes, it is far less visible, just try looking at samples in an aquarium.The likes of Maxima stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.As JCP says fluoro will outfish nylon repeatedly.I don't have any problems with knots or breakages, a little attention to details such as lubricating the knot well and slowly tightening is all that is required.Because you can use breaking strains much higher than nylon, thanks to the low diameter- I bust- offs are non existent.I don't think the cost should come into it (though it probably is a rip off), even the best fluoros are only 20p a metre, and Fulling Mill (perfectly adequate for deep buzzers etc) less than half that.
For fishing small (14,16's) near the surface I use Rio powerflex, fluoro is too stiff to give the flies life, and takes the flies too deep unless the retrieve is steady.I would be more than happy using maxima or the like salmon fishing, where toughness counts and diameter isn't an issue, though braids are the only thing to load a spinning reel with.Yes, people caught fish using gut (especially when the rivers were full of salmon) but a gut cast was a very expensive item that had to be looked after.
To sum up I think fluorocarbon is the biggest advance in fishing for a long time- your leader and hook being of utmost importance.

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He riseth up early and disturbeth the whole household.
MIGHTY ARE HIS PREPARATIONS!
He goeth forth full of hope and when the day is far spent he returneth
Smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him

Fluorcarbon - brilliant stuff. Must be making an absolute fortune for it's manufacturers and the retail trade.

Knots are a pain in the @rse, unless you happen to find one that works with a particular brand - try a seven-turn bloodknot with a tucked end - but be careful - be very, very careful tying it. Take plenty of time and lubricate it thoroughly.

I fish with an angler who swears by Lureflash Mamba Flourocarbon Gold. He breaks-off more times in a day than I do in a season

I've tried all the fluoros, co-polymers and double strengths - looking for that perfect line to give me an edge - I was using it all the time - Maxima.

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How poor a thing, sometimes I find,
Will captivate a greedy mind - Isaac Walton.

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*****©(

Like many others I have tried most brands of mono, copolymer and fluoro. I now use fluoro exclusively for all my fishing be it wets, dries, nymphs or lures. I like the Riverge Grandmax and wince when I pay up for it. I also use Riverge Softplus and wince again. I rarely have problems with knots - 5 turn tucked half blood for hook knots and 3 turn water knot for droppers. Actual breakages are rare. Very occasionally I do the tucked half blood too quickly and the next fish neatly removes the fly leaving that curly telltale in the leader or dropper. I don't think it is any more susceptible to tangles than any other material. Again, as with other materials if I get a bad tangle I don't waste time trying to unpick it, because it will only tangle up again within the next five minutes. Strip it off and start again. 18' of Grandmax works out at about £1.20 so is a lot cheaper than the ready made leaders you can buy and which tangle up just as much. You've also got to add a tippet to those so it makes them even dearer.

Well last year I decided to stop splashing out on expensive fluoro' and go back to good old fashioned Nylon.


That was last year this year I'm back to using Fulling Mill fluoro,say no more!

For Sale Five spools Drennan Double Strength 4lb/5lb/6lb/7lb/8lb.
I should point out that Drennan Double Strength is SHEITE!!!!

But if you're daft enough to like it make me an offer.