Given the following quote I found

"Every piece of fluorocarbon line, leader or tippet clipped, deposited in a landfill, discarded along or in any body of water or accidentally broken off while fishing will remain for our children, there children and their children’s children to confront."

For me it raises the following questions

1. Do we need to use it
2. how do we dispose of it to ensure minimal damage (cutting it up is not the answer)
3. are the copolymers and nylons available sufficient replacements

This may have come up before - and the tackle trade may baulk at a suggestion that we do not need it. Or it's problems outweigh the benifits.

We all try to remove it - from the banks - but do we dispose of it in an efficient fashion.

views anyone?

Iv always thought i was doing the right thing by putting it in the re cycling bin beside the plastic bottles etc.

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i was walking far from home, where the names are not burned along the wall, saw a building, high as heaven, but the door was so small

Buy a Mono-master - wind up bits of Fluoro when fishing, take it home, chop it up and dispose of the chopped bits.

Interestingly, I have picked up a LOT of discarded line left by others whilst fishing. It would appear that some fishermen are not as conscientious as others.

Nigel

Excellent questions.

1: Of course we do not need to use it, but fluorocarbon does exhibit a number of properties that give any angler under certain circumstances an edge. The most obvious one being that it is less visible to the fish. Also is sinks quickly which helps when fishing nymphs and dry flies. Finally it is stiff for its breaking strain, helping presentation.

2: I always carry a supermarket bag where any offcuts can be placed. Dispose in the normal way or burn. Fluorocarbon is completely non-toxic by the way.

3: There are a number of copolymer and nylon lines which make good leaders and tippets. Have a look at hook length material in shops catering for coarse anglers. I have used Drennan Subsurface Green for many years. To get ordinary nylon and copolymer lines to sink quickly, rub with Fuller's Earth based compound and put a tiny amount of tungsten putty on the line.

Is fluoro different than mono or copoly in terms of its degradation time?

Only solution I can think of is be fastidious on the water and don't leave any leader material behind and then put it in a clear plastic water bottle and stick it in recycling at home. That should - in theory - see that it gets back into the system properly.

Thanks so far for the replies. I have done a bit of internet research and has found that a lot of sites say the following

"Do not put fishing line in with household recycling because it requires a special recycling process."

I did not know this as it requires a special PVC process and is usually turned into beads of plastic for use in other materials. e.g tackle box's
Anyone on the forms know if our home recycling sevices can cope?

If not is burning it be the only answer?

No we don't need it. Fluorocarbon lines are a myth and do not rot down. Lines are all in the mind. I remember the double strength line fad, all in the mind. I can remember using a maxima 1 pnd line and this guy using a 2pnd double strenght and he used to carry a micrometer around with him and do you know, I got broken with far fewer fish and also got the takes too. Fluorocarbon has no extra real life advantages it's just in the mind. It's like that holy grail quest for the secret bait. It don't exist and it's more important to know your water and the waters you fish.

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I can't kill fish ohhhhh.

Andrea your a woman who knows stuff, you should come to my cabin in the hills where we could have long chats over a bottle of Grouse or two .

No doubt about it fluorocarbon is a pile of nuts, just like the double strength before it. Emperors new clothes pile of nonsense.

I've said this before but I'll repeat it anyway, any manufacturer that brings a mono to the market that breaks down after say two season would be on a winner. Could be sold in foil packs. I use new leaders every time I fish.

Don't generalise on what are termed by manufactureres: "Fluorocarbon". Many of these lines are fluorocarbon coated copolymer or nylon.

Some of them are absolute rubbish and have given the product a bad name.

Nylon suffers from hydrolysis which means that it absorbs water and in doing so degrades. It also degrades and becomes weaker when exposed to ultraviolet light.

High quality 100% fluorocarbon doesn't.

Fluorocarbon is a term used to describe several polymers in this group, including PTFE (Teflon) and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride). PVDF is used for fishing lines.

The product is heated and extruded through a die under pressure or vacuum. Depending on the temperature, pressure and means of extrusion, the product can exhibit different properties. There are only a handful of monofilament extruders in the world, most in Germany or Japan and they can produce virtually anything you want, depending on how much you want.

I have used the drennan double strength its rubbish.

I have however been using Flouro for a few years now but think I'll probably just stick to nylon and copoly for this year.

I carry loads of tippet around with me for different things but could actually just use two on the river and two on the still waters.