When to Use Fluorocarbon Line

A fishing line is crucial in any fishing expedition.

It is a cord that is used and often made for the sole purpose of angling.

Fishing lines come in various materials and typically look like a long, thin string.

A line’s length, make-up, weight, and thickness are crucial characteristics.

There are three major fishing line types: mono fishing line, braided fishing line, and fluorocarbon fishing line – the subject of our discourse in this article.

Fish find the fluorocarbon fishing line invisible underwater because it is made of a fluoropolymer, PVDF (Polyvinylidene Fluoride), which has a refractive index close to water.

Fluorocarbon is significantly less buoyant than monofilament because it is a denser substance.

When they don’t want to use heavy sinkers and require their baits and lures to stay near the bottom, anglers frequently use fluorocarbon lines.

Fishing reels and spool with Fluorocarbon line

Contents

Types of Fishing Line

Regardless of the mode of fishing you’ve chosen to embark on, a fishing line is a necessity.

It’s the fishing line that, quite literally, links your entire system together!

You need the appropriate kind of line, which is more crucial.

In light of this, we’re here to describe the various kinds of fishing lines available.

Fluorocarbon has great strength as a line

1. Braided Lines

One of the first varieties of fishing lines was the braided line, which is still widely used today in some applications because it has high knot strength, lacks stretch, and has greater overall strength relative to its diameter.

Natural fiber braids, except braided silk, were initially produced from fibers like cotton and linen.

Still, they have long since been superseded by braided or woven strands of artificial materials like micro-Dyneema, Dacron, or Spectra into a strand of line.

Low abrasion resistance makes braided fishing lines easily cuttable by sharp objects.

Their true breaking strength will frequently be far more than their pound-test rating.

Braided lines frequently have a diameter of 1/3 to 1/4 that of mono or fluorocarbon lines at a certain test-breaking strength.

As a result, a braided line can be much longer and still be as strong as a monofilament or fluorocarbon line when wound on a spool.

Since reels don’t need to be extremely large to allow lengthy lines, this is crucial for deep-sea fishing.

Additionally, thinner braided lines are less resistant to ocean currents.

2. Monofilament Fishing Lines

A single thread is referred to as monofilament in technical terms.

This is a straight piece of plastic, typically nylon, that has been stretched out and formed into a narrow tube, and that is exactly what it is.

Mono has been in use since the 1930s.

It is not cutting-edge, but it is a dependable “jack of all crafts” and remains the most often used line.

Monofilament’s primary selling features are its low cost and simplicity of use.

Compared to most lines, it casts cleanly and holds knots better.

Mono also has little memory and is simple to distinguish from “bird’s nests” or backlashes.

It is recyclable if you need to cut it out, which is always a plus.

3. Fluorocarbon Lines

The same process is used to make a fluorocarbon line, although significantly denser material is used.

It belongs to the same family as the substance that keeps your freezer cold and prevents your pans from sticking, or “Teflon” (freon).

Fluoro initially became popular in the 1970s.

It could only be used as a leader because it was too stiff and challenging to manage. Since that time, a lot has changed.

The fundamental benefit of fluorocarbon is that it is virtually undetectable underwater.

Although it isn’t significantly more durable than mono or poly, it is incredibly abrasion resistant and lasts much longer than other types of lines.

It’s also good for attaching bobbers.

Only when exposed to a lot of strain, can it stretch.

This translates to strong stress resistance without any precision loss. Fluoro is, in fact, incredibly sensitive and provides input even when lax.

Qualities Of A Good Fishing Line

  1. Appropriate stretch. Lines with too much stretch reduce accuracy, but the right amount of stretch gives fishing lines the right degree of effectiveness.
  2. Shock strength. A line with good shock strength is less likely to snap under pressure.
  3. Buoyancy. A line may float or sink in water, depending on the situation. Bouyant lines are good for topwater fishing, while sinking lines are good for accuracy in deep waters.
  4. Lines with good memory. Memory is measured by whether a line comes out straight or curled up when the line is pulled off the spool.
  5. Won’t cut. It has to be abrasion-resistant to avoid cutting due to contact with hard surfaces.

When To Use Fluorocarbon Line

Fluorocarbon is a quickly sinking line.

Therefore you will primarily employ it with drop shots, jigs, and other precision bottom tactics.

Although it can be done, spinning reels are better suited for using very light lines than baitcasters.

It is mostly used for fishing in crystal clear water, as you could have predicted.

To deter sight-based predators like pike, many people attach a few meters of fluoro as the leader material.

Once only used for heavy-duty saltwater leader material, Fluorocarbon fishing line has recently gained popularity as a versatile option for anglers, thanks to improvements in its performance qualities, which, depending on your tastes, may make it the ideal fishing line for various uses.

Fluorocarbon has two drawbacks: it’s stiff and very expensive.

Pure fluorocarbon lines are never sold as leader material because they are so stiff and difficult to cast (fluoro fishing lines that come on spools that may be big enough to fill your fishing reel with are mostly a blend of mono and fluoro).

It also necessitates caution when tying knots because it frequently fails if the line isn’t wet before the knot is tightened.

Fluorocarbon is a bad material for topwater presentations since it tends to sink at rest.

Ultimately, fluorocarbon fishing line is good for saltwater but not a good choice for topwater fishing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is ideal to use fluoro for saltwater or deep waters, while it is best to use mono lines for topwater.

When you want to go fishing, it would be great to know what kind of water you plan to fish in, and this will help to inform the kind of line you will use accurately.