Flourocarbon tippet worth it?

[Ralph]

Fluorocarbon fishing lines are not made from chlorinated fluorocarbons (the stuff that wrecks the ozone layer). All plastics off-gas and require pollution control during manufacture. I don't think this is why fluorocarbon tippets cost 3-4x as much as standard monofilament.

ALL high quality modern monofilaments are copolymers. Even old standbys such as Maxima have been reformulated as copolymers. PTFE (also known as Teflon, Glide, and Gore-Tex) is commonly fused onto monofilaments to decrease friction and, more importantly, reduce water absorption which impacts line strength.

Raw fluorocarbon is inherently harder than monofilament, however, it is also more brittle and stiff. Early fluoro leaders had major problems with coil memory and knot strength. Modern fluoro leaders include softening agents that make them much easier to work with at the expense of reducing abrasion resistance. Modern monofilaments can be produced that are extremely abrasion resistant. Momoi "Marlin" and Mason "Rock" monofilaments are MORE abrasion resistant than most fluorocarbons out there. All lines are a compromise and just because the spool says "fluorocarbon" it does not necessarily mean the line is any more or less abrasion resistant than its monofilament cousin.

[JohnD]

I switched to fluoro for all nymphing. I like both the abrasion resistance and the improved strength/diameter. I tend to fish with heavier line than I did with mono without losing any fish catching ability. And I tend to lose less flies with the heavier line.

[Walter]

Fluorocarbon fishing lines are not made from chlorinated fluorocarbons (the stuff that wrecks the ozone layer). All plastics off-gas and require pollution control during manufacture. I don't think this is why fluorocarbon tippets cost 3-4x as much as standard monofilament.

ALL high quality modern monofilaments are copolymers. Even old standbys such as Maxima have been reformulated as copolymers. PTFE (also known as Teflon, Glide, and Gore-Tex) is commonly fused onto monofilaments to decrease friction and, more importantly, reduce water absorption which impacts line strength.

I was not talking about the ozone killers, cfc's. The other chemicals in the manufacturing of PVDF which is what most "flourocarbon" fishing lines are made of...

"PVDF may be synthesized from the gaseous VDF monomer via a free radical (or controlled radical) polymerization process. This may be followed by processes such as melt casting, or processing from a solution (e.g. solution casting, spin coating, and film casting). Langmuir-Blodgett films have also been made. In the case of solution-based processing, typical solvents used include dimethylformamide as well as the more volatile butanone. In aqueous emulsion polymerization, the fluorosurfactant perfluorononanoic acid is used in anion form as a processing aid by solubilizing monomers.[4] For characterization of the molecular weight via gel permeation chromatography (also called size exclusion chromatography), solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide or tetrahydrofuran may be used." - from Wikipedia

Sorry to hijak the thread. Just explaining the cost. The stuff used in its manufacturing is particularly nasty.

I DO agree that some fluorocarbons are more and less abrasion resistant than each other, and with the varying true monofilaments, although most are actually copolymers really.

I like what my friend says, "It's all the same only different."

[Adam Grace]

When fishing for bass almost 200 times about 5 years ago (when I lived on a private warmwater lake) I rarely had to change out my fluorocarbon tippet, however if I broke off and tied to the end of the mono leader (due to laziness) I had to re-tie my flies way more frequently due to abrasion.

BTW, I love hearing all of your experiences with fluorocarbon, especially how it can make a big difference in stillwater situations. Thank you all for your participation in this thread.

[WinterrunRon]

I switched to fluoro for all nymphing. I like both the abrasion resistance and the improved strength/diameter. I tend to fish with heavier line than I did with mono without losing any fish catching ability. And I tend to lose less flies with the heavier line.

Ditto regarding the loosing less flies comment. With mono, I snap them off all the time. Using 4x Mirage, the hooks straighten before the line breaks. Have no problem puttin' the wood to a hooked fish with flouro. Lots of confidence once hooked. Has nothing to do with invisibility factor, however.

[rippinstreamers]

IMHO if we are talking about subsurface fishing for trout flourocarbon is the way to go. having been in the competitive circuit for a while as well as guiding for a number of years, time and time again it seems to make the difference. The problem I have with mono is its softness, more specifically in small diameters where it can stretch. having as little stretch as possible whether it is under an indicator, high sticked, stripped, etc. it can give you that split second edge over a fish that usually has had the fly in its mouth longer than you know. sinks fasters, it has a smaller diameter per pound test rating, abrasion resistant, and almost all companies if not all now produce it through years of testing and probably way more statistics that we all can come up with.

[wineslob]

Any recommendations for lb rating compared to "regular" tippet mono? Say, if using 5X, what would be the flouro equivalent? IE: dia. I nymph, allot.

[Walter]

Just start paying attention to diameter size of the lines. Sometimes they are only printed on the box and not on a spool.

Realize that youve also used a leader system for youself that you can cast. I find once I start screwing around with new leader material, I always end up adjusting proportions over time, so it casts better, or really so I cast it better.

[Dan LeCount]

From what I understand, one company(Seaguar) makes the vast majority of florocarbon line. (something like 90+%) and theres only 1 or 2 others besides them. They ask what other companies want from their floro and extrude it to their demands.

That said I usually just use Rio Powerflex mono cause its cheap, but reliable and wont last as long in the environment as floro.

[JohnD]

Any recommendations for lb rating compared to "regular" tippet mono? Say, if using 5X, what would be the flouro equivalent? IE: dia. I nymph, allot.

I never use smaller than 4x in flouro when nymphing. Usually 3x to the top fly and 4x to the bottom. This way if I snag the bottom fly I only lose one fly and a few inches of tippet. But with the 3x I've pulled tree branches off the bottom and straightened out plenty of hooks.