Flurocarbon

[Volvo]

Might sound a bit naive , but what exactly is flurocarbon n supposedly so good it being used as leader material apart from it supposedly being invisible ??.
Is it as good as its hyped up??,worth the extra doolar over mono being used as leader material ??.
Not knocking it in any way mindyou, just wanting to know ??.

[tunaticer]

In my opinion FC is best for clearer waters due to visibility........
FC does not have the abrasion resistance some monos have......there is the tradeoff.

In the rivers I tend to opt for Schnieder mono as my leader material, in open waters i use FC.
Around reefs I use Rovex.

[Funchy]

Also flourocarbon sinks better than mono/braid

[ozscott]

Yep. I was told by a guide once that when fishing hard bodies use nylon leader because it floated, but when you are using 4lb Fluro its so light its not funny - doesnt seem to pull down the hard bodies.

Cheers

[Volvo]

Was reading a review by some well known lure , soft plastic fisho a d his opinion was that flurocarbon is a tad overated n doesnt do all that much more or better than a good clear mono n you pay much more in volume for it ???..

[Moonlighter]

It is factual that the refractive index of flourocarbon is almost the same as water which means that it is nigh on invisible underwater. Mono has a different RI to water so is more visible.

There are soft and hard coated flourocarbons so i am less inclined to the view that they are less abrasive resistant these days than mono.

[robfish 1]

As Moonlighter said, it's all about the refractive index - and the stealth factor of f/c in clear or shallow water presentations.
Personally, I only use f/c for bream, whiting and trout stalking, where minimal contrast is important. F/C also sinks faster than mono, so for ultra lite jigs or unweighted baits, it performs better. For deeper/murky waters, I still can't go past a good, clear mono. I also find many mono's have more stretch - giving a measure of shock absorbency on the strike and subsequent fight, so it can be a bit of a trade-off.

That said, many times I've snapped 30lb f/c leaders on a big cast with 20gm lures for salmon in the surf - so I've gone back to an abrasion-resistant mono for it's stretch and overall flex, and have yet to cast off a lure. Given that the lure is moving fast through turbulent water, visibility is reduced anyway, the fish don't seem to object, and I don't lose as many $20 lures!

Overall, I can't honestly say that f/c has improved my hookup rate - but it doesn't hurt to increase the odds in my favour, but there's still a place for a good mono leader when all's said and done.