Poll : Mono v. Fluorocarbon Tippet For Dry Flies

[tennjed]

I never had any problems catching fish with nylon before FC came out. If it's not broke, why f&%@ with it. Plus, do the benefits of FC really make it worth its pricetag?

here it comes......another FC vs. mono debate....

 

[wrangler412]

tippet is the most expendable piece of equipment in most fly fishermen's arsenal, so why spend the extra money?

 

[pete41]

If you intend to do salt water fly fishing there is no argument-Fc is the only sensible way to go for toothy critters and oyster bars.
I have to use a shock leader down here in Florida-FC is good for weeks or months but mono,being less dense will knick up so badly in a day it needs to be changed.
Fresh water,I can't say as FC didn't catch on until I wandered southward but suspect I would use it for subsurface fishing as it would be less likely to spook fish.It's the slightest knick that reflects glare.Money well spent as it should last long enough to even the price difference.Others will disagree but thats part of the fun.
oops-dry flies,sorry about that.lol

 

[pcray1231]

Makes sense for your salt applications. Sea water, and bottom, is incredibly abrasive, and the critters are toothy. Probably makes sense for streamer fishin too.

 

[buffalo7]

Is this a poll or a debate? Let me know who won when it's over.

 

[Yotrout]

I like turtles.

 

[jdaddy]

buffalo7 wrote:
Is this a poll or a debate? Let me know who won when it's over.

Supposed to be a poll but the function is not working unless you complete it on the right, in the main menu. Stay tuned and hopefully it will be fixed. Having said that, if you don't like the discussion then don't read it.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

The debate is pointless. Everyone has what they like or trust and that is the bottomline.

I like Mono on freestone streams and FC on limestone. Thats my preference. The poll asked to pick one for dry flies. So I choose Mono.

And I hate turtles

 

[Squaretail]

For me, flouro has been a fish saver many times with the steelhead. Then it sits until the next steelhead season for the most part.

 

[Acristickid]

Only time I dont use flouro is for dry fly fishing- and I even use it then sometimes.

 

[SamIAm]

"yes, I know fluoro is hydrophobic"

I never mentioned Hydrophobic.

(Meaning " water fearing". Hydrophobic compounds do not dissolve easily in water, and are usually non-polar. Oils and other long hydrocarbons are hydrophobic).

What good would FC it be as a leader or tippet if it wasn't? - mute point.... this is why I usually do not post on this site.
What's the point of stating the obvious?

If you'd used FC as I suggested for the conditions I suggested you would reralize it would sink not float on the surface thus taking advantage of it's R I .
Regarding natural drift; it comes from the moving with the current. a stick is stiff and it can drift naturally in a stream.

A presentation (cast) can create a senario for a natural drift with a stiff material also.

I was trying to encourage the readers to find solutions other than obvious ones for the sdake of growing theior knowlege and having more solutions in their fly fishing vocabulary of experiences.

Besides this is recreation and fun - there's more than one solution the catching is acedemic.

Have fun

 

[BPS]

Mute point. lol


Oh, and I pick mono. Just because.

 

[Stone_Fly]

I break off far fewer flies and lose far fewer fish because Flouro is more resistant to abbrasion and breaking.

 

[pcray1231]

I never mentioned Hydrophobic.

You mentioned the meniscus of mono vs. lack of meniscus in fluoro. Mono is hydrophilic and water will be attracted to it, hence the meniscus when sitting on water. A hydrophobic material should have no meniscus, and lower surface tension due to its ability to actually "repel' water in the surface film. Aside from density, this is one of the reasons it sinks.

If you'd used FC as I suggested for the conditions I suggested you would reralize it would sink not float.

Yep, but this creates more drag. For dries, you want the line to be grabbed by the water the least possible. How you do that is have it float high.

A presentation (cast) can create a senario for a natural drift with a stiff material also.

I'm not sayin its impossible to get a drag free float. I'm saying none of us are successful on every cast. Most of the time in dry fly fishing, our entire focus is on getting a drag free drift, that is priority #1, and its hard. The best dry fly fishermen get it right more than the worst, but noone gets it right every time. Seems counterintuitive to me to make it even harder.

Again, the fish aren't line shy, they are drag shy. If it weren't for drag, they'd take a 0x tippet just fine. Not only am I not convinced of its visibility advantages for surface work, I'm not convinced a visibility advantage would even lead to a fishing advantage.

I was trying to encourage the readers to find solutions other than obvious ones for the sdake of growing theior knowlege and having more solutions in their fly fishing vocabulary of experiences.

Agreed, just trying not to send them in the wrong direction. Too many times I see people claim you gotta use fluoro, and then they're going to 7x and 8x claiming you have to go that fine to avoid drag. But 6x mono often has less drag than 7x fluoro.

I don't dispute fluoro's advantages in abrasion resistance, knot strength, longevity, and "water cutting" ability. I'm on the fence regarding its invisibility advantages for underwater work. But I'm pretty certain mono (actually, copolymer, not straight mono) is better for dry flies when drag is an issue, which is most of the time.

 

[Troutking]

I don't have very much experience but if you are using a dry fly then it has to be mono in my opinion. Fluoro will sink.

 

[SamIAm]

I'm sorry you don't get it ....

 

[TUNA]

Fluorocarbon may sink, but that does not mean the flies will sink. I fish dry flies with fluoro 95% of the time and NEVER have problems. Like I said before, last weekend I fished a size 24 Parachute Midge, (Basically a Zebra Midge with a Parachute post), and I had no problems with the fly sinking at all. I even had a micro tippet ring attached to the end of my leader before 3 feet of tippet. I also fished a dropper with a size 8 splitshot and still my dry fly did not sink. So what fluoro sinks, if you are using well tied dry flies it should not be a problem. And yes I caught fish with said rig, at Spring Creek on Saturday April 9. I don't understand the debate, use what you have confidence in, end of story.