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  1. #1
    Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    Question Fluorocarbon vs Braid and Why?

    Hello all, after reading the fluorocarbon thread I realize I know very little about it, other than I used to use it as a leader when I was snook/trout/redfish fishing.

    In Florida I don’t fish many gin clear lakes and grew up on Trilene XT, always used green.

    Of the 9 rods I usually have with me 6 have Suffix green 832 in 30lb..flipping stick is 65; one (topwater) 12-14 Trilene XT; and one (Texas rigged worm) 14-17 Trilene XT. So here is my question...

    Would I gain any advantage to rigging up a particular pole with fluorocarbon?

    I picked up a 200 yard spool of Pline Tactical in 12lb simply because I want to try it out.

    I don't use leaders, haven’t seen a reason to. I haven’t seen my hit ratio go down on my spinnerbait, crankbait, frogs, topwater, jerkbait, jig, chatterbait, flipping, soft plastics, etc when I went to the 30lb Suffix 832 but I still use the XT on my main T rigged worm pole out of habit and on topwater so I get the stretch of mono.

    I fish in the typical Florida lakes...lots of shoreline cover, hydrilla and other grasses off the shore, pad fields, docks, etc.

    I have and will keep reading articles on fluorocarbon, but I’d like the people that I respect their opinions (you guys) to give me a situation that flouro would be better than mono or braid so I can spool this up and give it a try!

    Thanks everyone, Chris
    2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV

  2. Member Walkabout7781's Avatar
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    #2
    Braid floats, Fluorocarbon sinks. Monofilament/Copolymer floats, but not as much as Braid. Braid doesn't stretch very much, compared to the other two. Braid is very "draggy", meaning wind and current makes it deflect from a straight line between rod tip and lure. I have not found that braid is good for skipping, and proved it to myself by changing from 20 lb Slick8 PP braid to 10 lb Pradco Excalibur copolymer. It seems to be the case for me, at least. I use 15 lb braid/FC or Copolymer leader for DS and straight 40 lb braid for spinnerbaits. I may change from 10 lb FC to 12 lb copolymer for Shakyheads (on Chronarchs). I don't think fish are as "line shy" as the manufacturers would like us to believe. Follow the money!

  3. Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    #3
    Oh I believe that part! This line was $23 for 200 yards....I know my braid is expensive but it lasts a year. The invisibility factor is the “big deal” from everything I’ve read and what you’re saying....so I’ll put it on my BPS platinum series 7’2”MH(love this combo) that I use for most of my Texas rigged soft plastics.

    The thing that concerns me is when I read quotes from the “pros” that they change their braid whenever they get a backlash...Why?

    If this line has superior knot strength and abrasion resistance why is it treated so brittle...cause if I’m not picking out a backlash at least a few times a day....well somethings wrong!
    2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV

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    #4
    I am not a pro or an expert by any means but I have used Trilene XT for years and for the last few months I have switched over to Sunline Sniper flourocarbon. I think the XT is still fine for topwater but for bottom contact baits the flourocarbon just feels more sensitive to me.

  5. Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    #5
    Thanks guys, I did put the P Line Tactical 12lb on my Texas rig rod and went to one of my golf course ponds to try it out. Baby brush hog, 1/8 tungsten sinker w/ a bobberstop. It casted much better than I anticipated! I don’t usually go above 1/8 in tungsten for casting to targets when I’m worm fishing and this line casted really well.

    Somehow, in a small pond I’ve fished a hundred times I got stuck on something. I tried every method I knew to dislodge the bait so I had to snap it off, problem is that I couldn’t! This line def doesn’t stretch as much as mono! Even with me palming the spool I couldn’t break 12lb line, I was shocked. After I grabbed a rag to stop the bleeding from both thumbs I stuffed the rag and thumbs in the spool and the line finally broke at the third eye on my pole!

    Ive lost plenty of fish to crappy knots but this line holds a Palomar knot very well! Where it broke it looked splintered too...not like mono at all. So I lost 15 yards of line...I found the broken line and tried to get it out but the best I could do was cut it as far as I could reach...that made me angry, hate doing that.

    Anyway, I could feel the bottom much better than mono and could feel the bluegills hitting the tails on the baby brush hog.

    Im gonna give this a try for a while, might spool up a rod for jerkbaits too, seems like a good choice for it.

    Thanks again, Chris
    2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV

  6. Member Bill Reynolds's Avatar
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    #6
    I use aqua green braid/copolymer on spinning reels and drop shot (I use baitcast setup for drop shot). The braid is to stop the line twist and wind loops inherent to spinning tackle and the aqua color is so I can see the line while the clear copolymer is so the fish can’t. Most of this is finesse worms and shakey head. I also use this combination on baitcast Texas rigged worms.
    For Jigs and tubes, I use Suffix Camo tied directly to the lure.
    For Carolina rigs, I use green braid tied to the rig and use XL as a leader. I broke a lot of leaders when using floro. There has to be some give in the system to absorb the hook set.
    For top water I use 10 lb green braid with a short mono leader. Here, I want small dia line for casting distance and one that floats because I use a Zara Puppy a lot and can’t have the line taking away from the rod imparted action to the lure. The short leader is to keep the limp line from wrapping around the front hook on the cast. 90% of my top water fishing is on breaking fish and my rigging is tuned for that.
    One of my local lakes has a lot of large strippers and hybrids where spoons are a primary lure. I like braid for this because you can snap the lure loose if you hang up.
    I tried Floro years ago and hated the line memory, but I am considering going back to it for Texas rigged worms. I do notice the “Draggy” tendency of braid and consider this a draw back when fishing deeper cover.
    Forgot to mention that I use XL for spinner bait and crankbaits. Sometimes you need some stretch.
    Last edited by Bill Reynolds; 09-12-2018 at 09:00 AM.

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    #7
    I use line conditioner on floro. It helps tremendously with casting and coiling.
    Please release me,let me go.

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    #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Casslaw View Post
    O This line was $23 for 200 yards....I know my braid is expensive but it lasts a year. ....
    I've got braid going back to flat Battle Line (late 80'S) and it's still good.

  9. Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    #9
    Thanks everyone, Bill you’re on another level with how you have each righ so dialed in. I use 30lb 832 on most of my rods and I’m still getting used to the flourocarbon on my T-rigged pole. I can definitely tell there’s more stretch than I’m used to.

    Last Sunday I only got one hit on my flouro pole but it happened to be the largest bluegill I’ve ever caught! It was over 13 inches and 1.7 pounds...the pic doesn’t do this crazy little bugger justice! She ate an 8” worm...I usually catch them on cranks, maybe a trailer hook on a spinnerbait but this old girl was big enough to take the big hook!
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  10. ARW Fishing fluke1987's Avatar
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    #10
    After looking at a list of my set ups that I will be using into 2019...11 out of the 17 of them have straight fluorocarbon. Fluoro can be a temperamental line...it can frey, kink and do random things, but I love it. Try fishing a jig or a texas rig with fluoro vs. braid...night and day difference. All of my crankbait rods get fluoro, spinnerbaits, swimjigs, chatterbaits, jerkbaits, lipless cranks, t-rigs and jigs.

  11. Better Lucky Than Good! Casslaw's Avatar
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    #11
    I put together a dedicated squarebill rod a couple days ago because I was throwing my small cranks on a very generic setup. I ended up using 12lb flouro and with the right reel and rod it casts as far as my old braid set up did, but I now have that “give” needed to bury those small treble hooks and it feels perfect.

    Again this board teaches me I don’t know s*** on a regular basis!
    2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV