Is fluorocarbon better than monofilament?
Fluorocarbon (fluoro) leaders and tippet rose to prominence in the 1980s for their near invisibility and abrasion-resistant properties—a clear advantage in rougher waters or when trying to play to particularly wary fish. But is it better than good ol’ monofilament? In this blog, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both. If you have something to add to the debate, don’t forget to pitch in with your comments below!
The pros and cons of monofilament:
Let's start with the old standby: monofilament (mono). Mono is generally made of extruded nylon but can be blended with other materials to give it different properties, such as more stretch, flexibility, or abrasion resistance.
Monofilament has several distinct advantages over its newer fluorocarbon counterpart, including price (it’s typically about half the cost of fluoro) and good buoyancy—a great attribute to have when dry fly fishing. One of the biggest advantages of mono, however, is its ability to stretch. This gives mono better knot strength by allowing it to cinch down more tightly and absorb shock without snapping. The elasticity of mono also ensures that it can stretch without major deformation—that is, until a massive fish deforms it into two separate pieces and swims off with your fly… Even stretchy leaders have a breaking point.
The downside of mono is that it has a memory, making it difficult to straighten your leader to a perfect dry fly presentation. Pound for pound of tensile strength, mono is also larger in diameter than fluoro and has higher optical density, making it easier for line-shy fish to see your leader.
The pros and cons of fluorocarbon:
The “new guy” on the block is fluorocarbon. Fluoro leaders, first created by Seaguar in 1971, are made of polyvinylidene fluoride or polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF). These materials give fluoro some of its most famous properties, including a refractive index that is very close to that of water—meaning it’s virtually invisible underwater.
In comparison to monofilament, fluoro is more abrasion-resistant, sinks better (great for nymphing), and has almost no memory (meaning your leader or tippet won’t be landing on the water full of curlicues). Fluoro also has very little stretch, allowing for some solid hook sets.
Unfortunately, that lack of stretch also proves to be the downfall of fluoro-rigs. Putting significant strain on fluoro can lead to deformation, creating a weak point in your leader or tippet. When you tie a knot with fluorocarbon, for instance, the act of cinching it down can introduce deformation to the line, making it more likely that your rig will snap at the knot. We find that a Davy Knot (rather than a clinch knot) works best when tying a small fly onto light fluorocarbon tippet if you want to keep deformation at a minimum.
The winner? Try the mono to fluoro system:
We use the mono to fluoro system. This might feel like a bit of a copout if you were looking for a clear winner, but both materials have qualities we can take advantage of. The end result, in our opinion, is often more effective than either on their own.
We start with a tapered mono leader—they’re cheap, long-lasting, and (most importantly) they stretch. Next, we attach a tippet ring or a micro swivel to the end of the leader and follow that with a piece of nearly-invisible fluoro tippet.
Why? Whether you’re nymphing or fishing dries, tippet with lower optical density is going to place you at an advantage. But tippet that snaps under the shock of a hard take is only so useful, and that’s where the monofilament leader comes into play. Instead of snapping your tippet, the energy of a hard take is dispersed across your rig, allowing the far more absorbent mono to take the brunt of the shock. It’s a game changer—we promise.
That said, keep in mind that lifting a fish out of the net by the tippet removes any stretch advantage offered by your mono leader—it’s very likely that the shock of the fish wriggling will break the fluoro tippet at the knot.
The case for micro swivels (& tippet rings):
We can already hear some concerns regarding the micro swivel: won’t that be a problem for dry fly fishing? The short answer is no—if you get the right micro swivels or tippet rings. Small, strong tippet rings and micro swivels, like those available through Montana Casting Co., allow your dry fly rig to take advantage of the mono to fluoro system without worrying about breaking surface tension and sinking during your drift. You may think we’re making a shameless plug for our own product here—we are—but we’re also quite serious about the advantages offered by these tiny fly fishing accessories.
Conclusion
If you’ve never tried using the mono to fluoro system, we think you’ll be surprised by what you can get away with when fighting a fish using this rig. It’s strong, even with a light tippet and it doesn’t sacrifice the advantages gained by throwing fluorocarbon onto the end of your line.
If your fly vest is running low on supplies, high-quality monofilament leaders, fluorocarbon tippet, tippet rings, and micro swivels are all available on the Montana Casting Co. store. Get out there and fish hard! (You can thank us later for the tip.)
Agree? Disagree? Share your approach to picking your leader and tippet in the comments below!
3 comments
Great info. Was always curious about these but haven’t given them a try yet. Will need to check them out!
Hi Tony,
Those are great questions! I’ve never noticed that the tippet-ring or micro-swivel acted as a hinge; I never thought about it until you asked the question. It constantly rolls the fly over nicely. Cinch your knots tightly to the tippet ring or the micro-swivel, which will address any potential hinging issues. We use both whenever we’re fishing monofilament to fluorocarbon. I haven’t noticed Fish spooking from either product; generally, they are a couple of feet from the fly, anyway.
The picture of the micros-swivel is a little deceiving in the blog. It would have been better if the photo had been taken next to a penny so that you could see how small they are. That picture is zoomed in and makes it look like a standard size swivel, but these are only about an 1/8 of an inch, they’re very small and lightweight hence the name micro-swivel.
Give some of them a try, you’ll be shocked how well they work!
Great write-up. I learned a few things. Do you think either of the two tools, the tippet ring or the micro swivel, acts as a “hinge” and therefore causes a less-than-straight-line cast? At what point (size of stream or “spookiness” of the fish) do you think you’d not want to use a tippet ring or micro swivel?