I don't think it can hurt, but I've seen the same thing as you. Stick a piece of flouro and mono in the water side by side and there isn't much of a noticeable difference. I use flouro for pompano, inshore rigs, and leaders for any kind of plugs from jigs to stingsilvers. I buy 20, 25, and 30 lb flouro and it covers everything I need it for. I use 30 lb mono for Spanish tree rigs due to the price of flouro, and 50 to 100 lb mono for bigger rigs as I don't think it matters.

 

if your fishing gin clear water for say big pomps flouro will catch you some more fish ... fishing in the wash for mullets with sand churned up probably doesn't matter

 

Don't get to fish for pompano very often in the summer,usually on the boat.. Although,after hearing from and seeing the results of many excellent fishermen down here when water is gin,have to say if I did get to fish for them it would be with flouro....

 

Mono over here,

We keep our flouro for the trout.

 

All I can say if its so much more invisible why don't my eyes show it? Surely a human has better eyes than a fish. I'm sure I opened another can of worms by sayin that. Lol! There a lots of people on here with much more expeirence than me i'm just trying to form an educated opinion!

 

Kinda hard to see (with human eyes) what a fish does or doesn't see.. Only way you can really tell is to pit mono vs flouro in conditions that catch or don't catch.. From what I'm seeing from my buds down here that have a chance to see the difference,they lean to flouro.. Sightcasting,and bottomfishing for big fish,ain't seen any difference except in price,and abrassion resistence...

 

On our charterboat we just use it for leaders when livelinning or trolling for Spanish.

 

IMHO the debate depends on the fish you are targeting. I was turned from the "theres no difference" crowd in 2003 while dragging bucktails in the Delaware bay on the rips. Story is as follows: I swapped a roofing job for a very well known up and coming charter captain for a couple guided trips. My crew was green on fishing and used the captains rigs. He had 20lb floro tied about 3' on braid. I had my own rod with 20lb mono. Everything else was identical, Bucktail, technique, tongue position, etc. After I watched the 9th fish come over the rail and I had not a bite, I gave in. First drift with floro hooked up. I saw first hand the difference and advantage of floro.

Now that being said, I do not use floro leader for drum, I do not use floro leader for sharks, and do not use floro leader for deep bottom fishing. All my double surf rigs for bait/smaller fish get 20 lb floro and will out catch over a mono leader every day of the week. Sting silver rod gets floro. Live bait rod gets floro. Kayak rods with jigs, mirro's, cork floats, topwater, etc. all get floro. One more advantage of floro over mono is the abrasion resistance. When the toads are chewing you can get a few of em on the same rig even after them nasty teeth chew em all to hell.

Your going to hear form the guys who sware no difference or the cost isnt worth it....whatever. I am not here to tell you how to do it. I just want to share what has actually happened in my limited fishing experiences. YMMV.

Some quick math based on your numbers above.

25yrd-75'-$14

75/14=18.6 cents a foot

Average leader length is 3'
3X$.186=.558

OK so each leader costs you $0.56. If that is breaking your bank fishing you might want to consider a new hobby. Including lead, two hooks, leader, swivel, and snap your at maybe ~$1.50 each rig.
My drum rigs run me ~$10. each once said and done. It is much more painful to watch one of those go flying into Davie Jones locker then a pomp/bait rig. Just saying.

 

I have spent plenty of days on the beach catching fish when everybody within sight was catching nothing - finally somebody will walk over and ask me why and I'll tell em Fluorocarbon line along with my faverite hook. Some will shrug their shoulders, grin and go back fishing - but I've had many that take in everything I say and head to the nearest tackle shop and buy Flouro and hooks, come back and start catching right away - of course, I show em how to tie my rig too. Most of the time they come back later, Thank me and some have seen me the next year and told me how it has greatly improved their fishing. There is no doubt in my feeble mind that Flourocarbon will outfish Mono 75% plus of the time. It's hard for me to figure out when the other 25% or less of the time is, so I use Flouro all the time - River

 

None of the above......#100 braid and Pinecones over here.....

 

LMAO!! Here we go....

 

Tying rigs with braid is definitely the way to go.

 

Don't use floro leader material use regular floro fishing line. Less expensive and not as stiff.

 

me too

 

Only problem with that is it is hard to find flouro line over 20lb test.

 

What pound ya lookin for I have it at the shop over 200#'s...... JAM

 

fluoro, seagar, definetly when fishing around structure, it has saved me a lot of money in lures. Definetly not the berkley fluoro for main line, it is thick and stiff

 

But yes speckhunter I think its the same stuff. I emailed Seaguar a while back and asked them what the difference was between flouro line and leader material and I never got an answer.

 

I think Fluoro might sink a little better which is a good thing when targeting bottom feeders (which is what I target) but as far as catching with Fluoro when nobody else is having luck with mono is a bunch of BS in my humble opinion. I have had days when I was the only one up and down the beach catching fish but it sure as heck wasn't because of the material my rigs were tied with.......a few short years ago I fished beside an elderly black couple who tore the black drum and huge sea mullet up with walmart rigs, walmart fishing line, walmart fishing poles and reels and red wiggler fishing worms they dug up in their garden! I wasn't catching a thing because I was just a few yards too far out which is saying something because I fish CLOSE. They were right at your feet.

The hook at the end of whatever you tie your rig with is MADE OUT OF METAL. The fish don't seem to care if something yummy is attached to it. Tactics, Tactics, Tactics......learn to find fish and ambush them and you will save yourself a LOT OF MONEY!

 

......same here as far as tearing em up and my "competetion" not getting a sniff...the DIFFERENCE was I WAS IN "THE SPOT"...U know the spot I spent hours at low tide scouting out.....

 

DitS you and I think alike. Let me know some Saturday when you fish Fort Macon or anywhere on Emerald Isle sometime this summer if you ever need someone to fish with. I'd like to learn some of your tactics! :fishing:

 

DrumintheSuds - I could care less whether you believe me are not ---- with all due respect - but I do have the advantage of fishing everyday - working in a tackle shop ( I know what the good fisherman, Charter and Inshore fishing Boats buy) and I do a lot of testing. I'm not bragging, I'm just thankful and very fortunate to be able to do this --- Pure Flourocarbon works, the mixed or coated Flouro/Mono doesn't --- Let me know the next time you head to Fort Macon, I'm not so broke buying Fluorocarbon that I can't get there, I've fished all over that area before and we can compare fishing techniques. I'm not to proud, I'm still willin to learn ---- River

 

It isn't a matter of not believing you but I think you sometimes give a little too much credit to rigs and the material they are made from when it more than likely comes down to the fact that over the years you have learned a thing or two about finding them......People caught fish before Flourocarbon and if it went away I don't think you would stop catching fish.....It's as simple as that IMO

 

I must say until last year I was of the opinion that my mono rigs caught just as good as flouro rigs. While on vacation I did the test and have to say the flouro did work better for Pomps on Avalon. I caught Pomps when no one else was side by side using the same bait and I mean they were using fleas out of my bucket..Only difference was I was using my flouro rigs and they were using the off the shelf Sea Striker rigs.

 

Im surprised by that, I'm not convinced yet, maybe I'll make up some flour rigs.....were you using the same floats and beads, the same colors?
Sometimes just a short move on the beach makes the difference....How many times have you seen that....

 

naked and beaded...

 

I don't think the debate is "catching" or "numbers". It's more about "catching quality in numbers" with these rigs. River you can please correct me if I missed on this.

 

+1 for fluoro. I have been using fluoro for a few years now building rigs and using it for leaders. Last fall in one of the tourneys our area to fish was a 30 to 40 ft trough running almost the total length of our area to fish in. Water was crystal. After about 30 min of fishing with no one getting a bite, I started fishing the whole area. I was between 2 people, 12ft apart, and picked up my 1st fish. Within 20 min, I had 4 more on board, then nothing. Again checking the whole area and no fish, was back between my 2 partners, again I bought in another 4 fish, on the board. The team went off and started tying rigs like mine but the catching rate was 4 to 1, fluoro to mono. (the judge told us there were no points scored the day before here) Then the wildest thing happened, my rod doubled over and game on. A yearling drum had sucked the bait down, then spit it out 10 sec into the fight, or I should say came unbuttoned since I was using #2 circles. Made me a believer..........

 

AbuMike - You nailed it, Thanks - River

 

I don't think just because you have caught more fish with floro than the guy next to you means anything. I have fished countless times next to someone using the exact rig line and bait and I'm catching and their not and I have seen it the other way although not often lol.
I have done multiple tests from trolling , live lineing , casting lures to bottom fishing and have yet to see a definitive difference

9

 

I know exactly what you mean. Especially fishing the beach, if your not throwing into the hole, your not getting bit... Period. How many times drum fishing does one guy get bit over and over and everypones close together spiking? Or fishing for spanish or trout when one guy figures out the retrieve just right.....

But having said that, if its refractive properties make it that much less visible I could see how flouro could possibly offer up an advantage in certain gin conditions or with pressured fish. That being said, I never understood how if fish were that weary, they would bite something with hooks, terminal gear, eyes, etc. Far from me to knock it as bs though, I know the lengths I go to to, to try and have some advantage over the next guy, and if flouro does it physically or mentally any confidence helps.

 

well this is beating a dead horse so........fish on, i'm going muckin.....

 

One more thing before I shut up, as Jam stated, we have Flouro up to 200 Lb Test where I work, the reason we have it is because we sell it, you'd be surprised by how many Boat Captains or their Mates sneak in the shop and buy that big Flouro when nobodys lookin and those Boats bring in fish repetitively, they don't spent 50 plus dollars a 25 yd. roll for nothin. Also lots of older Commercial fisherman hang out around us and not to long ago, early one morning after the boats had left, I asked one of the local Comm legends a Question - It started out like this: Big Sam, If you had nets made of ----- at this point he held his hand up and stopped me ----- then he said "If you're gonna ask me if nets were made of Flourocarbon would we catch more fish - I'd tell you we'd catch many many times over what we catch with Mono" he went on to tell me the difference between catchin with new nets vs old nets and how they'd take their nets home and clean em in Trash cans with dishwashing detergent to try to make em shiny clean again where the fish couldn't see em as good. Point is, fish can see and Flouro catches the bigger smarter fish, just like Deer get smarter with age/size, so do fish, again JMHO - plain to see that I'm a firm believer - I'm outta here too, River

 

Whatever works for you stick with it. The fish I target don't seem to be too smart in my favored fishing holes and haven't been for atleast the 2 generations of my dad and myself so as long as I am able to catch a nice helping of good quality fish to put in the freezer I'm gonna stick with what works for me.......I caught fish last year with my rigs, river rigs, mono tied, fluoro tied, beads and no beads. Caught em on fleas, shrimp, blue crab, mullet and fishbites on ingoing and outgoing tides.

The ONE THING that remained consistant was that I somehow managed to find the fish each and everytime whether they bit smart or were stubborn as hell......