Best Fluorocarbon Fishing Line

Intro

Although when it was first introduced, its high-tech and advanced material limited fluorocarbon line to niche usefulness as a high-strength saltwater leader, it’s become one of the most popular types of fishing line on the market today. It’s renowned for a host of positive traits – low visibility in water, low price, high strength and waterproofing, and a low diameter, among others.

But what applications is fluorocarbon appropriate for? We’ll go over the positive and negative traits of fluorocarbon line, talk about its appropriate uses, and then give you some product recommendations.

Advantages

The first and foremost advantage of fluorocarbon line is that it’s extremely hard to see in water – its low diameter, transparent color, and the fact that it doesn’t distort light that passes through it means it’s unlikely to be noticed at all by fish, making it perfect when you need to avoid spooking a fish, or for use as a leader on heavier, more durable casting lines or fly lines.

In addition, it’s very sensitive when compared to some other monofilaments like nylon – the tightly packed molecules in the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) that most fluorocarbon lines are made of transmit energy and telegraph information more quickly and efficiently than some other comparable monofilaments, which allows for a tighter, faster response to bites, quicker hook setting, and better sensitivity in the water.

It’s also more durable and abrasion resistant than more inexpensive nylon monofilaments of comparable thickness. This allows it to be used in tougher waters and in places that are less friendly to less durable lines, like rocky shores or underneath piers and other places where you can expect to encounter obstacles.

It’s also totally waterproof – it won’t become sodden or absorb any water, maintaining its strength and durability when immersed for long periods of time. And fluorocarbon also has better hooking power than comparable monofilaments, because it has less flex and stretch, allowing a faster and more consistent hooking action upon strikes.

Finally, although fluorocarbon is usually about the same diameter as comparable strength monofilament, it’s hard-to-see, non-refracting qualities in the water allow you to select a thicker line, which will deliver more strength and still be near-invisible while sitting in the water.

Drawbacks and Limitations

Of course, fluorocarbon has its limitations. Firstly, it’s not as manageable as some other lines, as it has a high “line memory”, which ages it more quickly than other comparable monofilaments and braided lines, which have a relative low line memory. It’s also stiffer, which, combined with high line memory, can mean that it’s harder to work with and more likely to lead to snags and tangles – although modern rods and reels are more smooth and help to manage tough line more easily.

And although it’s stronger than nylon monofilaments, it’s less able to handle quick, heavy shocks – although it is very strong under load, heavy pressure can lead to line-snap, so when fishing for heavier quarry, you’ll need to fish with a looser drag – if you fish too tight, you risk the line snapping when a large fish makes impact, which can lead to loss of not only the fish, but your lure and rig as well.

Fluoro also sinks a lot faster than nylon mono and braided lines, so it’s not as good for topwater applications like jerk baiting, and it’s also not appropriate for suspending lures and rigs. However, this sinking action does make it very good for depth trolling, and for deep crankbait cast-and-retrieval methods, so it’s not necessarily a drawback – just a feature that make this line better for some applications than others.

In addition, it can be tough to get tight, consistent knots on fluorocarbon line – usually you’ll need to wet the knot before cinching it up tight, or else it may come undone once it hits the water. They’re best tied in palomar or trilene knots, which may be tougher for novice anglers to tie properly.

Application

Fluorocarbon is idea on rods and reels used to fish smaller game, especially in areas where you need low visibility with plenty of strength and hook setting power, along with decent stiffness and great sensitivity.

And while fluoro can be used on its own, its positive attributes are amplified when it’s used as leader or tippet material – you minimize the line memory problems caused by fishing exclusively with fluorocarbon lines, and you gain a low-profile, impossible to detect leader or tippet that is almost totally invisible to fish, so they won’t get spooked, and can focus on the naturally moving bait or lure that you’ve rigged up.

Overall, fluorocarbon line occupies a middle-ground between more tough and stiff lines such as braided options, and more inexpensive, less durable lines like standard nylon monofilaments.

It has plenty of great characteristics that distinguish it, and every angler should have some fluoro on hand – whether you’re rigging up a new fly rod or setting up a smaller rod and reel setup for freshwater fishing, its myriad of positive characteristics make it a great choice when you need a blend of power, durability, and invisibility.

Our Recommendations

Wrap-Up

There’s no such thing as “one perfect fishing line” – they’ve all got separate uses and applications, and fluorocarbon is no exception. Sought after for its invisibility, durability, and great sensitivity, it nonetheless falls short in some applications.

Despite this, its overall usefulness and quality, along with its ability to be used as a leader and tippet on other types of fishing lines, means that every angler should have a spool or two of high-quality fluoro somewhere in their tackle box, and our list of products above is a great place to start.

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