Bulk flouro. Like it? Which one?

[Heron]

The leader thread got me thinking. Some time ago I switched to flourocarbon for my subsurface fishing especially with ridiculously long lake fishing leaders. It's expensive in the little spools so I switched to bulk stuff meant for spin casting. I started with Berkley's Vanish and had great success. I got talked into P-line and I am not sure I like it as much. Opinions?

[brown trout]

I use Vanish myself. It's strong, reasonably clear (though not as much so as the brands that cost 3 or 4x as much). The good news, most of our lakes in AB are less than crystal clear, so the quality of Vanish is fine. I use 6lb, and have easily landed fish up to 10lbs, and a lot in the 3-7lb range, with no obvious breakage issues. I use it 95% of the time for my subsurface lake fishing, or as long as the fly isn't too small.

The 6lb has the same diameter (about) as a 2x. I'm convinced the actual breaking strain is substantially higher than 6lb. Remember that fly tippet is measured in diameter, while gear line is by poundage of TESTED breaking strain. Just 'cause is held 6lb of weight means they can label it as 6lb, while tippet is labelled at the breaking point.

I'm going to try 8lb Vanish this season, just for the heck of it, but am not sure how it will affect the fishability of the line as it's a bit thicker.

Nick Sliwkanich

[Don Andersen]

Heron,

I use Vanish as a leader extension or as a transition between mono and tippet.
A typical leader maybe be 20' long with mono about 12', 5' of Vanish & 3' of floro tippet.
Need it longer, just add a piece of Vanish.

Don

[King Salmon]

I agree with everyone else...Vanish is what I use. Lakes and rivers, anything sub-surface!

[Heron]

Thanks for the replies guys. Don, I like your formula for a nice long lake leader. I have been using similar without the 3ft flouro tippet. I am not happy with my catch rates so I might go back to using high quality tippet for the last few feet. Ya, that will fix it for me! That and the 25 other things to think about.

You Slickonich boys catch a lot of fish. Thanks for your input.

[goldscud]

I use the Berkley Transition, the gold stuff. I've been satisfied with it. Tend to use 10 lb test for my lake fishing. Works fine for #14 chironomids and everything bigger.
10-15 ft of 15lb Maxima and then tie on some 10lb fluorocarbon...fly ...done (unless you add another fly).
Just make sure you don't have any fluorocarbon between your bobber and the end of your fly line. It sinks and makes setting the hook harder.

[DuckBrat]

A tip from the competition scene.

The vanish tangles way to often and the Maxima is stiff as wire.


My Friend Trav turned me on to P-line Halo #4 or #6 in the rivers.

#8 or #10 in lakes. Use the ten in the wind and the eight for wary fish.

This line is Supple to allow for fluid movement of your flies.

I use the same line on 100% of the leader, I haven't broken a fish off in two years.

Seaguar Flouro is also high quality stuff and used by some of Canada's best anglers.

Good luck.

[Bhflyfisher]

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

A tip from the competition scene.

The vanish tangles way to often and the Maxima is stiff as wire.


My Friend Trav turned me on to P-line Halo #4 or #6 in the rivers.

#8 or #10 in lakes. Use the ten in the wind and the eight for wary fish.

This line is Supple to allow for fluid movement of your flies.

I use the same line on 100% of the leader, I haven't broken a fish off in two years.

Seaguar Flouro is also high quality stuff and used by some of Canada's best anglers.

Good luck.

Does Pline make the halo in clear? I've got in it green, in 10lb test. I use that for trout streamer fishing, but am thinking of picking up a spool of 8lb for chironomid leaders, then of course fluorocarbon tippet for the last foot or 2.

[AdamJ]

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

A tip from the competition scene.

The vanish tangles way to often and the Maxima is stiff as wire.


My Friend Trav turned me on to P-line Halo #4 or #6 in the rivers.

#8 or #10 in lakes. Use the ten in the wind and the eight for wary fish.

This line is Supple to allow for fluid movement of your flies.

I use the same line on 100% of the leader, I haven't broken a fish off in two years.

Seaguar Flouro is also high quality stuff and used by some of Canada's best anglers.

Good luck.

That's interesting.

Supple to me would suggest that it has low memory, thus reducing tangles etc. However, anything I've ever heard about Halo is memory, more memory and insufficient knot strength. Perhaps I should give it another go one day,

I will agree with Seaguar being great leader material.

I tend to use Vanish as it is available everywhere. I have no complaints with Vanish.

[DuckBrat]

Originally Posted by Bhflyfisher

, then of course fluorocarbon tippet for the last foot or 2.

Save time you don't need the tippet unless your fishnig smaller than size 16. Even then I have successfully fished size 18 chironomids on the #8 Flouro. You can keep the same line throughout the leader.

No issues with the green Pline.

[cranky]

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

Save time you don't need the tippet unless your fishnig smaller than size 16. Even then I have successfully fished size 18 chironomids on the #8 Flouro. You can keep the same line throughout the leader.

No issues with the green Pline.

DuckBrat
So to understand you correctly. The above advice is for all subsurface fly fishing? Stream and lake.
So tippet is only needed for dry fishing?
Im pretty new at this so just asking. Dont want to carry a ton of stuff i dont need.

[Don Andersen]

DuckBrat,

I've found when fishing in clear water or to educated fish , tippets of 0.007 or even occasionally 0.006" are helpful in increasing hook-ups. This applied to subsurface & stillwaters only. For spring creeks and the like, I generally use mono w/o problems.
The main difference between a tournament presentation and static or semi-static fishing is that tournament flies are generally "worked" constantly thereby giving the fish a shorter inspection time allowing the use of larger and/or heavier tippets.

Cranky,

If you are trolling or retrieving your presentations, it all probably matters little whether or not you are using floro or mono. I've fished Armstrong Spring creek, O'Hare's spring creek + other un-named spring creeks where the fish are C&R all their lives and have used 0.006" mono successfully. Buy yourself a spool of 3,4 & 5X decent mono and you'll be fine.

catch ya'


Don

[DuckBrat]

Originally Posted by cranky

DuckBrat
So to understand you correctly. The above advice is for all subsurface fly fishing? Stream and lake.
So tippet is only needed for dry fishing?
Im pretty new at this so just asking. Dont want to carry a ton of stuff i dont need.

Flouro - It's all I use for lake and river nymph/streamer fishing. One size of line for the entire leader. Save time and frustration.

Strangely enough i've even used Straight Flouro on dries. Not a standard approach but here's the logic. Flouro sinks and if you are accurate with your cast and don't need a long drift time on your fly, Flouro can be helpful. If the Flouro breaks the surface, the line attached to your dry becomes invisible once it breaks the plane of the surface. Your dry presentation becomes perfect.

If using mono I suggest a german product called Stroft. This stuff is thin, supple, and indestructible. When using any mono tippet for Dry fly presentation remember to apply mud to your leader 6-8 inches above your fly. It will take the sheen of the line attached to your dry. The difference is amazing the number of refusals goes way down.

[BPman]

After trying a bunch of different brands - several of which are mentioned above, I have settled on Bass Pro "Extreme Flourocarbon" saltwater leader material. I think it is intended primarily for SW bait fishing but is sufficiently stiff, abrasion resistant and takes knots well. Available from 8 lb up to about 100 lb so I make my whole tapered leader from the stuff and also use it for dries. 25 yd spools are reasonable and available here in Alberta - best value for my $$ IMHO. 3 feet of 30 lb works well as leader on my smelt/tip-up rigs for pike too. At Bass Pro it is not in the fly shop but with the regular line in the main fishing tackle area.

[Dust1n]

iv been using Pline for a very long time and the stuff just seems to last forever.
I got PLine flouroclear and its perfect, I used it alot of times when I ran out of tippet material. Bought mine the month BPS opened up.
I use it on all my reels for ice fishing aswell.