News from Sportsman's Elite

I get a lot of questions about which leader or tippet material to use, mono or fluorocarbon?

I, in turn, ask them "What kind of fishing are you going to be doing? " Monofilament and fluorocarbon both have their places in the fly fishing world and each one has an application it is best for.

Mono is good for dry fly fishing because it is the least dense material use in leaders and tippet. This will help the dry fly stay in the surface film unlike fluorocarbon which is denser and will break through the surface film. This will cause the dry fly to be pulled down underneath the surface, even when treated with floatant. This property of fluorocarbon is bad for dry fly fishing but is great for nymph or subsurface fishing because it helps the fly get down to where the fish are.

Mono also has more stretch or elasticity than fluorocarbon which helps with hard strikes or when fishing in cold weather. Fluorocarbon actually will become brittle when the temperatures dip below freezing because it loses any elasticity it has. When winter fishing, mono is a better choice to absorb and hold on to fish.

Fluorocarbon also has properties that help make it a better choice in some fishing conditions. When the water is crystal clear, there is no surface action and you are force to go subsurface, fluorocarbon is the best choice. Fluorocarbon has little to no reflective properties which makes virtually invisible underwater. Mono on the other hand will reflect sunlight even underwater, in very clear water it reflects and the fish will see the shine. This causes the trout to become weary and avoid your flies.

The other property that may make fluorocarbon a better choice over mono is that at the same diameter, fluorocarbon tends to be stronger and more abrasive resistant when the temperatures are warmer (especially in topic temperatures). Take Rio's Fluoro Flex Plus (fluorocarbon) and Power Flex (mono), at a 4x diameter; the fluorocarbon has a 7 lb test rating while the mono has a 6.4 lb test rating. This means the fluorocarbon can withstand more than half a pound more pressure than the mono. It can give you a little more leverage and can make the difference between a fish in the net/boat and a fish of a lifetime breaking away.

I hope this bit of information helps with your decision when faced with the choice of the type of tippet or leader to use for your fish situation. For more information on this subject or for an updated fishing report, call me at:

Sportsman's Elite 915-587-4867 or email tim@sportsmanselite.com.