Fluorocarbon leaders tied to Fireline

[openorice]

I use Fireline on most of my reels, and I was wondering what is the advantage of using a fluorocarbon leader, as I often hear them doing on the fishing shows?

[Dark Cloud]

I fish fireline almost all the time, and will tie direct quite a bit. But most of the time I add a small #12 or 14 black swivel then a 18-20 inch piece of flourcarbon.

It's hard to say if it matters to the fish but your confidence is key also. A few places I fish, the water is real clear and I feel better about the leader...

Alot will depend on the type of fishing your doing. I dont fish livebait rigs much but I'd go with a leader for that. I do fish alot of jigs and do use a piece of flourcarbon when fishing them. When im casting cranks or aggresive tactics, I dont bother...

[BobT]

Why do you use the flourocarbon for jigging? I've heard some negative comments regarding flourocarbon lines such as they are brittle, break easily, and have a tendency to retain spool memory, which can be a problem with spinning equipment.

[eglleftcoast]

The big advantage of using a flurocarbon leader (my opinion mind you) is better knot tying capabilities directly to your lure. It also acts as a little shock absorber when you encounter an aggressive fish....

[whitebassman]

Also, fluorocarbon leader will help render the line near the lure just about invisible. I agree with darkcloud, when finesse fishing such as jigs, a leader is perhaps more important vs. when fishing with rapalas, etc. I use a fluorocarbon leader all the time with my fireline crystal. I feel it helps. Just gotta watch that uni-uni knot, as that can slip when the moment counts. I'm considering using a small swivel to alleviate that problem. Also, the swivel should allow line twist, when using inline spinners for example.

[BobT]

Flourocarbon stretches then unlike super lines like Fireline. I use Fireline but have been tying directly to my jigs using a Polymer knot and so far that works great plus it is easy and quick to tie. Crystal is advertised to be nearly invisible under water but I have found that I get more strikes using smoke colored Fireline. A friend of mine was fishing on Leech last week and found himself falling rapidly behind on the catch ratio compared to everyone else he was with. I don't recall which line he was using but it was one of the super lines. The rest of the guys were using monofilament line so he made a short mono leader and then started to catch fish as well. The super line he was using was red and the mono he added was clear. We don't know if it was the color or the change in jig action caused by the mono. He did say that with only a couple foot leader he didn't notice any difference in sensitivity.

At any rate, I'm considering trying something similar.

[BobT]

Flourocarbon stretches then unlike super lines like Fireline? I use Fireline but have been tying directly to my jigs using a Polymer knot and so far that works great plus it is easy and quick to tie. Took me a while to get used to not ripping the hook too hard on the set but I like the feel I get from the low stretch line.

Crystal is advertised to be nearly invisible under water but I have found that I get more strikes using smoke colored Fireline. Don't quite understand why though. A friend of mine was fishing on Leech last week and found himself falling rapidly behind on the catch ratio compared to everyone else he was with. I don't recall which line he was using but it was one of the super lines. The rest of the guys were using monofilament line so he made a short mono leader and then started to catch fish as well. The super line he was using was red and the mono he added was clear. We don't know if it was the color or the change in jig action caused by the mono. He did say that with only a couple foot leader he didn't notice any difference in sensitivity.

I'm considering trying something similar by tying on a leader to my Fireline.

[Walleye Guy]

When jigging with Fireline with a flouro leader it is easier to break off a jig that becomes snagged in the rocks. Fireline can be tough to get out of snags. Flouro also provides an invisibility that superlines cannot provide. Especially in clear water.

[PerchJerker]

I use flouro leaders more and more on my superlines.

I tie on 4-6 feet of flouro with back-to-back uni-knots, leave it on until it gets down to about 2 feet, then replace it with a new 4-6 foot leader. A properly tied back-to-back uni-knot will not slip, and will cast well.

I use this set-up a lot for jigging, dropshotting, casting cranks and rattle baits, etc --- any situation where I think LINE VISIBILITY might prevent some bites. IMO there's no reason to do it other than LINE VISIBILITY. If I'm fishing stained water I usually skip the flouro leader, and for most trolling situations I skip the flouro leader.

Since we're talking about flouro leaders, I'll also add that I almost never use flouro for my rigs or leaders when live bait rigging. Flouro sinks and that is usually not a desirable trait for a live bait rig. I use a copolymer line for my live bait rigs.

And ...... for those of you who believe that Fireline Crystal almost disappears under water ---- try looking at it with an underwater camera sometime ---- I think it looks a lot like anchor rope

[My_Key]

And ...... for those of you who believe that Fireline Crystal almost disappears under water ---- try looking at it with an underwater camera sometime ---- I think it looks a lot like anchor rope

I found this out last winter. Couldn't figure out why I would catch all my eye's on the same pole(with mono) until I got the camera. Tied on a mono leader that day and started to catch them with both poles.

[solbes]

I use crystal Fireline 10/4 and tie Berkley 100% Fluoro 15 lb to all of my rods. Leaders are 10 feet for trolling rods, and 2-3 feet for all of the others. If I use the rod to cast, I don't like to cast the uni-uni knot through the rod guides, thus the shorter lengths.

Also I do feel it helps since I ran opposite setups last year (leader vs 100% fireline) and saw a difference in catches. This in a lake with 14 feet clarity.