Fluorocarbon leaders

[jimmy]

Obviously like all of you guys (I hope) I’m 100% against the use of them but Ive been fishing a water that is absolutely Cristal clear with very little success , get plenty follows but no hits Anyway was talking to one of the other members who I no has done pretty well , on looking at his set up I noticed fc leaders which he said made all the difference now again I’m dead against this and regardless of his catches I’d rather carry on with my set up , basically what I’m looking for is suggestions guys I currently use Chico’s and Andy lush titaniums , any of yous fishing similar environment and what are you using?

[alan behenna]

So what's his main line?

[Mike J]

If the water is gin clear and you can see the fish, then the fish can see you twenty times better!

Think of it this way.
If your spending your entire life looking at a window of sky surrounded by a fringe of vegetation or trees branches, you would get to know every leaf and blade of grass, then an odd shape appears, big, wide, moving with shiny bits and its obvious you would immediately be on the alert for any potential dangers.

Stand well back, kneel* if possible, wear a small hat and none shiney lenses, matt reel and rod, cast low and flat and keep your rod tip off the skyline, then see how you fare.
And give em something they want to eat, not what you think they might!

* Wear kneeling pads (I do)!

[John Milford]

If you see pike following, but not taking, try stopping the retrieve for an instant - and then crank the lure faster.

This sometimes triggers a hit. If they're not hitting anyway, you've got nothing to lose if you try this.

What MikeJ says is also very good advice. Once a pike sees you, it's curtains, so do this the very moment you spot the follow.

[Mark_Houghton]

Fluro leaders aren`t as invisible as manufacturers claim, and due to having to use a much thicker diameter than wire, for safety reasons, a fc leader wont be any less visible than a thinner wire one. There`ll likely be other reasons for getting lots of follows and no hits. Fishing lures more erratically, and faster overall can work well in very clear water - give the fish less opportunity to inspect the lure and see that something isnt quite right. Sometimes they`ll follow if the lure/retrieve is enough to get their interest, but not enough to trigger them into hitting. Changing retrieve speeds can work, and the same with lure colours, sometimes a change of colour in the same lure can get the fish hitting instead of following.
We fished one extremely clear pit a while ago where you could see the bottom in up to 25ft of water, and you`d see fish rocketing up from the depths and hitting the lures several feet down 20yds or more from the boat. Despite the extreme clarity we did extremely well with standard wire leaders with the lures. We did have to keep ringing the changes though, as specific lures lost their appeal over time, and results tailed off. Taking depths remained fairly consistent (shallow worked lures over deep water) but we went through quite a lot of different lure types to keep catching. Interestingly, when a particular lure type stopped producing, that would be it - despite trying that particular lure on subsequent sessions it remained unproductive after the initial success. When we did find the next productive lure style, the fish hit them as enthusiastically as they had always done.
If line and leader visibility was such a crucial factor, the lads fishing very heavy gear (thick braid, heavy leaders) would struggle a lot more than they do. Pike are one of the least tackle-shy species if you get everything else right

[Will Smith]

Jimmy, I think there are quite a few guys struggling at the minute, perhaps its just the time of year and the fish are not as committed/interested as they would otherwise be !
Due of course to .


Will.

[Lee7499]

Lets be honest when a pike is following a lure I would say the chances of it being able to see the trace at the front are low as the majority of follows I have are directly behind the lure . Like Mike mentioned a low profile and staying back from the margins as much as you can will be the key to this place I believe.

[Martin Ward P.A.C.]

Like many on here I have used FC when targeting Zander vertically and had pike and have never been bitten off but to use it when pike are the target is madness. I doubt if pike are spooked by any sort of trace and when you think how many we catch on Spinner Baits and static deads when they have all the time in the world to survey the scene and see the hooks and trace. The fact is they don't see it in my opinion or if they do they do not compute the danger..The more I lure fish the more I am convinced that pike hit lures for all sorts of different reasons and food is just one of them. The big girls may wise up after a few trips to the boat after snaffling a particular shape or colour but I am not even convinced of that. Like most wild creatures the smarter and more cautious ones tend to last longer and grow bigger. Back on topic I suspect more follows occur with larger lures where the hunter is ushering a rival out of their space. So my first action would be to switch to a smaller offering and as others have suggested add pauses and sweeps to temp a strike. Whipping the lure through at pace will often temp the pike who is not actually on the munch,

[Woodchucker]

If visibility of the trace is that big of an issue surely bait anglers would have switched to FC years ago but that will never happen. Wire is the tool for the job and long may it continue.

[davelumb]

Fluro leaders aren`t as invisible as manufacturers claim, and due to having to use a much thicker diameter than wire, for safety reasons, a fc leader wont be any less visible than a thinner wire one. There`ll likely be other reasons for getting lots of follows and no hits. Fishing lures more erratically, and faster overall can work well in very clear water - give the fish less opportunity to inspect the lure and see that something isnt quite right. Sometimes they`ll follow if the lure/retrieve is enough to get their interest, but not enough to trigger them into hitting. Changing retrieve speeds can work, and the same with lure colours, sometimes a change of colour in the same lure can get the fish hitting instead of following.
We fished one extremely clear pit a while ago where you could see the bottom in up to 25ft of water, and you`d see fish rocketing up from the depths and hitting the lures several feet down 20yds or more from the boat. Despite the extreme clarity we did extremely well with standard wire leaders with the lures. We did have to keep ringing the changes though, as specific lures lost their appeal over time, and results tailed off. Taking depths remained fairly consistent (shallow worked lures over deep water) but we went through quite a lot of different lure types to keep catching. Interestingly, when a particular lure type stopped producing, that would be it - despite trying that particular lure on subsequent sessions it remained unproductive after the initial success. When we did find the next productive lure style, the fish hit them as enthusiastically as they had always done.
If line and leader visibility was such a crucial factor, the lads fishing very heavy gear (thick braid, heavy leaders) would struggle a lot more than they do. Pike are one of the least tackle-shy species if you get everything else right

This^^^

Always look to something simple like lure type, depth, speed, retrieve pattern when considering how to turn followers into takers.

If pike can see and be deterred by the leader, surely the sight of the hooks on a lure will put them off too.

[frankcarty]

OP, in my opinion, if you're getting follows, then the trace is not the issue. When the pike is following the lure, they don't see the trace anyway. To get a pike to follow a lure means are doing almost everything correct. Stop the retrieve every few winds of the reel, or jerks of the rod. this applies to all lures, the sudden stop can trigger a strike. Its happened to me on many occasions where I'll get a strike on the stop. However, when you see a large pike following the lure, remembering this can be difficult!

As for FC leaders in general, I've switched one lure rod to FC as a test, and ive been impressed (but not blown away) with the results so far. I had a low 20 inhale a lure last weekend on the FC rod, few scratches on the trace but its still fine.

[Daniel]

OP, in my opinion, if you're getting follows, then the trace is not the issue. When the pike is following the lure, they don't see the trace anyway. To get a pike to follow a lure means are doing almost everything correct. Stop the retrieve every few winds of the reel, or jerks of the rod. this applies to all lures, the sudden stop can trigger a strike. Its happened to me on many occasions where I'll get a strike on the stop. However, when you see a large pike following the lure, remembering this can be difficult!

As for FC leaders in general, I've switched one lure rod to FC as a test, and ive been impressed (but not blown away) with the results so far. I had a low 20 inhale a lure last weekend on the FC rod, few scratches on the trace but its still fine.

I used FC for a few months with no issue at all, then one day a pike bit me clean off leaving it with a db4 jerkbait in it's mouth.
Not used it since.

[Mike J]

OP, in my opinion, if you're getting follows, then the trace is not the issue. When the pike is following the lure, they don't see the trace anyway. To get a pike to follow a lure means are doing almost everything correct. Stop the retrieve every few winds of the reel, or jerks of the rod. this applies to all lures, the sudden stop can trigger a strike. Its happened to me on many occasions where I'll get a strike on the stop. However, when you see a large pike following the lure, remembering this can be difficult!

As for FC leaders in general, I've switched one lure rod to FC as a test, and ive been impressed (but not blown away) with the results so far. I had a low 20 inhale a lure last weekend on the FC rod, few scratches on the trace but its still fine.

I used FC for a few months with no issue at all, then one day a pike bit me clean off leaving it with a db4 jerkbait in it's mouth.
Not used it since.

And if you've got a conscience you will remember that loss for the rest of your fishing life.
I know I did when a big fish snagged me and went away with the lure, my conscience only cleared when someone found the lure with one point of the 3/0 straightened.

The topic of using FC is plain stupidity and should be kept away from this Forum, here fish safety and welfare comes first, we dont need nethandal ideas.

[thueske]

But so many pikers in Holland and Sweden are using fluoro leaders? Even very good and long time lure anglers (not the facebook and instagram wannabes). I am sure if they have experienced bite offs they will stop using it.

[Daniel]

But so many pikers in Holland and Sweden are using fluoro leaders? Even very good and long time lure anglers (not the facebook and instagram wannabes). I am sure if they have experienced bite offs they will stop using it.

Why?
Muskie anglers in the states basically shrug their shoulders or swear a lot when bitten off on FC, and then tie on a new FC leader.

[alan behenna]

But so many pikers in Holland and Sweden are using fluoro leaders? Even very good and long time lure anglers (not the facebook and instagram wannabes). I am sure if they have experienced bite offs they will stop using it.

What a very naive view you hold........that some would stop using fluro if they experience bite-off's. Get bite offs' some still wont' and they don't......(because they imagine they know better).

Seen a few using fluro' for Cuda' over the years, stupid bar-stewards.......there's also the odd (international dicks') on the TV that seem surprised when it happens.

If it's got big sharp teeth........USE Wire......sod these self important "look at me's".

[Danoutdoors]

But so many pikers in Holland and Sweden are using fluoro leaders? Even very good and long time lure anglers (not the facebook and instagram wannabes). I am sure if they have experienced bite offs they will stop using it.

What a very naive view you hold........that some would stop using fluro if they experience bite-off's. Get bite offs' some still wont' and they don't......(because they imagine they know better).

Seen a few using fluro' for Cuda' over the years, stupid bar-stewards.......there's also the odd (international dicks') on the TV that seem surprised when it happens.

If it's got big sharp teeth........USE Wire......sod these self important "look at me's".

Think in some of the kanalgratis completions there’s been a few bite offs and they just continue using it as they think it puts more fish in the boat, in competition people will always think of themselves before the fish, my mate brought some along for a test last time we were out and we weren’t impressed he went back to titanium within about 15 minutes

[Derek Kelly]

Fc using YouTube wannabes are a serious bugbear of mine too. If your getting follows to the bank with no hits, switch to sink n draw with deadbaits. They nail it on the drop under your feet after a follow.

[Danoutdoors]

Fc using YouTube wannabes are a serious bugbear of mine too. If your getting follows to the bank with no hits, switch to sink n draw with deadbaits. They nail it on the drop under your feet after a follow.

Derek what’s your follower conversion rate would you say switching to sink n draw?

[Slug]

I was under the impression that when F.C. first started getting used it was because of lure action not because pike took any notice of leader material?

[Derek Kelly]

Of any followers I actually see with the sink n draw it's very rare it doesn't get a take. Tactic I mostly use on canals where you run out of water quicker using lures, where as with s&d you can pause,drop, lay on bottom, give a little tap of movement. I found with lure fishing canals they'd follow it close to the bank, they'd lose interest, or I'd run out of water to work the lure effective, or if they hit close in I was having low hook up ratios, even after changing soft/hard lures/bigger hooks etc.

[Mark Phillips]

Can't we just ban threads like this or refer people to previous threads? You may as well tie your lure onto a length of cotton. USE FECKING WIRE

[Mike J]

Can't we just ban threads like this or refer people to previous threads? You may as well tie your lure onto a length of cotton. USE FECKING WIRE

+ 1

[fishder]

Floro will get bitten through solid titanium only way to go.

[norleveller]

have to admit to using fluorocarbon but only as an uptrace for deadbaiting to prevent abrasion of the braid above the wire trace,have used for paternostering also for a few years without probs,would never use as a hook trace though anything with teeth WIRE!

[DylanOc1]

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

[Daniel]

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

I got bitten off using 150lb seagur fc, it's diameter is 1.17mm.
What you mean to say is you've not been bitten off yet. It will happen fella, it's just a matter of time.

[davelumb]

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

Wire works perfectly with zero chance of being bitten through by a pike. There's no need to take even a minimal chance with anything else when wire works so well.

[alan behenna]

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

I got bitten off using 150lb seagur fc, it's diameter is 1.17mm.
What you mean to say is you've not been bitten off yet. It will happen fella, it's just a matter of time.

+1

[DylanOc1]

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

Wire works perfectly with zero chance of being bitten through by a pike. There's no need to take even a minimal chance with anything else when wire works so well.

I've never got bitten through on .9mm - 1.0mm diameter fluorcarbon. I don't understand why people hate it so much, maybe it's because they've seen thin fluorcarbon that got bitten through.

I got bitten off using 150lb seagur fc, it's diameter is 1.17mm.
What you mean to say is you've not been bitten off yet. It will happen fella, it's just a matter of time.

If the day comes where the Trilene FC fails me, i'll be straight back straight back to wire leaders. The main reason I use FC for lure fishing is because it lasts longer than the wire, I have to change wire leaders after 1 or 2 fish because it get kinked and the FC hasn't even dented on me yet.