Anyone Else Prefer Fluoro Over Braid???

[gotarheelz14]

I fished fluorocarbon almost exclusively for about a year. Then I switched over to braid almost exclusively for about two years. However, all in all, I think I prefer Fluorocarbon more than braid for the following reasons:

 

(1) Fluorocarbon is more sensitive than braid...? I know it might sound crazy to say it but I honestly think that I had a lot more sensitivity with Fluoro than I've had with braid. Slack line presentations are where I saw the most significant difference. I have read somewhere that Fluoro is actually more sensitive than braid on the other hand. 

(2) Fluorocarbon is more manageable than braid...? I keep putting question marks at the end of these statements because it almost seems funny to say them, but I think it's true lol! Braid is so limp, in general, that it gets wrapped all around my guides, logs, leaves, etc. It's almost a pain how limp it is. 

(3) It is easier to tie knots with Fluorocarbon---I think for the most part, this one is true. While I have certainly mastered all the braid knots, I think fluoro knots are easier to tie with, mainly because you can easily snip the line with your teeth lol. 

Other than that, I like the fact that braid is a lot more resistant, pound for pound. I also like the fact that for some presentations, such as flipping, frogs, etc, braid is really one of the only lines that really cuts through the vegetation. I also like the fact that braid is thinner than most other lines. Finally, braid is superior to fluorocarbon when it comes to durability. I have had the braid on my reels for over a year and it is almost as good as the day I took it off the spool!

All in all, I think I am going to switch back to Fluorocarbon for all but two of my presentations; I will keep mono on my spinnerbait/buzzbait rod, and I will keep braid on my 7'6 Heavy. 

What have been your experiences guys?

[Shane J]

They both have a time and a place. Braid sucks in the rocks, and flouro sucks in the timber. Mono just sucks altogether.

[wnybassman]

I'm kinda with you.  There are only a couple presentations that I really like braid for, everything else I have dabbled with braid but keep going back to FC because it is just more comfortable for me.  Some of the reasons are as you stated, but I just like the feel of FC better.

[Felix77]

I switched to all FC for baitcasters. I still prefer braid for spinning gear. I add a FC leader if needed.

[BradGuenette]

I fished fluorocarbon almost exclusively for about a year. Then I switched over to braid almost exclusively for about two years. However, all in all, I think I prefer Fluorocarbon more than braid for the following reasons:

 

(1) Fluorocarbon is more sensitive than braid...? I know it might sound crazy to say it but I honestly think that I had a lot more sensitivity with Fluoro than I've had with braid. Slack line presentations are where I saw the most significant difference. I have read somewhere that Fluoro is actually more sensitive than braid on the other hand. 

(2) Fluorocarbon is more manageable than braid...? I keep putting question marks at the end of these statements because it almost seems funny to say them, but I think it's true lol! Braid is so limp, in general, that it gets wrapped all around my guides, logs, leaves, etc. It's almost a pain how limp it is. 

(3) It is easier to tie knots with Fluorocarbon---I think for the most part, this one is true. While I have certainly mastered all the braid knots, I think fluoro knots are easier to tie with, mainly because you can easily snip the line with your teeth lol. 

Other than that, I like the fact that braid is a lot more resistant, pound for pound. I also like the fact that for some presentations, such as flipping, frogs, etc, braid is really one of the only lines that really cuts through the vegetation. I also like the fact that braid is thinner than most other lines. Finally, braid is superior to fluorocarbon when it comes to durability. I have had the braid on my reels for over a year and it is almost as good as the day I took it off the spool!

All in all, I think I am going to switch back to Fluorocarbon for all but two of my presentations; I will keep mono on my spinnerbait/buzzbait rod, and I will keep braid on my 7'6 Heavy. 

What have been your experiences guys?

 

Oddly enough I feel the exact same way, not a fan of braid what so ever, fluoro on everything except my 734C spinnerbaits/buzzbaits. and Braid for frogs and flipping/punching. Using Tatsu I couldn't be happier.

I switched to all FC for baitcasters. I still prefer braid for spinning gear. I add a FC leader if needed.

 +1 I made the switch to all FC last season! I still have 1 spinning setup with braid.

[Bk4]

I like them together ... braid with leader of fluro

[mc6524]

I agree. I prefer fluro over braid even though in my opinion it has more stretch than advertised. I want a the little shock absorbing effect I get with fluro than braid. To make up for ant difference in sensitivity I use tungsten weights with my plastics

[Scott F]

Too much stretch with fluoro.  I hate stretch.

[Mike L]

Here in Fla I think braid and floro have thier place.

 

Frog's in pads, and punching is all braid...

Bottom contact plastics, Jig's, spinner, chatter, sq bill is all floro...

Spinning for fineses [wacky, shakey etc] braid with floro leader.

 

 

Mike

[38 Super Fan]

I'm a Fluoro junkie, I fish a lot of rock, so it's definately the best option. My only real complaint with fluoro is cost. I'm warming up a little to braid, I used to really dislike it, mostly due to wind knots. I do like braid's managability for spinning gear though, and it really lasts well.

[SissySticks]

Fluoro for baitcasters, braid with fluoro leader for spinning. I just can't get past the managability issue with spinning gear, braid is just so much more twist resistant. I like fluoro on the baitcasters where twist isn't an issue. I also prefer braid for hooksets in deep water because of its lack of stretch, and most of the techniques that I use deep are done on spinning tackle, with the exception of spoon fishing in winter.

 

For cost purposes, I buy both in bulk. I use 8, 10, and 12lb. McCoy 100 fluoro, which I buy in 1000 yard spools, and I buy 10lb. sufix in 1200 yard spools for use on my spinning gear. I have yet to go through a whole spool of any of them but cost per fill is very low.

[BassThumb]

The slack-line sensitivity of fluorocarbon is a huge bonus, in my opinion. That's why I prefer it for fishing bottom-contact baits on baitcasting gear.

 

Braid is still very useful when flipping and frog fishing. It also handles far better than fluoro on spinning tackle.

[thehooligan]

Ive got used to using braid with flouro leaders for baitcasters and spinners and found it works really well for me...

[mod479]

I still like both in the right situation. Only 2 rods with braid spooled these days, one for dragging tubes and football jigs deeper than 25 or 30 FOW (I want little to no stretch, still use a fluoro leader too) , and one for flipping/pitching cover (I need the strength and weed sawing ability of braid, again still using a short fluoro leader)

 

Everything else is spooled with Yo-Zuri Hybrid, Tatsu, or Sniper FC.  

[backcast88]

I prefer fluoro to braid.  I did have braid on all my setups 3 years ago but the lake I fish has a fair amount of rock and the braid wasn't working real well.  Plus whenever I had a little slack in my line I couldn't feel anything with braid.  I switched over to fluoro on all my setups (excpet for crankbaits and jerkbaits) and am very happy with my decision.  My lakes also have a fair amount of timer (docks and sunken trees) and I don't have any durability issues with fluoro.

 

The only way I would ever put braid back on a setup was if I was going to constantly fish an area that had thick matted grass or lilypads and I was punching all the time.  Even then I would be more likely to try heavy fluoro first and see how that went before switching to braid. 

[ww2farmer]

As a main line? No, I don't prefer it over braid at all. But there are some techniques which I will not fish straight braid at all, and 100% of the time always use a fluoro leader, so yes I guess you can say I prefer it over braid there. The #1 technique on that list is dropshotting.

[skeletor6]

I use fluorocarbon for every technique I can. Its advantages far outweigh anything braid has to offer. Fluorocarbon is expensive, that is the only downside. I don't buy the cheap stuff either.

 

Braid and mono have their place for certain techniques. Primarily frogging and topwater, but fluorocarbon is used for everything else. Not having slack line sensitivity is a deal-breaker for me. That along with many other reasons.

[roadwarrior]

I'm experimenting with a few new to me set-ups:

 

Pure Tatsu #20 on a worm rod

 

Tuf-Line #10/ Tatsu #6 leader on a spinning rod for weightless sof plastics

 

Tuf-Line #20/ Tatsu #20 for swim jigs and small swimbaits 

 

Kanzen #30 on a jig rod

 

I'm leaning towards braid with a leader on everything.

 

 

 

[SissySticks]

I'm leaning towards braid with a leader on everything.

I must admit a certain level of shock. I thought you were a die-hard hybrid guy?

 

I'm curious about a lot of the posts I'm reading about slack-line sensitivity.  I have not used straight fluoro much at all, as I cut my teeth at the feet of a braid/fluoro leader guy and always have used it since, but I HAVE noticed that I don't feel many bites with braid when my line is slack. Does fluoro as a main line significantly help with that?

 

If fluoro makes a significant difference in slack-line bite detection, why are guys like Shin Fukae, Tom Mann, and Brent Erhlers (all pretty serious finesse fishermen) using it instead of braid? Not wanting to start a brawl, just legitimately curious what you guys think.

[BradGuenette]

I must admit a certain level of shock. I thought you were a die-hard hybrid guy?

I'm curious about a lot of the posts I'm reading about slack-line sensitivity. I have not used straight fluoro much at all, as I cut my teeth at the feet of a braid/fluoro leader guy and always have used it since, but I HAVE noticed that I don't feel many bites with braid when my line is slack. Does fluoro as a main line significantly help with that?

If fluoro makes a significant difference in slack-line bite detection, why are guys like Shin Fukae, Tom Mann, and Brent Erhlers (all pretty serious finesse fishermen) using it instead of braid? Not wanting to start a brawl, just legitimately curious what you guys think.

Look at what some of the best slack line anglers in the game are doing.Denny Brauer, Shaw Grigsby to name a couple, always using FC line for jigs ect.

[SissySticks]

I must admit a certain level of shock. I thought you were a die-hard hybrid guy?

 

I'm curious about a lot of the posts I'm reading about slack-line sensitivity.  I have not used straight fluoro much at all, as I cut my teeth at the feet of a braid/fluoro leader guy and always have used it since, but I HAVE noticed that I don't feel many bites with braid when my line is slack. Does fluoro as a main line significantly help with that?

 

If fluoro makes a significant difference in slack-line bite detection, why are guys like Shin Fukae, Tom Mann, and Brent Erhlers (all pretty serious finesse fishermen) using it instead of braid? Not wanting to start a brawl, just legitimately curious what you guys think.

Nevermind, I did a search and got the answers to my ?s.

I also note that Rich Zaleski, who is a die-hard drop shotter and kind of a fishing idol of mine, has repeatedly said that despite trying some of the very best braid/fluoro combinations that exist, he simply catches more fish on fluoro even though he can't explain why. He suspects it has to do with the way that braid, because it floats, impacts the natural drift of drop shot lures when the line is slack.

 

Between his experience and this discussion among us, I'm inspired to break from my braid tradition and spool up one of my drop-shot rods with something else this season. Would I experience similar slack line sensitivity from hybrid, or do I need to go with a straight fluoro? If so, can someone recommend a fluoro that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

[mjseverson24]

I agree with many of the guys on here. Braid for only a few different techniques(heavy punching, jigs/trigs and frogs). I also use braid with a 12' leader for dropshoting on spinning gear. For almost everything else I use floro. I just have a lot of confidence in floro to be more invisible and reliable in tough conditions. confidence is everything in fishing. I also use a little but of mono for certain techniques ie. topwater baits (spooks/poppers).

 

Mitch  

[skeletor6]

Nevermind, I did a search and got the answers to my ?s.

I also note that Rich Zaleski, who is a die-hard drop shotter and kind of a fishing idol of mine, has repeatedly said that despite trying some of the very best braid/fluoro combinations that exist, he simply catches more fish on fluoro even though he can't explain why. He suspects it has to do with the way that braid, because it floats, impacts the natural drift of drop shot lures when the line is slack.

Between his experience and this discussion among us, I'm inspired to break from my braid tradition and spool up one of my drop-shot rods with something else this season. Would I experience similar slack line sensitivity from hybrid, or do I need to go with a straight fluoro? If so, can someone recommend a fluoro that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Hybrid to me feels dead compared to a quality fluoro. The density of pure fluorocarbon line contributes greatly to its sensitivity.

I haven't seen Aaron Martens name mentioned yet. The guy is one of the best finesse anglers out there. His Drop Shot knowledge is incredible.

[11justin22]

I use fluorocarbon for every technique I can. Its advantages far outweigh anything braid has to offer. Fluorocarbon is expensive, that is the only downside. I don't buy the cheap stuff either.

 

Braid and mono have their place for certain techniques. Primarily frogging and topwater, but fluorocarbon is used for everything else. Not having slack line sensitivity is a deal-breaker for me. That along with many other reasons.

+1000000000000000

my thoughts on it exactly  also about the question on drop shot using braid, in my experience drop shot is generally done on taught line where braid would be acceptable. Also yes u can really tell the difference on slack line bites. First time i felt it it startled me because i had never felt it before

[roadwarrior]

I think Yo-Zuri Hybrid is a great line at a great price, I'm just experimenting with some

other options right now. Thr braid/ fluoro leader has impressed me. We'll see how that

works out over the next few weeks.