Fluorocarbon leaders

[Clumsy fisherman]

Is it necessary to use fluorocarbon leader line or can you just use fluorocarbon line for a leader?

[Jig Man]

I didn’t even know that there was a fluorocarbon leader line.  I just take mine off the spool of whatever size I want.

[Aaron_H]

Leader grade fluoro is supposed to be a harder resin than main line from what I understand, but it could just be marketing and I'm certainly no expert.

 

Most of my leaders are mono, anyhow. I don't run straight fluoro on any of my setups, so when I use a fluoro leader it is smaller leader spools of Seaguar Premier.

[Bird]

I have seen some fluorocarbon labeled as " leader " which always gives me a laugh.

Just buy some good quality flouro, I like Sunline Snyper.

[A kid from Canada]

Regular Flouro works just fine and saves you some money. Salt Strong tested this and I dug it up for anyone interested. 

https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fluorocarbon-leader-vs-main-line/

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Theres a big difference between good FC leader and FC mainline.  The vast majority of quality FC leader is harder, stiffer and thinner in dia then FC mainline, leader material has less stretch as well.  Its great to have and you definitely pay for it, but its not always necessary.  Ive seen SS's FC test vids and they appear to be doing things right, but I had very different results IRL.  I used nothing but good leader material for years. There are loads of pickerel around here and while I was using FC leader material there were years where I would have 1 or 2 bite offs in FW and with as much time as I put in, it made bite offs incredibly rare. 

In the winter of 16-17 I wanted to concentrate on improving my DS game by using only DS rigs.  As fast as you can blow through 30yd spools with DS rigs, I started to mix in FC mainline.  Once I went to using mostly #8 and #10 Red Label and InvizX I had more pickerel bite offs in 1 spring using mainline then I had in 3 years using FC leader.  Most of the bite offs occur when I'm using small baits, like 2.5 and 3" swimbaits, ned rigs and DS.  With bigger baits there isnt as much as contact, but bite offs still occur.  Bass can fray a line up, but I don't think I've ever had a bass break fresh line with just his teeth.  You just have to be on the ball when it comes to checking the line, which is the case for leader material as well.  It doesn't matter what kind of line it is, if you're fishing frayed line you're asking for a problem. 

Mono actually holds just as well or better in some cases, but I like FC with using those really light tiny baits because the higher density helps me get the bait down and the smaller dia helps keep it down.  Not leader materials are the same either.  Most of it is really stiff and harder than a mainline where some can be stiff but have a soft outer layer.  2 of my favorites, Yo Zuri HD and Blue Label are very different in how they feel.  The BL is hard on the outside where the Yo Zuri is soft.  Both have less stretch then a minaline, but the HD has noticeably more stretch then BL. which I kind of like for walking and twitching baits.  I think the soft outer layer helps gives you better knot strength.  I used to think Blue Label had the HD beat in abrasion resistance.  This spring I landed some stripers jetty fishing with #15 HD that I didn't think I had a prayer at, some over 20lbs.  I love #15 InvizX, it's my do it all line in FW, but it wouldn't have stood up to that kind of abuse.

 

[FishTank]

I use to use whatever I had left over from a filler spool but started using Seaguar Blue Label.  I felt like I had better success all around with this line. Then I discovered Gold Label. It was even better. It seemed more suited towards my type of fishing and it held up better at lower pound tests. 

[Jar11591]

Some of the main reasons I use a fluorocarbon leader would be completely negated if I used just regular fluoro line as the leader. Fluoro leader material is stiffer, stronger and more abrasion-resistant. It never touches the spool, so the stiffness really helps for the applications I use it for. I never use regular fluorocarbon as my leader. One of my fishing “rules” that I make for myself.