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A question for fly fishers
Mar 12, 2019 15:19:31   #
flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
 
Have any of you ever tried fluro. leader material for tippet material? If 4# test fluro. leader has about the same breaking strength and diameter of a 5X tippet, why not use the leader material? It is a lot cheaper than the tippet material to purchase. I'm wondering if the suppleness has anything to do with it. Will the leader material roll the fly over like the tippet material? I realize that fluoro. leader sinks faster than regular mono. but does the fluoro. tippet also sink as fast. Maybe a guy should use regular tippet material when dry fly fishing, I don't know. I use fluoro. tippet material for dry fly fishing, maybe I shouldn't. What are your thoughts?

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Mar 13, 2019 08:42:55   #
Whitecat Loc: Mt Pleasant, Michigan
 
Howdy flyguy... nice to virtually meet you!

I don't believe it makes a difference to the fishes. I got it that fluorocarbon style tippets/leaders/lines, etc. are advertised to have some kind of different refraction than tippets/leaders/lines, etc. made from a simple monofilament style of line. However, it comes to my thoughts that beings as most fishing folks don't truly know what a fish actually sees when a bait is tied to a line with one or the other kind of leader.

Fluorocarbon style fishing line can be significantly more expensive than monofilament... Please note these two examples:

https://www.orvis.com/p/mirage-trout-leaders-2pk/2a04

https://www.orvis.com/p/superstrong-leader-tippet-combo-pack/2hbm

If you will note that the first link takes you to fluorocarbon tippet (at around $US 24.00), and the second link takes you to a more traditional monofilament tippet (at around $US 12.00). I'm fairly certain that both styles of leader material will catch fish equally well on any given day... it is to remember that a lot of marketing effort goes into advertising something that makes the fishing person feel good, without regards to any real difference it makes when a person is out on the lake or in the river actually doing some fishing.

Whenever it comes to having your chosen variety of fly "turn over" during a particular flavor of cast, I would believe that given two identical casts, one with fluorocarbon and one with monofilament, there again I don't think there is a significant difference between the two flavors of tippet involved.

Best Regards and Good Luck!
Fred Williams

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Mar 13, 2019 10:08:03   #
flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
 
Thank you very much for the info. I wonder if anyone in the Trout Unlimited has any thoughts on the matter. I'm going to try to compare the two today if the streams aren't to high from the snow melt run off. The run off cools the water off and the trout become somewhat lethargic but I will be able to see the presentation of the fly.

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Mar 13, 2019 13:26:05   #
flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
 
Well, I tried the two different types of fluoro. tippet material and fluoro. leader material. The air temp. was 33 and the water temp. was 36. The water temp. was a few degrees cooler than the other day when I fished the same water and the water was a few inches higher. So, run off was evident. The color of the water was boarder line for fly fishing. I could not tell any difference in the presentation of the two materials. I have no idea if the fish could see either of the two materials and I was able to catch one trout on each of the two materials so there wasn't anything proven. I'm sure with the water temp. dropping the trout were very lethargic and you would have to put the fly in it's mouth in order to have them take it.

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Mar 13, 2019 23:23:51   #
jfairchild
 
Sorry fly guy. I never fish drys. Started out flyfishing and have 7 pounder on the wall from 40 yrs ago. Now i prefer flathead jigs...sculpin imitations...on the bottom. Bigger fish that thrash on the bottom. Now that is my bailiwick...not spelled right but in the vein of the discussion.

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Mar 14, 2019 19:35:22   #
flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
 
Sorry about the late reply but both of our computers crashed. Congrats on the 7#er, was it a brown or a bow, male or female? Did you catch it on a fly or a jig? I have a buddy who did his thesis for his Masters degree on the effectiveness of catching trout on a fly vs a jig in the Driftless Area. The fly won, but who knows, I'm sure it would depend on the technique of the fisherman, but he is a jigger, as is his father. I made both of them their "jigging rods", which consisted of 4# St. Croix fly rod blank with spinning guides and used with a spinning reel. What do you use? Where did you catch your big one? 90% of the trout's comes off of the bottom, so where do you fish? The only time I use a dry is during a hatch and then I have a ball. Tight lines!

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Mar 15, 2019 06:10:18   #
edkealer
 
I don't know why, but tippet material is the only "leader" that will turn the fly over properly.

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Mar 15, 2019 07:04:35   #
flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
 
I could not tell the difference the other day but I had a side breeze too that would enter into the equation. Many things will effect the turn over.

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