Fluoro For Bigger Fish

Our most recent poll closed a couple of days ago and the results surprised me a bit. I honestly did not expect to discover that nearly a third of you use fluorocarbon tippet for all your fishing. Well over half are using it for at least some of your fishing while just over one quarter of you don't use it at all.

It took me a long time to start using it and lately I've been using it more and more. Two summers ago I started using it when a buddy recommended I get some for the Frying Pan River in Colorado. My first spool was Seaguar Grand Max in 6X andit is still the best I've ever used although quite expensive. The beauty of using Fluorocarbon is that it supposedly is harder to see underwater compared to standard monofilament. Even better, it is stronger than comparable mono. Lately I've switched over to the Rio Fluoroflex Plus which is almost as good as the Seaguar. It is also a little cheaper which is good for the money starved trout bum. Cheaper here is relative and a good spool of fluorocarbon tippet will generally set you back $10 more than a comparable spool of mono tippet.

So now the big question, is it really worth it? After catching lots of large trout over the last two years, I'm really becoming a believer in the stuff. I've lost an unbelievable number of good fish due to the 6X monofilament breaking but have yet to break off a good fish on fluorocarbon tippet. A few weeks ago, I fought a monster brown on the Caney for several minutes before losing it. The line just went limp and I was sure it had broke off. Reeling in I discovered that the large fish had just straightened the #14 hook. A fish large enough to straighten a #14 hook is a big fish but it did not break the 6X tippet. On the initial run the fish headed straight for a large log and I was forced to apply a lot of pressure. With monofilament I have no doubt that I would have broke the fish off. So again, I ask, is it worth it?

Here's a few reasons I think it is...