FlouroCarbon

Gday Guys.
I have decided to give flourocarbon a go!!!
I bought a small spool of PVDF by Water King today. 8lb and i think .20mm in diameter (correct me if i'm wrong).
I have heard of knot problems with flouro's. Is it a common problem? What can i do to prevent the probs. This stuff is damn expensive. $9.95 for 10m. Better be bloody good!

dave

Hi Dave,
I have been using Stren Flurocarbon for my leaders for over 8yrs and never had any probs with knots, as you know most of my fishing is for tropical species barra, jacks, queenies etc and it has never let me down if anything it's better for knots.

Cheers Samurai

Thanx for the reply.
I was actually after the Stren Magnathin or Flourocarbon when i went to buy the stuff, but they didn't have it so i bought this.
I'll have to do some self testing. Apparantly some Flouro's are too stiff and the nots can break easily.

Dave

[FisherMatt]

Dave,

I've been using berkley vanish for a while now. Its cheap as chips compared to the other flourocarbons. It may not have all the properties of the more expensive FC's but im liking it just fine.

It was all i used down at Walpole and it didnt seem to spook the fish on the flats???

The only think i can complain about is the back to back uni which i used to tie it to my main line with!!!! U witnessed first hand my casting difficulties (read f!@k up's) but this could be more due to my knot tying abilities (disabilities??) than anything else.
Ive since changed to a Bimini/Albright and havent looked back!!!!

Anyway mate, if ur looking for something cheaper, give the vanish a go.

Seeya dude

Yeah thanx Matt.
Good to see you got the knot probs sorted
I dont mind paying a dollar a meter for leaders, as i only use about a meter or just over that per sesh. So a dollar a sesh aint too bad!
dave

[chris_lemess]

Get some decent Japanese FC. Berkley is weak as hell when it comes to knots (in my experiences - well tested), and PVDF is bloody expensive. Lines like Nitlon come in spools of at least 50m if not more. There are only a handfull of quality brands around. The FC that Tony (Mad Fisho) was advertising sounds like quality gear, Warren reckons he should have it in stock in the future it seems.

cheers

[Ravin]

I used to have knot problems with Vanish all the time & it put me off fluoro for a long time. Since then I have tried Rio's & Seagaur & both have great knot strength. The last couple weeks I have been using Yamatoyo in 6 pound for my leaders & I have found it head & shoulders above the rest. Excellent knots & very abrasion resistant. I would recommend getting a roll & trying it when Warren stocks it. As far as knots I have used with it & have tried the uni to uni knot & that was fine but most of the time I use a bimini in the end of the main & another in the end of the leader & use a cats paw to join em. My fingers aren't good in cold weather & I have dramas tieing normal knots. The added bonus is this method is an extremely strong join!

[bubba]

Im still trying to work out how u guys tie a bimini as a joining knogt (maybe someone could show me :P) but while looking for knots I found this link.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/floridafishing/knot.htm

Quite good and im sure it will help more than just me :)

Thanx for the help guys.
I'm goin to do a lot of my own testing i think and find what i like best. The Yamamoto FC sounds really good, so i'll get some of that when it arrives in WA.
Thanx again.

Dave

[pw-bream]

Originally posted by bubba
Im still trying to work out how u guys tie a bimini as a joining knot

No-one is using a Bimini as a joining knot, it is used to tie a short double on the end of the Fireline. The doubled line is then tied to the leader with another (joining) knot such as an Albright, Double-Uni, or Twisted Leader knot.

Hope that helps.

[Ravin]

No-one is using a Bimini as a joining knot

Not quite no - one :D I use 2 biminis joined by the cats paw :D Very effective join :) Theres always the odd man out guess I'm it :) :D

[bubba]

Ok so at a guess, a spider hitch would do the same job as a bimini?
Ravin.. Could you post a pic on what you actually do?

[Evan]

Bubba

a spider hitch does the same job as a bimini but doesnt do as well of a job as a bimini does- it has a weaker rated knot strength than a bimini - quicker to tie though

[Ravin]

Its easy to do I just use Bimini's with a loop about 2 inches long in the end of the main & the end of the leader. I put both loops over my first & middle finger to hold them open then feed the end of my leader through both loops do that 4 times then wet it & draw it up tight. No problems.

[bubba]

Thanks Ravin :)

Ya Ev thats what I was thinking.. Altho it is stated that the spider has the same str rating but is alot less abrasion resistant. I think I will try both and see how it goes.

I used the spider when fishing at Steep Point because its alot faster to tie when you get busted up by the ever present Noah's and the str is rine there using 4-6kg line for Macks etc

[panger]

Ravin,
can you undo the catpaw when changing leaders to reuse the bimini in the fireline? I tried to do it on the weekend but I couldn't get the cats paw undone. Is there a trick?

[Ravin]

Sometimes you can get it loose by pulling the loop in the mainline open. Its hard to undo it though & that only works sometimes. After a couple fish there is no hope. When I need to put a new leader on I clip one leg of the loop in the leader off very close the pull on the other one & it will pull free without hurting the loop in the fireline. How did you find the strength of it?

[panger]

Ravin,
seemed strong to me. I was casting next to bridge pylons and muscling bream out with a tight drag. Caught 3 or so, got busted off by another, straightened the hook on another one and dropped another handful. Everything seemed to hold up fine. As you said the fish probably made it impossible to undo the catspaw. But what do you do then, retie the bimini in the fireline? I ended up just doing my normal double uni.

[Ravin]

Once I cut the leader & wiggle it free of the fireline the double in the fireline is still perfectly OK to use so I just catspaw another leader on. I have a good look before reusing it but normally I find it takes 6 or 7 leaders before it starts to wear significantly. I have a few leaders pre tied in my waist pack so this method is easy for me with crook fingers. Before I started using it if my hands got cold it would take me 15 minutes & maybe 6 or 7 attempts to tie a leader on.

[panger]

Ravin,
whoops I got a bit confused. I actually did cut the leader near the catspaw and still couldn't get the separate the fireline from the leader. I tried giving the leader a decent yank hoping it would slip and also tried to unravel the knot but couldn't

[Ravin]

Pulling open the double in the fireline normally gets rid of the end.

[panger]

Thanks, didn't think of that. I'll give that a try once I get home from work.

[mike_mad_fisho]

excuse my ignorance but is doing a double of some sought stronger than doing a double uni.
Mb

[Ravin]

I wouldn't say stronger for sure it depends who ties them but its a lot easier to use "my" method if you have crook fingers.

[panger]

I tried opening the fireline double last night to undo the catspaw. Worked like a charm. Looks like the 'Ravin' method is going to by my preferred connection from now on.

[Ravin]

:D That makes 2 of us

Bloody Thread Thieves!!!:D
Anyways...
I used the flouro today and can say it works bloody well. I could not see it at all in the water. The guy i fished with was using the same lures, and technique, but normal mono, and i outfished hime 7:1. We both agreed that the flouro may have been the difference. He really wasn't doin anything wrong. So i am happy about this particular line. I also only used about 1m of it so the cost aint gonna be too much of a problem!

Dave

[mike_mad_fisho]

gday
good to see that it worked i am going to go down on sunday too see if my local tackle shop has some in stock.
MB

[Bassifier]

Now if you want quality knotting flouro, there is only one!

NITLON

This stuff is the bees knees in my mind.
I have refused loads of flouros because of knot weaknesses, and my test is a single strand of 4lb fireline joined to the flouro in question with a simple blood knot.
If this knot works first time, Ill buy it.
Nitlon is the best leader material I have seen yet, and it's relativly cheap at $19.95 for 100m.
The knot is as below with slight mod specifically used with Flouro's.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/floridafishing/knot4.htm

You see how the two tag ends enter the centre loop travelling in opposing directions?
Scrap that method, and make sure they both go through in the same direction.
Also, make sure the Flouro tag is longer than the fireline tag.

I almost always tie a minimi twist (as opposed to bimini) in my Fireline, once perfected they only take 20 sec's to tie and they just can't be faulted.

anyhoo, have fun!
Richard.

[panger]

Bassifier,
where can you get Nitlon fluoro and how do you tie this minimi twist?