Is Fluorocarbon Fishing Line A Scam or Legit???
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
- Found In: *Tackle & Gear, Fishing Secrets, Fishing Tips, Fluoro, Line, Mono, Weekly Newsletter: 11-24-24
Hey there, Salt Strong family—Joe here!
Fluorocarbon leader line has long been touted as the ultimate choice for anglers. It’s marketed as stronger, more abrasion-resistant, and nearly invisible to fish.
But is it really worth the extra cost?
At Salt Strong, we’re not about taking claims at face value. We love to test things for ourselves and let the results speak.
So, we put fluorocarbon and mono head-to-head in a series of experiments using professional testing equipment, abrasion challenges, and even underwater visibility tests.
The findings? Well, you’ll have to check out the video for that.
If you’ve ever wondered whether fluorocarbon is truly better—or if it’s all just clever marketing—this video is for you.
Want to get our 20 years of testing and experimenting broken down into simple value-packed lessons? Just head over to our FREE Fishing School to start getting trustworthy fishing advice.
Tight lines,
Joe Simonds
Salt Strong
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I like mono better. I have bought a few spools of fluoro but always seem to reach for the mono.
Good info thanks
I agree, I catch more fish with mono and it performs better
Fluoro does have less memory vs mono. For this reason I like it!
Fluorocarbons are worth the costs to me. Just like monofilaments, it’s up to the fisherman to find the best line suited for their purpose. First of all, fluorocarbon line sinks. That feature comes in handy when slow pitch jigging. Also, fluorocarbon lines may be much stiffer than monofilaments. I find that helpful when fishing topwater with braided line and a short trace, and slow pitch jigging, the stiff line helps prevent tangles. Fluorocarbon lines are much more durable than monofilaments under a few circumstances. While fishing around barnacles and oysters to name a couple. And yes, the same line diameter of monofilament and fluorocarbon line, in my experience, the fluorocarbon can be less sensed by fish. Why? I don’t know for sure. Perhaps it’s less visible as advertised?
I thought the same thing about fluorocarbon having better durability vs. mono until I tested them against one another by rubbing them against sand paper with the exact same force (mono won by a long shot even when putting a 15 lb mono vs. a 20 lb fluorocarbon leader line).
The sink rate is true… fluoro sinks about 2.5 times faster than mono per a test I did a couple years back.
As for stretch, it is true that fluoro typically has less stretch, but I at least couldn’t feel a difference between the 2 when I was using fluoro on 1 setup and mono on my other and switching back and forth… the difference can surely be felt if using the lines as the mainline, but the difference when using them as a 2 to 3 ft leader was not detectable by me at least.
I think the question I have is what are the comparable diameters? A thinner line should be tougher to see no matter how clear it is. So if we compare a 20lb. mono and 20lb. flouro what are their respective tensile strengths? Is cheap fluoro the same as expensive fluoro? That would be a good test.
I have done a lot of testing on mono vs. fluoro using the main brands to keep it simple. And when equating the line diameters as you mentioned (which I agree with you is the best way to do it), the fluoro lines have a slightly higher breaking strength, but the mono has a very noticeably better performance strength since it can hold up to abrasion so much more and since it doesn’t degrade by getting stretched like fluoro does.
As for cheap vs. expensive, I did my testing with the higher end lines so I am sure that the lower tier fluoro lines would do even worse in comparison to mono. I agree that it would be a good test, so I’ll add it to my list.
Thanks for sending in the helpful comment Steven!
Luke I went on Line Labratory on YouTube and it tested the Ande mono and it was the worst performing mono. Try a test that puts mono vs. mono at equal strengths. I would be curious which is the strongest.
I agree… they like the Ande line, but I don’t care for it at all. And the YouTube tests don’t rate it well. The best bang for your buck… whether it be mono or fluoro… is P-line. It has tested the best in every regard by many different fishing line tests on YT