fluorocarbon and ice fishing ?'s

[bigpapafish]

[black][size 3]I'm getting ready to respool some of my reels for the upcoming ice fishing season and was thinking of trying some of the fluorocarbons on the market now.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3] I have never used fluorocarbons before, always been a mono user, but the idea of a low stretch line sounds appealing for better sensitivity to bites and quicker response for hooksets. Also aren't the fluorocarbons thinner than similar lb test mono? I've heard that they aren't as forgiving as mono due to the lower stretch but they have better abrasion resistance which could be beneficial when fighting fish through the ice.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3] I'll mostly be hitting the Berry and Rockport but will be hitting Scofield and Huntington for early ice, and maybe Mantua for gills.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3] I use spinning gear and my boy who I will be taking out for his first time on the this season uses [/size][/black][black][size 3]a closed face spin-cast real. Should I stick with mono for him and his reel?[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3] I like the idea of the berkly vanish lines, high vis out of the water for easy knot tying and handling and disappears under water, but the guy at sportsmans recommends P-line and said that the vanish knot strength wasn't as good. Not too sure how much faith to put in some of the guys there.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3] Also what knots are good for fluorocarbon. Can I use the same knots that I use for mono or do I need to learn more knots. Sorry can't name the knots I use I just know how to tie em'.[/size][/black]
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[size 3]Anyone use Fluorocarbons throught the ice?[/size]
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[size 3]What other advantages/ divantages to the fluorocarbons? [/size][size 3]Should I stick to the mono? [/size][size 3]Any opinions? Recomendations for lb test? I usually use 4-6 lb test. Maybe up that To 8 lb?[/size]
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[black][size 3]Did I forget anything? [/size][/black]
[black][size 3]I hope not.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Thanks for any info [/size][/black]
[black][size 3]Bigpapafish[/size][/black]
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[Theekillerbee]

Well bigpapafish, you've asked quite the question. I'll chime in with my 2 cents. First off, I do use flouro through the ice, however I only use it on my leader. The rest of my setup is mono. I personally like a little extra stretch when swinging on the fish. As I rarely fish any depth greater than 40 feet, I don't really think it is an issue.

As far as knots go, I use the trilene knot on my stuff. It has perfect knot strength, and is easy to tie. There are other knots out there that are just as good. The key thing with flourocarbon is that you need to lubricate the knot. I do that with a little spit, but you can dip it in the water. It generates a lot of friction when you are cinching the knot down, and will fray the line without lubrication.

I use P-line for my leader, but it is darn pricey! I think this winter I'm going to try some "super mono" from Damyl. I had someone tell me it is very nice for fishing.
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[doggonefishin]

This subject could have as much disagreement as "which sonar is best on the ice" but here are my inflation adjusted 2 cents.

I loved Berkeley vanish for spooling my summertime ultralight reels, that I use when I fish high country lakes and streams. One year I put it on my ice equipment. I found it to be very inadequate. It didn't seem to hold up at all. The problem is that the flourocarbons I have used are not abrasion resistant and abrasion is inevitable when ice angling because of the rubbing against the edge of the hole, especially if you are catching buff fish like at Strawberry and Scofield. I found the line would get weak and break on me on the hookset. P-line (IMO) would be a superior choice, but even that may not have the durability you might want if you fish a lot in the winter. My suggestion would be to use that as a leader and use a highly abrasion resistant line like silver thread for the main spool. I use 6 lb. test, but others do superbly well with 4 lb. test. Good luck.
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[Jedburton]

Personally I use a lot of flourocarbon through the Ice. Mostly P-line and stren Magnathin and have had great luck with them. As with any line you use through the ice you will probably get some abraision no matter what you use, but I have always enjoyed the extra strength these two lines have,
jed
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[EvilAsh]

One thing to watch out for is READ THE PACKAGE. There is line out there that is FLORO COATED. It's way cheaper, but it's not 100% florocarbon. P-Line it 100%, at least the stuff I've seen. I've seen Berkley that's coated. The price difference will tell you. Floro is expensive compared to regular mono or floro coated.

Ash
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[IceFishingGod]

I use 2 feet of pure FC on the end of my braids, it's a must have.

IFG

[Basshole40]

I use Cabela's brand flourocarbon line in 4, 6 and 10 lb. test depending on what I'm after. It's inexpensive and it performs well in the freezing cold and is unbelievably strong. I'll spool it or use it as leader. I have out-fished my freinds many times with it through the ice partially because they don't put in as much consideration for the line they're using. I would use it exclucively. Now how's that for an ad?!
Happy fishing!!
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[MrLipripper]

Mono is less effected (affected?) by abrasion, correct?
Are the fluorocarbon lines more easily seen by the fish under the ice?
If you were spooling 2 spools for ice fishing, could you go one with 4# mono for smaller fishies and a 4# fluoro for bigger fishies or would one spool with one line be OK. Would higher strength fluoro be a bad idea for an all purpose line? I'm thinking about the two spool kind of set up for Fish Lake.
There are many good websites for different types of knots. An excellent one is [url "http://www.steelheader.net"]www.steelheader.net[/url]
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[EvilAsh]

Actually floro is more abrasion resistant then mono is. It's light refractory index is supposed to be the same as water. Basically you can say it's invisible under water. With floro you can go up a couple #'s in size. Use 6 or 8# floro. Spooling a reel will be expensive though. I fly fish 99.999% of the time and when I do deep nymphing (over 10' deep) in stillwater, I normally use 8# floro. P-Line straight -no taper. Up to 25'. It doesn't stretch like mono either. The only problem I've found is knotting it. Double surgeons knot to tie to your mono leader or a blood knot works great. Just moisten the knot with spit and pull slowly. For attaching to the hook use a loop knot. It'll give you more action.
One drawback to florocarbon is it won't deteriorate over time. UV rays won't affect it, it doesn't break down in the environment like mono will.

Ash
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[PREDATOR]

Florocarbons do not absorb water like nylon monofilament lines.
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[bassrods]

This is what I like to use.
First I spool up with fire line or spider line ( now you must have a few raps of mono to keep the spider an fire lines from slipping on the spool)
Then I can use the fluorocarbon lb test that I need for the type of fishing I plain to do + it works better, but I do like fire line better then spider line.
The knots that I use is the palarmour knot and the u-kne knot. These knots give you a one hunder 0/0 knot if tyed right.



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[tomegun]

I guess you never been to Powell with flurocarbon. FC can go bad in a couple hours in a dry sun drenched climate. I've been using FC since its beginning. I rarely use anything else. I have found thru trial and error the FC is the best way to go. I don't use braids because our waters are way too clear. Mono is alot cheaper. I've use most FC's, but I'll probably go back to bulk spools of regular Vanish(cheaper). I do change line every 2 weeks on my most of my reels. And, before tournments or speical trips I'll change everything. We are talking something like 6 to 14 reels at any one time. Flurocarbon has always given me an advantage with plastics, espeically thru the ice. I won't use anything smaller than 6lb and heaiver than 10lb(mostly 8lb) while ice fishing.

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[EvilAsh]

Here's something I ran across before and found it again.

"On another front, significant technological breakthroughs in leaders, line and tippet material have given anglers product options that are super strong, yet supple, more durable and even invisible when seen underwater by fish an all other creatures for that matter. The latest introduction into the terminal tackle arena is Fluorocarbon leaders, line and tippets. Advocates of these new products profess that its invisible properties and toughness give it tremendous advantages over monofilament lines. Although these products enable anglers to be more successful, which at this juncture is debatable, fluorocarbons long-term environmental implications are worth considering before tying any on.
Both the invisible nature and durability of fluorocarbon material pose concerns that the fly fishing community need be aware of. Of the two, the indestructible nature of this product has the most significant implications. Unlike monofilament, fluorocarbon lines are virtually inert; meaning little if anything will alter this products state. What the angling community uses and loses does not break down under exposure to ultra violet rays or water since fluorocarbon lines do not absorb water. Although there is no known biodegradable timetable for these products when intentionally or accidentally discarded within a natural environment, researchers have stated that it far surpasses monofilaments longevity by 100's to 1000's of years. On the flip side, monofilament lines degrade by 40% when exposed to just 100 hrs. of ultra violet rays and even more rapidly when exposed to water since monofilaments do absorb water.
Every piece of fluorocarbon line, leader or tippet clipped, deposited in a landfill, discarded along or in any body of water or accidentally broken off while fishing will remain for our children, there children and their children's children to confront. Fly fishers have bitched for years about the volumes of abandoned monofilament line left streamside and along the Worlds fisheries. Given the shelf life of fluorocarbon products, the problem will only escalate. "
[url "http://www.utahonthefly.com/articles/fluoro.html"]http://www.utahonthefly.com/articles/fluoro.html[/url]
Maybe a few of you will recogonize the author's name.

Ash
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[doggonefishin]

Good stuff everyone! Very informative. It does look like I need to issue a correction,apology, whatever about the general abrasion resistance of flourocarbon. This link is quite informative and other sources corroborate it.
[url "http://www.kencook.net/fishinglines.htm"]http://www.kencook.net/fishinglines.htm[/url]

My poor experiences with Vanish while ice fishing apparently can be attributed to other causes. I might have to give P-line a try on the hard deck in applications other than as leader.

All good answers lead to more questions and now I have one in light of this. As a float tuber, I don't use a large number of poles on any given trip. This summer, for bass fishing, I mainly used 2 poles; one I strung up with silver thread and used it mainly when fishing the brushy areas and pitching and retrieve fishing, and a second, that I strung up with P-line that I used for dropshotting. This pole also went with me in the high country for some trout/grayling trips, for fishing with a fly and bubble. I went out about once a week. The line on the rod with the silver thread lasted the entire season, while the p-line rod I switched out the line one time because it appeared to me to be weak. This observation seems to be consistent with what Tomegun reports. If it isn't wearing out from abrasion or from photoreactivity, why is it? Am I doing some thing wrong in its handling? I caught many good fish on both rigs (more on the silver thread pole actually) so that wasn't a factor in it's obsolescence.
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[Elkoholic]

I haven't been a huge fan of the flurocarbons. I tried some this year fly fishing and had alot break off. I went back to my faithful Umpqua tippet and had very few break offs.
I very rarely use a leader when ice fishing but when I do I like the Umpqua tippet to be my leader. I went with some of James' advice and tried the more delicate 2-4# line strait to a jig and it has worked well for me. I don't fish the berry alot so you may want to try 4# or 6# there.
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