Low visibility hooklinks and leaders

This is something that’s been going around in my mind for some time and despite always doing perfectly ok with mono I’ve finally made the decision to go with fluorocarbon hooklinks and leaders for much of my bigger fish targeting this coming season purely as an experiment, particularly on the rivers.

I'm adding the leader for its low visibility and not as a heavy shock leader to aid casting, much of my river fishing is done under or very close to the rod tip.

Despite the stiffness issue I have a friend who religiously uses flouro hooklinks and does extremely well on them, I’ve seen footage of fish spooking off of a taught flouro line presumably because they suddenly feel something they can’t see (as opposed to a visible and/or slack line which is not deterring the fish) but I don’t anticipate it being a problem.

Just wondering what others thoughts are as a generalisation?

I’ve also been reading up on copolymer but am struggling to see where this might fit into the picture, It appears to me to be a halfway house between mono and flouro in which case I would expect a benefit for choosing it… More supple perhaps?

I would also be interested to hear if anyone is using copolymer to any great effect and what they believe are the benefits?

binka said:

...I’ve also been reading up on copolymer but am struggling to see where this might fit into the picture, It appears to me to be a halfway house between mono and flouro in which case I would expect a benefit for choosing it… More supple perhaps?

I would also be interested to hear if anyone is using copolymer to any great effect and what they believe are the benefits?

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Hi Binka,
I used to use copolymer for fly-chucking leaders and tippets for its fineness for strength characteristics, but found:
- every knot needed an extra turn for security
- it 'crinkled' very easily
- it 'cracked' off very easily if it hit a stone/wall on the back-cast
- the fineness catches under gravel and stones more easily causing abrasion weaknesses
- don't attempt to re-use a hook-length - you'll only make that mistake once!
Admittedly - that was going back 10-15 years ago - it's possible that the lines have improved markedly in that time!

Steve, I've used both Incognito and Drennan sinkbraid as a (often long) hook length for many years on the rivers for barbel and results seem to be pretty much the same with either in most conditions. I do tend to generally use the braid over the flouro as a personal preference these days....

I tend to use Incognito almost always for my specimen fishing.

It has zero memory and lies flat to avoid spooking shy fish, and is very strong; in fact I bet even Binka couldn't break it . . . . . .


Well, maybe that is a claim too far, but you know what I mean . . . . . . eh?

Oh, nearly forgot, you also get a full 50m unlike many fluoros these days that fob you off with just 20m spools . . . . thanks Dave!

Peter Jacobs said:

I tend to use Incognito almost always for my specimen fishing.

It has zero memory and lies flat to avoid spooking shy fish, and is very strong; in fact I bet even Binka couldn't break it . . . . . .


Well, maybe that is a claim too far, but you know what I mean . . . . . . eh?

Oh, nearly forgot, you also get a full 50m unlike many fluoros these days that fob you off with just 20m spools . . . . thanks Dave!

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I've seen they now make it in 5lb BS - before I could only get it in 9lb and above

Lord Paul of Sheffield said:

I've seen they now make it in 5lb BS - before I could only get it in 9lb and above

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They make it in 5lbs B/S and 7lbs B/S too . . . . . . . . . I use it on a lot of my leaders for fly fishing these days as well as for hooklengths for coarse fishing.

think i'll have to have a trip to Climax

Lord Paul of Sheffield said:

think i'll have to have a trip to Climax

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Steady on, you will get arrested!

Incognito is IMO the best fluoro on the market bar none. I'll use no other brand.

Whether it makes any difference I dunno but I have total confidence in it and that is enough for me !

I use flourocarbon in some clear water conditions and where I want a stiffy (so to speak:wh)
I do prefer Drennan sink braid in most other circumstances as I think the softness and feel and flexibility are more important than invisibility in circumstances other than very clear water.

I would like to raise another aspect of hiding hooklengths, that of hiding in full view!!
There is a product that mimics a frond of weed. When I saw this I mucked about camouflaging hooklengths by roughing up some of that green hairy garden string and knotting it along the hooklength. Where there were bits of weed and debris it certainly worked. Whether I would have had as many bites without it I cannot definitely say but I did get plenty of bites and it never put the fish off. It wafted a bit and its possible it worked due to soft feel.
Worth a mention I thought.

Peter Jacobs said:

They make it in 5lbs B/S and 7lbs B/S too . . . . . . . . . I use it on a lot of my leaders for fly fishing these days as well as for hooklengths for coarse fishing.

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5lb that's shark fighting tackle 2lb would be nice thou ....



PG ..

maggot_dangler said:

5lb that's shark fighting tackle 2lb would be nice thou ....



PG ..

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Shark fishing? Whilst after tench today I caught 6 roach between 12 ozs and 1lb.12ozs(Weighed) on 6lb mono straight through to a 10 hook and a lump of bread flake So much for finess.

john step said:

Shark fishing? Whilst after tench today I caught 6 roach between 12 ozs and 1lb.12ozs(Weighed) on 6lb mono straight through to a 10 hook and a lump of bread flake So much for finess.

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When they are having it you can use anything