Fluro Straight through

[Evoids]

Hi all,
I was wondering what the benefits were of running flurocarbon (1-3lb) straight through on a light bream stick. Would it be better than running braid with an extra long leader? Say, 3-4m fluro leader? Just curious as I would like to give the straight through fluro a go.

Also, anyone have any ideas of where I could pick up an extra 1000 sized shimano symetre spool so I could have one with fluro and the other with braid?

Cheers,

Evoids.

[wayner]

with such light line you get plenty of stretch and less shock on your knot.with this in mine its a lot eaiser to land a bigger fish with out putting as much strain on your knot as if you were only using a leader with braid.also you are not re tying leaders on all the time as well.another point is with flurocarbon it will sink and help lure or jig head in some situations.plus i have landed some bigger fish at times with 3lb than braid and 4lb leader as you lose a little bit of strenght in your braid to leader knot and have two knots in play

cheers wayne

[BIGKEV]

I tried it, got lots of knots and gave it away in disgust. That is not to say that you will have the same issues as I did. Plenty of people do it, it just wasn't for me.....

Kev

[GregL]

Its definately worth giving a go.
I'd say to anyone who's not done it and are wondering, first thing is to use a good quality fluro - I'd recommend using 3 or 4lb Unitika FC, or Sunline Super Sniper.
I've used both and know they are good - to be honest though I've not used many others, but nevertheless, I know I have had no problems with those lines whatsoever, so on that basis, I'm happy to suggest them to save you the hassle of buying a crap fluro line that'll put you off using it for life.
Don't be afraid of going straight to 3lb either. I started off with 4lb Sniper - 'just to get used to it before I go lighter - don't want to loose to much gear'. Silly, waste of time thought.
3lb is fine - there's heaps of stretch which will actually save you fish at times, and to be honest, if your gonna get smashed on 3lb, theres a bloody good chance that you still would get smashed on 4lb - you'll probably just get a few more seconds of the fight. So just go straight to 3lb.

2lb - different story. Get used to 3lb first.

Decent reel is important to.
Not going to get drawn into any major opinions on good/not so good reels. Just make sure its small - 1000, 2000 or if you must, 2500 - no bigger though - has a good line roller and bail system, and of course its gotta be silky smooth. Any crunching in the gear will drive you nuts. Change handle bearings if you have too. Generally an easy job, but an easier job to put off and put off and put off.....just do it if it needs doing. You'll be glad you did.

Finally, and probably the key bit of advice, is as follows:
When you have actually lost your shit with 'how dead it feels', and when you are totally over it and are already deciding what nice new, totally non-stretch-so-you-can-feel-everything braid your going to replace it with - leave it on, and keep using it for another few weeks. You just have to wait a bit longer for that moment of enlightenment.
Stay focused, Glasshopper.
It will happen.....you'll all of a sudden get a hit, and thing 'oooo!...I just felt that......', and then you'll realise that infact you can feel almost everything you can with braid - you just got to handle the line differently - different line management. It might take a while to work it out, but you will eventually get it.

I've never had wind knots to deal with - just the occasional one here and there, but they're just what happen with any line at some point. Obviously you've still got to keep an eye on the spool - like you do with braid - just to make sure everything is running good, and you're not about to shoot a birds nest straight down your guides. It's super fine line, so it does have to be looked after.

Anyway, give it a go.
Regards,

Greg

[feelfree09]

what sort of rods do you use for straight thru fluoro? by that i mean action and taper? i thought if you use a stretchy line you should probably use a faster tapered rod to increase sensitivity? also do you tend to only use hb's onstraight fluoro? or sp as well?

[GregL]

Personally I'd say that most bream sticks will perform well with 3 and 4lb - I wouldn't be rushing out to by a new rod for those lines. Mine are all fast or extra fast tapered rods - but they are just what I prefer to fish with. I know other guys who use much softer rods with no dramas. Its all about learning the technique.
I would probably look at a slightly slower taper though if I was using 2lb, as you'll want a little bit of extra give in the rod with the super light line.
As for lures, I use everything except top water lures.

[anselmo]

Personally I'd say that most bream sticks will perform well with 3 and 4lb - I wouldn't be rushing out to by a new rod for those lines. Mine are all fast or extra fast tapered rods - but they are just what I prefer to fish with. I know other guys who use much softer rods with no dramas. Its all about learning the technique.
I would probably look at a slightly slower taper though if I was using 2lb, as you'll want a little bit of extra give in the rod with the super light line.
As for lures, I use everything except top water lures.

I'm using a rod that I built on a Japanese blank
The last 75cm is solid fiberglass
It's extra fast action but a slow taper (note the difference between taper and action)

The blank weighs 29g and is rated casting 0.4g-4g and up to 6lb line
I find it works best with 3lb Fl or 0.3 PE braid

The tip give extra sensitivity for detecting subtle bites but theres still an awesome amount of power in a very light rod
and unlike a lot of solid carbon tips, the tip doesn't just "fold away" - its an integral part of the rod as a whole

I should temper this with a caveat that I'm doing a differrent type of fishing over here (applying UL lure bream techniques to European fish)
but if I was back in Oz this would be my go to rod for bream with flouro straight through

Nick

[Evoids]

So the main benefit of using straight through fluro would be the stretch factor and shock absorbtion then? That and not having to re-tie leaders. I'm assuming that having straight through fluro would be good for a stealthy approach as well, seeing as how there wouldnt be any braid shadow to spook the fish. Lots of different braids are made to sink now so thats not really an issue with braid-to-fluro set-ups.

The issue of connecting knots is an interesting one, as they are usually the weak points in any setup. At such low breaking strains I can definately see how a 4lb braid to 3lb fluro setup could be weaker than a 3lb fluro straight through.

If I can get my hands on an extra spool i'll definately give this a go but as it is I think I might be able to achieve similar benefits by simply tying on a much longer length of fluro leader.

Final questions, is this sort of setup used for any particular area? I've heard of people using it fishing canals but havent read about fisho's using it elsewhere...

And, if I was after an extra spool for my shimano symetre would it be easiest to simply contact shimano australia and order the part in?

Cheers,

Evoids.

[billpatt]

I'm thinking of doing the same thing but in 10lb for snapper and sweetie fishing. I'm getting sick and tired of retying leader after getting dusted during a hot bite session.
Sometimes that 5 mins and drifting off your mark can make all the difference.

Anyone had anything to do with the Sunline FC in the heavier line class?

[Bretto]

I tried it, got lots of knots and gave it away in disgust.

THIS!

One session with this setup broke my spirit.

I've now upgraded to 4lb FC now.