Monofilament vs. Fluorocarbon – A Guide to Choosing the Right Tippet and Leader Material

Ah, the classic debate: which is better, Monofilament vs. Fluorocarbon? While much of this is up to debate based on opinions, here is a more scientific breakdown of the difference between monofilament vs. fluorocarbon that will help you understand each material’s strengths and weaknesses.

What is Monofilament (Mono)?

In the debate of monofilament vs. fluorocarbon, monofilament fishing line is a single strand of material extruded from nylon. Depending on the brand, different varieties of nylon are often blended together to produce varying degrees of stretch, strength, abrasion resistance, density, and other attributes.

Handling:

Due to its flexible, supple nature, mono is easy to work with, which makes it especially more manageable to cast than stiffer lines. This ease of handling also factors into its ability to tie knots, which we’ll get into later.

Stretch:

Monofilament lines and tippets offer anglers a good deal of stretch compared to fluorocarbon, which can be advantageous when fighting a fish. During quick runs or violent headshakes, mono will give and protect your tippet, helping you land more fish. A downside of stretch is that more stretch means less sensitivity.

Sink Rate/Density:

Mono is generally a larger diameter, which is directly linked to a slower sink rate. The slow sink rate, coupled with its near-neutral buoyancy, makes mono a great choice for dry fly fishing or suspended subsurface presentations.

Strength:

Mono has a lower tensile strength than fluorocarbon, which means that it has a thicker diameter at a given break strength. Additionally, mono is permeable to water and slowly absorbs water throughout the day, causing it to weaken. Over the long term, mono is also susceptible to conditions like UV rays, rain and humidity, and extreme temperatures.

Visibility:

While many companies create monofilament with different tints and colors to make it more invisible to the fish, most monofilament, especially in brighter conditions, tends to make fish visually aware of its presence.*

Knotability:

Due to its great handling, mono has superior knotability compared to fluorocarbon. For this reason, mono is also the preferred choice for big game fishing because it allows big-diameter lines to sit better to avoid knot slippage or breakage.

Price:

Monofilament is one of the most affordable of all line choices and is relatively inexpensive in comparison to fluorocarbon. You can pick up some of your own here. 

Best Applications:

Monofilament line is a useful tool for anglers fishing dry flies, wet flies, and emergers. Its ability to float makes it exceptional for fishing long leaders to rising fish. Additionally, as noted above mono line has a natural stretch. When swinging wet flies, this helps protect your leader and tippet from a sudden take. 

This same stretch also makes mono a valuable tool when building big game leaders. Mono is used as what is known as the “class tippet.” A class tippet is a section of monofilament used to add stretch and serve as a breakpoint in the leader in case you need to break a fish off. Class tippets are also what IGFA uses to measure line class records. For instance, a tarpon leader may have a 50lb fluorocarbon bite tippet but a 16lb class monofilament tippet. 

What is Fluorocarbon (Fluoro)?

Fluorocarbon is a family of synthetics and compounds, including fluorine, chlorine, and carbon, that is extruded into a single strand similar to monofilament. However, because fluorocarbon’s molecules are more tightly packed, the line is denser and has better tensile strength than mono.

Handling:

Fluorocarbon is harder, less supple, and thus more difficult to handle than mono. Due to its hardness, fluoro is more prone to line memory. Anglers will often stretch sections of fluorocarbon out to make sure there is no memory when fishing.

Stretch:

Due to its tightly packed molecules, while fluoro has less stretch, it transmits more energy than mono, which gives you much more sensitivity. The lack of stretch allows better telegraphing of information from the end of the line to your rod tip, such as subtle bites or being able to feel your fly ticking along the bottom.

Sink Rate/Density:

Fluorocarbon is tightly packed and, therefore, much more dense than mono. This density means it is negatively buoyant and wants to sink. For nymphing setups, fluoro excels at getting your flies down in the zone fast. It is worth noting when you reach a tippet diameter, typically less than 5x, and are fishing floating flies fluoro will still float. This is because the line is not heavy enough to break through the water’s surface tension. However, this same line with a nymph will sink as the nymph will break the tension and pull the fluorocarbon down with it.

Strength:

In short, fluoro is a much heartier material that results in higher abrasion resistance that is useful in situations such as tight line nymphing or fishing heavy cover. Unlike mono, fluoro does not absorb water throughout the day and is extremely resistant to the various conditions mentioned before, which makes it a much more reliable line for constant, all-day use.

The same abrasion resistance is also great for bite tippets. If you look at any saltwater angler, you’ll find fluorocarbon at the end of their leader. This protects against the abrasive mouths saltwater fish like tarpon, snook, and striped bass have.

Visibility:

The light refractive index of fluoro is very similar to that of freshwater, which means that it is much less visible in water than mono. Additionally, the high tensile strength allows you to use smaller diameters with high strength while still maintaining low visibility.

Knotability:

Fluoro’s stiffness does not lend itself well to knots. Particularly with larger diameters, knots do not seat well, which often causes slippage or breakage.

Price:

One of the greatest downsides to Fluoro by far is its price. Often, you will see 30yd spools of tippet going for almost $30 dollars, but sometimes, the benefits outweigh the high price point. Pick up some of your own here.

Best Applications:

Fluorocarbon is best suited for nymph fishing and bite tippets when abrasion resistance is a concern. For nymph fishing, fluorocarbon’s ability to sink and abrasion resistance make it the preferred choice. It aids in getting your flies to depth and holds up better against rocks. For bite tippets, fluorocarbon’s abrasion resistance makes it suitable to land large fish like tarpon without them chewing through your line.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. In the debate of monofilament vs. fluorocarbon, each line has its own advantages and disadvantages, and hopefully, this breakdown will help you buy the right line type. Be cognizant, though, that there are many variations, even within line types, depending on the manufacturer. For more information on choosing the right amount of tippet check out this article, HERE.

The article was written by Matteo Moretti.

*Based on results from this scientific paper.

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