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| Fluorocarbon
fishing line, which is nearly invisible underwater, has been on the
market for more than a decade, and anglers still like to debate whether
it really makes a difference. The answer, of course, is very simple:
sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes fish will bite a
bait tied to a piece of 3/8" anchor line and sometimes they'll turn
their noses up at any but the stealthiest presentations. Still, we use fluorocarbon quite a bit, because one thing is for sure--you won't get less bites with fluoro. And you very well might get more. Keep in mind too that fluoro's low visibility isn't its only desirable property. It's also more abrasion-resistant than plain mono (a big deal when fishing yellowtail, grouper, etc. near the bottom) and it sinks a lot faster, which is mainly advantageous for the fly-flinging crowd. We use 60-lb. fluoro for making "stealth" trolling leaders and making bait leaders for yellowtail fishing. We firmly believe that hoochies and other trolling jigs rigged on 60-lb. fluoro get bit more often than those rigged on the usual 100- to 200-lb. mono. The tradeoff? Hook a billfish and you may well lose the fish and your lure. Otherwise, 60-lb. is plenty good for anything you're likely to hook trolling offshore in Baja--except big tuna at the south end. We also occasionally tie plugs like MirrOlures on 60-lb. fluoro leaders for inshore trolling when things are slow. And when we're fishing live bait for yellowtail in the Cortez, we almost always use a 60-lb. fluoro leader. It doesn't hurt when you're fishing white seabass with live bait, either. We use the 40-lb. fluoro for making bait leaders for albacore and schoolie yellowfin offshore, and sometimes we rig swimbaits for tuna on a short leader of 40-lb. fluoro. 40-lb. fluoro is also useful for halibut fishing on the northern Pacific side, and it doesn't hurt to use fluoro bait leaders for dorado, which occasionally get picky. Izorline's fluorocarbon leader material is 100% solid fluoro, not fluoro-coated, and reasonably priced. |
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Izorline Fluoro Leader, 13-yd. coil 40-lb........$12.50 60-lb........$17.00 40-lb..........$9.50 60-lb........$13.50 One left of 40-lb. Out of 60. (ship weight .10 lbs.) |
Izorline Monofilament Leader Material
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| For
most trolling leaders, we use plain mono instead of fluorocarbon,
mainly because it's a lot cheaper and because billfish and dorado
rarely seem to be leader-shy. In our experience, 150-lb. mono is plenty for everything in Baja except big blue or black marlin. We use it to make trolling leaders for any lure that might reasonably get bit by a sailfish or marlin, including most of our dorado lures. In other words, if line visibility doesn't seem to be an issue and there's any chance at all of picking up an incidental sail or striper, we use 150-lb. on our trolling lures. 80-lb. mono works well for bait leaders for big yellowtail and grouper hugging the rocks down deep. It provides good abrasion resistance but it's still thin and supple enough that it won't encumber your bait too much. It also makes a good, expensive trolling leader for dorado and tuna trolling when visibility isn't an issue. And frankly, a 6-foot, 80-lb. mono leader is usually sufficient for sailfish. We carry 50-yd. coils of 80- and 150-lb. The only other weight we use ourselves is 100-lb., which makes good live-bait leaders for dropping baits back to striped marlin or sight-casting to them. We'll bring it in if there appears to be a demand. Izorline's First String leader material has relatively low memory, and it's tough, easy to work with and priced right. |
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Izorline Mono Leader, 50-yd. coil 80-lb........$5.75 150-lb......$7.50 80-lb........$4.50 150-lb......$6.00 (ship weight .25 lbs.) One 80-lb. and two 150-lb. coils left |
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