How Much More Resistant To Teeth Is Fc Vs Braid? 2024

Catch and Grease reply :

Hey guys, I have the problem of fishing a place with a good bit of big pickerel. I lose squarebills to them all the time when fishing braid and its starting to get frustrating, I'm wondering if I switched to a FC leader would it help any or do you think I would lose just as many baits? Another question is would the thicker leader make my bait run noticeably more shallow? I like using braid because its strong and thin and can really help get your baits down further and was wondering if the leader would mess that up.

I'm not targeting the Pickerel btw, I just don't want to keep losing lures while targeting bass. I have like one square bill left and I cant keep replacing them

J Francho reply :

What baits? Braid does not hold up very well to pickerel, tigers, and pike. I use a 30-60# fluoro leader when I target northern pike. A contact bait will be dragged down by the weight of the leader. Spinnerbaits don't seem to be affected, but I use fairly heavy baits. Take a look at Cortland Toothy Critter in 10 and 20 lb. size. It's tieable, and very tough. Bass don't seem to mind it at all.

Catch and Grease reply :

I'm really only worried about squarebill crankbaits, Whats your experience using leaders like that with shallow crankbaits?

Josh Smith reply :

Hello,

I use FC leaders when I want lures to run deeper and mono leaders when I want them shallower.

Josh

J Francho reply :

On 9/24/2014 at 9:21 PM, Catch and Grease said:
I'm really only worried about squarebill crankbaits, Whats your experience using leaders like that with shallow crankbaits?

Cortland Toothy Critter in 10# is your best option. My buddy, Maico1, is using another product, but I can't remember what it is. Same idea - easy to tie on your mainline.

aavery2 reply :

With shallow crankbaits it makes only a few inches difference to use straight FC as apposed to straight braid. In testing crankbaits only reach their maximum depth when cast at least 100 feet. It is difficult to know the exact amount of difference it will make but if you use the conclusions reached in the book "Precision Casting" they state that crankbaits using 8lb test mono ran 20% deeper than crankbaits cast on 14lb test mono, they also state that crankbaits using 20lb mono ran 10% less deep than crankbaits using 14 lb test.

So it would probably be safe to say the small amount of difference between 10 lb braid (.006) and 10 lb FC (.010) would fall somewhere between 10 and 20 percent.

If you figure a shallow square bill designed to run at a max depth of 3 feet or 36 inches and do the math, you are looking at a depth difference somewhere between 3-7 inches when cast at least 100 feet.

This is not exact because it does not take into consideration the difference in density between FC and braided lines and the original tests were conducted using the same type of line. Also you are planning on using a leader and these numbers probably represent what may occur if using line with no leader.

But I feel safe saying that it should fall within that 10% window.

With all of this said the only way you will know for sure is to tie on your bait and give it a try, no one is going to be able to give you an exact answer.

.ghoti. reply :

On 9/24/2014 at 9:21 PM, Catch and Grease said:
I'm really only worried about squarebill crankbaits, Whats your experience using leaders like that with shallow crankbaits?

Don't over-think it, just try it.

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 1:04 AM, .ghoti. said:
Don't over-think it, just try it.

I need a slide rule....

.ghoti. reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 1:05 AM, J Francho said:
I need a slide rule....

The rule is, you go down the slide, not up.

J Francho reply :

Let's eat Grampa.

Let's eat, Grampa.

Semantics matter, man.

aavery2 reply :

Walleye guys like to be as precise as possible and have went to great lengths to determine diving curves for crankbaits. My point was to show that there is a science behind it, but in the end the only way you will know is to tie a bait on and try.

J Francho reply :

We're just goofing on you (and me), aavery2 - carry on

Scott F reply :

Pike and pickerel are going to slice through light (under 60 lb) test line like butter. Doesn't matter if its FC, mono or braid. Buy some steel leaders.

Felix77 reply :

I keep a few steel leaders around when this begins to happen.

J Francho reply :

Quote

Pike and pickerel are going to slice through light (under 60 lb) test line like butter.

That isn't my experience. Their reputation is overblown. Add to that that once they realize it's a pickerel or northern, people panic and horse the fish in, breaking off in the process. There's also the crummy knot tiers that always blame bad knots or worn leaders on toothies. Whether I use a leader, it really depends on the bait. Moving baits aren't as much a problem as jigs and plastics, though wakes and square bills seem to attract a lot of attention from gators. In fact, I don't even bother with a leader of any kind when fishing northerns with a spinnerbait. 10-12# copoly or fluoro holds up fine. In fact, I lost one spinnerbait (it actually broke in half, line intact) over the past few weekends fishing northerns. I'd say I've boated around 35 to 40 of them. Now If' is was using a contact bait that gets inhaled before you set the hook, that's another story.

Here's a spinnerbait fish from a couple weekends ago, fishing with clayton86. Pretty typical size, 8-9 lbs., caught using 10# CXX:

Here's one where I was lucky....tiny little finesse crank, 8# CXX....13-8 northern, lol.

This is a case where clearly I should have used leader, and I did once i understood just how many northernswere in this creek.

Moral of the story, sometimes there are issues that don't need solving. In the OP's case, sounds like he's actually losing baits. To me, steel sucks, as a solution. It creates a whole set of problems, not the least being it ruins the action. So far, the Cortland leader I described above is one of the best options. The next best, if you must use a leader, is titanium.

rippin-lips reply :

I fished Sunday in a lake that has toothy fish. Nobody broke off out of us 3. I was using the highest pound test out of us 3. It's was yozuri #12

I caught a pike,a walleye, and a lot of pickerel. Plus some large and smallmouth bass.

Catch and Grease reply :

Well I'll try the toothy critters leaders when I get a chance to buy some, its kinda pricey too, its like a dollar a foot.

Might just have to suck it up and come to terms with the fact that I'm gonna lose baits to pickerel in this lake.

EDIT: I guess I could try to find some good leaders with snaps and just toss one on when the pickerel are biting a lot, any suggestions on a brand?

Catch and Grease reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 2:53 AM, rippin-lips said:

I fished Sunday in a lake that has toothy fish. Nobody broke off out of us 3. I was using the highest pound test out of us 3. It's was yozuri #12

I caught a pike,a walleye, and a lot of pickerel. Plus some large and smallmouth bass.

Some days I can catch 20 pickerel on a squarebill and never have a problem, next day the pickerel are ingulfing the crank and cutting it off often...

J Francho reply :

Quote

Well I'll try the toothy critters leaders when I get a chance to buy some, its kinda pricey too, its like a dollar a foot.

Cheap, compared to $5 to $20 a crank, lol.

Fisher-O-men reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 1:09 AM, J Francho said:

Let's eat Grampa.

Let's eat, Grampa.

Semantics matter, man.

Actually, that's grammar.

Seems all he is asking is what puts up to sharp objects better. The answer is FC.

Alonerankin2 reply :

I guess for squarebills, seems to me like 15 CXX.. Should help you save you're baits... I have had but a few cut offs in Florida from gator gar, plus it's much cheaper and better than a steel/ titanium leader, ...for sure a few ways to go.. Seaguars leader material is good stuff as well..

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 4:07 AM, Fisher-O-men said:

Actually, that's grammar.

Seems all he is asking is what puts up to sharp objects better. The answer is FC.

Actually, no, it's punctuation, which isn't really a part of grammar, though it could be argued it's in the semantics subset of grammar, but in general grammar is generally the rules used to construct expressions in English. Both sentences are grammatically correct, and punctuated correctly, though each has a completely disparate implication - the very definition of semantics.

But I digress...Gary and I were kidding around. It should probably be known that we have each others' phone number, and yell into the phone at each other at will, lol.

Anyway, there are lines that tougher than FC - especially reel filler line - Yo-Zuri Hybrid and CXX come to mind. FC leader material is another story, though it's more expensive than the Cortland leader I recommended above. One thing, once there's a nick in some FC lines, it's over. Retie. Copolymers and traditional mono is more forgiving in that regard.

EvanT123 reply :

I agree with johns post about the horsing in. One would think playing the fish would lead to more opportunities to break the line but this generally has not been my experience.

If you look closely you can see the line and maybe even the fluke in the fish's mouth. I cut the line to make handling and unhooking the fish easier. 12lb yo-zuri.

Fisher-O-men reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 4:49 AM, J Francho said:

Anyway, there are lines that tougher than FC - especially reel filler line - Yo-Zuri Hybrid and CXX come to mind. FC leader material is another story, though it's more expensive than the Cortland leader I recommended above. One thing, once there's a nick in some FC lines, it's over. Retie. Copolymers and traditional mono is more forgiving in that regard.

Yeah, Yozuri is crazy tough! I was simply answering the question posed by the thread title. No toothy criters here, just Quaggas.

Catch and Grease reply :

Maybe I'll try using some yo-zuri as a leader too, I might still lose a bait here and there but maybe it'll make it less frequent...

J Francho reply :

Fisher - they should make braid scissors out of zebes and quagga mussels.

Jeff H reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 4:53 AM, EvanT123 said:

I agree with johns post about the horsing in. One would think playing the fish would lead to more opportunities to break the line but this generally has not been my experience.

If you look closely you can see the line and maybe even the fluke in the fish's mouth. I cut the line to make handling and unhooking the fish easier. 12lb yo-zuri.

I don't see a fish! All I see is a bag of fertilizer with eyes.

J Francho reply :

I see pike casserole.

Jolly Green reply :

Knot 2 Kinky is another brand of wire that can be tied, runs about 50 cents a foot.

I've never fished FC leaders heavier than 20#. It's pike resistant, but not pike proof; I still get bit off occasionally, always on the strike.

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How Much More Resistant To Teeth Is Fc Vs Braid? 2024

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