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an issue to the fish, as long as the line contributes to the proper bait performance. Clunn has been fishing ricos and similar chuggers with 15-pound mono for 30 years, as the line helps float the bait and allows it to spit and splash the way it was designed—especially on a rapid retrieve.
and Siemantel has never wavered from throwing his 8-inch swimbait with 25-pound test mono—with no fluorocarbon leader, because it does nothing to improve the presentation. That there is another advantage to the 25-pound, doesn’t hurt either. in fact, with the heavier line, the way the bait and thick line travel in the air, the hooks are less likely to hang in flight. and that just makes you more efficient.
Naturally, not all baits present in the same fashion. it makes more sense to use fluorocarbon where the bait bumps bottom as with some type of jighead or slide sinker, or where the baits suspend as with a drop-shot rig. But anything that requires some buoyancy or a reduced sink rate, especially as with a swimming or trailing lure, it might be wise to experiment. it’s entirely possible that a 4- to 6-pound fluoro currently in use could be replaced by an 8- or 10-pound (tinted) mono to deliver the desired target fixation.
The bottom line, the modern bass fishermen needs to be open-minded. There are virtually no “have-to” rules out there anymore.
A good place to use fluorocarbon would be with a contour rig, such as the Texas rig employed by Gary Klein at the recent U.S. Open at Lake Mead.
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