New Masterclass Fluorocarbon Review by Simon Robinson
Published: 23rd April 2018 | Author: Simon RobinsonFulling Mill Ambassador Simon Robinson has put the lighter breaking strains of the new Masterclass Fluorocarbon to the test on spooky stillwater trout as well as wild river browns…
For many years I have been a big fan of the standard Worldclass Fulling Mill fluorocarbon and use it for all my subsurface fishing on reservoirs and small stillwaters. To be totally honest I have been happy with the material for many years and really had no desire to change or try something different. However, as part of the fulling Mill ambassador team, I was in the fortunate position to be able to try the new Fulling Mill Masterclass Fluorocarbon.
When choosing any leader material I always choose by diameter rather than breaking strain so when the new masterclass fluorocarbon became available in finer diameters (0.11- 0.12mm) I was very keen to try this. Until this point I have never been fan of fluorocarbon below 0.16mm (3lb in the original Worldclass fluorocarbon) as I have found it to be week and unreliable, particularly when fishing with droppers.
I was therefore very keen to see how the new fluorocarbon would perform in the finer guises when either river fishing or, in particular, targeting educated fish on small stillwaters.
Over the past few weeks, I finally managed to get out fishing and have fished a few sessions on both stillwaters and running water. Despite some initial skepticism, I have been delighted with the new fluorocarbon. On a recent visit to Ireland I manged to get few short sessions on a small stream. I selected the 0.11mm (7X) fluorocarbon to fish a mix of dryfly and nymph methods. The new masterclass fluorocarbon proved to be excellent and managed to catch a large number of wild trout in very short session. I was particularly impressed with the strength of the material when bullying fish away from obstructions but also when faced with the inevitable issues of snagging the river bed and catching over-hanging trees! Based on my initial findings would say that the new fluoro is much stronger than some of the other materials I have used and subsequently abandoned in the past.
When I returned to England I was finally able to put the material to the test with larger fish on a small stillwater. I made the trip to North Yorkshire where I was greeted with a typical small highly pressured stillwater fishery. These types of conditions are never easy and typically demand fine line and small flies. In this situation I would usually reach for copolymer, however, on this occasion, I opted to test the 0.12mm (6X) Masterclass fluorocarbon.
Again I was very impressed with the material and given the clear water the fluorocarbon was actually a possible advantage over copolymer. I managed to land a large number of fish in the 2-3lb bracket, mostly on small diawl bachs and CDC dry patterns. I was particularly impressed with the fluorocarbons ability to survive potential smash takes when fishing small nymphs. I landed several resident brown trout which had obviously been in the water for some time. These resident fish are often the most difficult fish to tempt and are extremely leader shy.
Overall my early impressions of the new material are extremely positive and I think that it will provide an edge over copolymer in certain conditions, it has certainly given me new faith in a fluorocarbon in fine diameters and I am looking forward to continuing to use it for clear water and difficult fish on both running still waters.
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