Wire vs Flurocarbon. Pros and cons of pike trace materials

Westin Fishing backed Thom Hunt discusses differences in pike lure fishing trace material. Talking about steel wires vs titanium material, knottable wire vs crimping and thick flurocarbon offering different presentation options in clear water, or fishing deep vs shallow

[@joshhead9368]

Great video man thanks for the tips

[@andrewnagel4832]

Great discussive content Thom. Nice to watch an angler that can think things through. I've been piking for 40+ years. UK based for 15 of those, Scandinavia based for 25 years+. I believe most anglers simply buy what they are sold and don't do much thinking, unlike yourself. The tackle industry makes better margins on FC than wire so they push it. Watch any waterwolf type underwater video and FC shows up like a tow rope. Which ever material anglers use is a personal choice. We can only hope they have fish welfare in mind while making the choice.

[@dancolloby8163]

Cheers Thom, always interested in your opinions👍

[@deanmentjes7774]

Good video! I appreciate your thoughtful and analytical approach. For me, since my home lake has clear water, I use Fluorocarbon 90%+ of the time. I keep a good supply of 100 lb test and 130 lb test Fluorocarbon leaders on hand, and I prefer them with Fastach snaps for quick lure changes and less snap metal fatigue at the bend point. Any time a flouro leader gets knicked, it is retired and a new one goes on. Regards from USA, new subscriber here, thanks again.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Hi Dean, many thanks for your comment! Yep Fluoro with Fastach is my go-to as well now 👍🏻

[@mranguria8848]

Really interesting topic to be fair!!

[@CHRISBUCKLANDjohn]

Thanks great advice mate

[@Rattagun46]

Very good video, I am of the old school wire brigade...but...having looked into it more and more I kinda get the fluro thing, as you said when catching lots of pike, fluro can be better as less likely to fail. Conversely if you don't catch big numbers you could use either, I understand why wire may fail when catching big numbers of fish. Smaller lures I have and do use fluro for perch etc Intresting about lure depth too. Something I hadn't thought about , one thing one of the Dutch anglers said to me about fluro, was it is not invisible. One of better vids I've seen on this subject 👏

[@shanestanton7796]

Thanks for that video going to try fluorocarbon 👍

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep go minimum 0.9mm or 1mm 👍🏻

[@NetfishnChill]

Awesome man 🤙💚

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Cheers 🍻

[@conditionsrgoodfishing7094]

Just found you on Tubi , (Hunting Fish) luv the first episode . Subscribe to your channel keep up the work .

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Really enjoyed filming that series.... it gets better the more eps you watch!

[@noblestsavage1742]

My local canal is very narrow and shallow, 4ft max depth. It’s always crystal clear and the pike are extremely leader shy, very difficult to catch using wire so I use mason hard mono as recommended by pike fly ace Barry Reynolds. Get a HUGE difference in catch rate.

[@reellures2770]

An interesting topic, I use both, have done for quite some time. I do tend to favour titanium with heavy lures. That said I’m confident in fluorocarbon and have no issue using it for big pike.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes especially when catching big numbers of pike…. Fluoro & Titanium are the only options unless you want to change your trace 5 times in a day!

[@benjones3819]

Great informative vid! A true connoisseur of fishing👌🏼 Have you got a vid of what & how you’d tie your traces? Cheers

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep someone else asked that recently I will show how I tie my wire traces 👍🏻

[@benjones3819]

@@Thomhuntfishing Niceone👍🏼Enjoyed the new vid as well

[@johanwithag2432]

You mainly talked from the perspective of using lures, but there is also dead bait ledgered and float pike fishing. And that's a totally different story. What works for lures will not work for dead bait fishing when it comes to using fluorocarbon. And I think in the UK there is a lot more pike dead bait fishing then for example the northern countries (Zweden, Norway etc.). So more use of wire traces in the UK for that reason. Fluorocarbon is relatively save with lures because 90% of the time the fluo line is not even near the pike's teeth.

[@leafysfishing]

Your videos are far more informative than most.. thanks! People need to like these videos more (pressing the thumbs up) .. I see you don't really like to ask so ... "people (please thumb up these videos 🤣)

[@paulharris6886]

My thoughts are if they are trebles of any size, I use wire unless it is pike-free water

[@adam2jzzz801]

Hi Thom, could you do a video on organising your lures/terminal tackle and how you decide what to take on competition days etc

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep no problem it’s on my list of videos to do 👍🏻

[@TheBassRacer]

Good video👌 I’ve seen 1mm Fluoro bitten off, only once in 3 years. I’ve seen TI fail 3 times over a long time but never normal wire. Fluoro has a place with singles hooks maybe. Clips fail more than TI or Fluoro. Fulling Mill wire is great 👍

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep I agree I’ve had clips fail more than wire and fluro put together

[@TheBassRacer]

@@Thomhuntfishing me to, I use sea fishing clips now that can’t open

[@scottwhittaker4996]

Great to hear your thoughts on that. Love your videos, don't really think anyone else does this indepth lure advise for the UK angler. Do you still use wire when using 5cm,7cm shads on jig heads when targeting perch but know that there is pike in the water your fishing?

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes I make a judgement call. For tiny lures like you mentioned, 5-7cm I generally use flouro as I’m targeting perch/Zander in canals usually. If there’s a good chance of pike then I use Drennan 10lb knotable wire, Soft strand I think it’s called 👍🏻

[@scottwhittaker4996]

@@Thomhuntfishing cheers Thom.

[@danram69]

good advice

[@chrisowenuk3792]

Great video lots of really excellent information. Could you do a video on single hooks vs treble hooks, I am not a fan of trebles. Many thanks

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep no problem I’ll do it as my next video 👍🏻

[@chrisowenuk3792]

@@Thomhuntfishing Thank you

[@jurajcernava8136]

Caught 94 cm, 7.5 kg pike on 0.25 fluorocarbon this year. The pike was also rolling trying to get the fluoro across the mouth to bite the fluoro but nothing really happened. In my experience, only time pike bit it was when I kept super small jack (like 50cm) in the net looking for pliers and that small pike bit 0.33 fluoro into 3 pieces :D

[@kos7941]

Just luck bud. 1mm nmin diamiter for pike to avoid bite offs , anything unders too risk

[@Pescapesca8]

If I decided to catch a pike (big) I use the wire If I want fish a perch I don’t use a wire

[@chaos_f4i]

Hey! For my fishing lately I've been using wire on a shallower River 10ft max not super clear but a light 3 dip tea sort of colour struggling to get a bite, changed to fluro ( same spot same lures ect) and had 2 fish within half an hour feel like on rivers or shallow lakes flurocarbon is a game changer

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes, consider though that we generally use thick flourocarbon for pike of 0.9mm and bigger so it may be just as much about the presentation (thicker line slows the action & fall rate of the lure which can be great at this time of year in cold water) as the difference in visibility

[@chaos_f4i]

@@Thomhuntfishing true possibly!

[@simondavies3112]

Hi Thom, A good video there cheers. Most of my fishing has been out in Florida. Typically we wouldn’t use wire out there. I’d go out, set up with a few different rods. One for top water (mono leader), live bait, subsurface lure both fluoro. Now I’m back in the U.K. and loving lure fishing for pike. The biggest thing I dislike is using swivels. Braid to fluoro or mono I’d tie an Albright knot and use some glue over it to it could easily pass through the eyes. I’d tie a long leader and then retie as necessary through the fishing session. Mono always for surface lures (price and it sinks slower also better against abrasion). I’d catch with teeth and never had a problem but it was a lot of tying in a successful days catching. Can you tie the knotable wire directly to braid? My biggest problem or reason I don’t like wire is using a swivel and how that changes presentation of lure.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep I agree with you there, I hate any extra ‘hardware’ on my traces. I generally create a small loop in the end of the trace, either using a perfection loop knot or a simple triple threaded crimp, depending on the type of wire. I then attach my braid or fluro direct to the loop with a tucked blood knot, probably not the best knot for braid but in reality I’ve never had issues so just stick with it. However I’m sure you could use a whipping knot to attach to the wire, I haven’t personally done it but if done correctly I see no reason it wouldn’t work. The only reason I use loops is for storage, I keep my traces made up in a straight wallet so they’re already done, and it’s not easy storing wire traces if the end has no loop on it!

[@simondavies3112]

@@Thomhuntfishing yea, agree with the storage problems. Is there a wire that’s supple enough to be kept on spool and tied whilst out or would they need to be pre made? I really enjoy working a lure over the surface and I don’t like the tap tap tap of the hardware on the surface. So just trying to work out how to make this work better. I’ve fished days in the U.K. where I’ve used wire and had a kink so changed it (only having fluoro in the bag) and a hit straight away. I do like the video though, it’s very cultural in the U.K. that people really frown on non wire trace. 👍🏻

[@Thomhuntfishing]

I pre make all my traces due to Tournament schedule, minutes making up kit on the bank is wasted fishing time in a comp. however for pleasure anglers yeah just make them up on the bank then 👍🏻

[@simondavies3112]

@@Thomhuntfishing yea I know what you mean with the tournaments. I’ll give it an experiment and comment again

[@HBweisse]

Nice video mate. I just approached pike lure fishing, but I'm quite an experienced angler in saltwater in lure fishing, jigging , trolling and drifting...so that experience obviously helps but I still find new things to learn about pike fishing every day. I agree with your point on the differences, but in practice (even if I'm comvinced as you are) I'm not too sure the differences are actually that big once the lire is in the water. I'm from Italy even if i live in the UK and also in italy FC is more common I'd say. Anyway, would it be possible that in the UK wire is more.common also because many times here we fish with smaller lures? For example i think in northern europe they use big lures, ans in italy there's quite a trend onnusing big ones

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes wire is much better for lure under 16/18cm in my opinion

[@maciasduchywod]

Hi ! I think they both work great. For bigger lures i mostly use fluo when I fish quite shallow early season may or later autum. That is due to clarity of water ... BUT. I also use big treble hooks and wired traces on a lure, so ... does it matter anyway ? :)I use mostly bigger lures on my casting rod so slow retrieval is ok with fluo and action of the lure is the same. If I need to go deeper I just wait a bit more. I also like fluo 1mm as a trace material because for me it is really more easy in 'do it yourself'. Basically it is the same but fluo is better due to its thickness and stifness. Honestly i didnt have any problems with cut offs (but with wire I had-especially if it is bought). Last time after 1m+ fish one sleeve on fluo slipped a little but I just inspect it every time I start fishing and cut a piece if sth is wrong that is why I make it like 50cm. To cut wire properly it should be heated with a lighter - and such operations require a bit more time plus if weather is awful and windy ... pain in the ass. Small lures - wire. Sometimes fluo 0.8 but not really sure only if conditions would be tricky sunny and crystal water.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep agree with most of that, I’ve always wondered…. They can see the thin wire trace but missed the large treble hooks?! Also be careful with 0.8mm Fluoro… I’ve been bitten off on 0.9mm before

[@bultertix9860]

Here in Sweden Im taught only FC and not under 1.2mm. Reason for FC is you can see and feel the most tiny damage on the leader and snip that off or retie the leader. Damage on wire can be hard to notice and so you use a faulty leader.

[@premprem3159]

Hi great video and a lot of key information as always. Can you tell me how long fluorocarbon would you use for slow down pike fishing on the hang jerkbait between 7-13cm. The most important factor is weight of the leader so fluorocarbon will be better to stop sinking the lure. I was thinking something bettween double+ the size of the lure between 35 to 40cm. Would really like to know your opinion about this topic, many thanks

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes 40cm would be good 👍🏻

[@Lordo]

Hi there I messaged you Instagram about the gunki typsy sxl 13cm lure. I’m unsure on what hook to use for it.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Sorry must have missed that! Depending what species your after a 4/0 to 6/0 will work nicely with that size bait 👍🏻 for perch and Zander I tend to fish slightly smaller, for pike I tend to fish slightly larger

[@woodlandbiker]

Reading many pike angling threads I gather here in the UK anyone using anything but wire would get crucified.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Sort of yes. It comes from the very old school thinking where most pike anglers were dead baiters so it was all exclusively wire for traces and rightly so. However now lure fishing is a much more modern approach, you could use either *thick* Flouro or wire. For me it depends on bait size and presentation. 1mm Flouro doesn’t work well on baits smaller than about 15cm, and it’s no good for fishing deep either

[@Frogmandb]

great vids, sorry if you said this in the video but does flurocarbon get memory like line? I am thinking of using a flurocarbon leader for finesse perch fishing so only like maximum 10lb breaking strain

[@Thomhuntfishing]

A10lb Flouro shouldn’t generally have much memory. The thicker it gets the more memory it has, and a good trick is is to pull tight and hold over a steaming kettle the heat will re set the memory to straight 👍 be careful of the steam heat though!

[@Frogmandb]

@@Thomhuntfishing thanks mate :) only fishing like minimum 3 grams on the end but will be going heavier for the finesse 😎 cheers !

[@colziv6934]

Hi i have a shimano sahara 3000 reel what lb braid would you advise and what lb mono backing would you use for pike my rod is 20-60gram lure .and will be using the shad teez and swim lures thankyou

[@Thomhuntfishing]

If you are fishing places with not too many snags 30-40lb braid should be ok. However, some pike lures are quite expensive so many guys use 65-80lb braid as a better chance of getting lures back. You’ll want at least 100m of braid on the reel, the mono backing just use whatever stuff you have around, it’s just to bulk the spool out a bit (if you have deep spools on your reels) so the braid fills up to the edge of the spool nicely.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Check out this video I made for pike fishing and what braid to use kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2LGm5Wgl8uIqbc

[@colziv6934]

Thankyou for your help just watched the video and have a better understanding .

[@louiemartin9238]

Hello mate, just asking for an opinion. I want to get a lighter set up and I’m stuck between a baitcaster and a spinning reel. Would you suggest using small soft plastics on a baitcaster or is it not suited to this?

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes it’s possible to fish small lures on a baitcaster set up but this will specifically be referred to as BFS (baitcaster finesse system). It’s quite specialised and personally I would not recommend it until you have more experience with lure fishing. A regular fixed spool spinning reel and rod is much better for beginners. (And experts sometimes too, to be honest, baitcasters don’t suit me I use spinning reels for everything from tiny perch to huge pike)

[@louiemartin9238]

@@Thomhuntfishing cheers 👍I’ve been using my heavy set up baitcaster for about 2 years now and I thought it would be better if I was to get something a little bit smaller because there isn’t many places around me with big pike. Plus I actually think it’s more fun using little spinners and small plugs 😂

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yep so anything 6g and over a ‘normal’ baitcaster can be used. From 1-5g you’ll deffo need a dedicated BFS reel, which I’m no expert on but are either really expensive (Shimano Alderbaran £399.99) or you need specific Chinese makes/models that a lot of guys buy different bearings and play around with to make them work right

[@dudbolt9707]

I have a genuine question for you..... I do love my westin w6 rods i have the streetstick and drop shot however I’m not loving the tiny eyes on the rods. Im fishing crystal clear water so i like to have a 20’ - 30’ fluro leader. Im using a gt knot to connect my braid to fluro and its just not passing through the eyes very well. Only .10 braid to about 10lb fluro so not massive line diameters......

[@Thomhuntfishing]

I’m not sure what a GT knot is. But the FG knot is excellent for long leaders/casting through rings. It’s tricky to tie so do it at home, not on the bank!

[@dudbolt9707]

@@Thomhuntfishing Thanks will try it tomorrow on the mighty Gloucester up the clear end ha

[@Thomhuntfishing]

What you fishing for up that end? The GC used to me my old stomping ground for a few years!

[@dudbolt9707]

@@Thomhuntfishing well i have seen you fishing before up the muddy end! Im after anything with stripes though think all the rain is gonna make it murky and hard. Excuses excuses ha

[@thelureangler4346]

Do you ever use wire for other predatory fish? Zander clearly have teeth but they don’t seem to be as razor sharp as on a pike, so what leader do you use for them?

[@alexp831]

Personally for zander I use fluorocarbon. As you say even though zander have teeth they are more conical and seem to use them mainly for crushing and putting holes in fish, where as pike teeth seem more designed for slashing and slicing. One thing that has got me thinking about this topic fluro vs wire is I know traditionally wire has been used for pike, but thinking of my sea angling, the charter boat I frequently use, when fishing for tope and conger eels.....pretty toothy fish, use crimped traces of about 200lb mono and I have not seen one bite off

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Biologically Zander have completely different teeth to pike and this also relates to how their feeding behaviour differs. Zander have pointed conical (cone shaped) teeth designed for puncturing fish. This is why they often hit baits in a sharp, quick manner and then spit them out a lot. They don’t spit lures out per se because they’ve worked out it’s a lure, it’s just how they feed for a large percentage of the time. But in conclusion, no a Zander will never bite through flurocarbon because of its teeth. If pike are present and there’s a good chance of hooking one, I always use wire. But if it’s just perch and Zander then I use flurocarbon 👍🏻

[@robertclare6137]

If I can catch a Tope or Blue shark on Fluro Carbon I can catch a pike on it, however for fish safety I'd use a wire trace and a single size 6 hook for pike, No need for treble hooks

[@jaquesdaniels2964]

First point is that the discussion is about traces for LURE fishing . When lure fishing , the "bait" is usually ( but not always) at the front of the pikes mouth , quite often , the trace may not come into contact with the pikes teeth . Compare to deadbait - where some anglers delay the strike after a pick up , and the bait can further into the pikes mouth . 0.9 /1mm flourocarbon will take some punishment - but if its been in contact with pike teeth , I'll change it . When jerk baits first came out , we fished them on solid wire traces to maximise the action - I still do - using 0.8 mm TIG welding wire for the traces . Maybe you could do a video trying this out . Re Scandinavia , bear in mind that their waters are usually pristine and gin clear , compared some UK waters . See this gents findings on flourocarbon traces kzbin.info/www/bejne/p329fmyLpqiXack

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Hey there, thanks for the comment. Yeah absolutely lures only for me never done any dead baiting so doesn’t come in to my mind! Sorry if that wasn’t clear! Interesting on the TIG wire have you got a link please I’d like to check it out 👍🏻

[@jaquesdaniels2964]

@@Thomhuntfishing I found these www.weldingdirect.co.uk/Sif-316-08mm---316L-08mm-Stainless-Steel-TIG-Rods-500g - problem is - the rods are 1 metre long , so a pack is enough for zillions of traces ! - I'm a welder/fabricator so not a problem for me , maybe you can chat up a local welder to let you have a few rods for a donation to the tea fund . Don't be fooled by stainless MIG wire -it comes on spools and you cannot straighten it - TIG wire is the way to go .

[@jaquesdaniels2964]

PS , the traces are short - 20-20 cm .

[@kentonsmith6609]

I think here in the uk its a generation thing, with the newer breed of lure angler being more confident in using flouro. Both will always have a part to play though .

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Yes I think you’re right there. Only tricky bit is the fact that so many clubs/venues insist on wire only

[@jamesfletcher4267]

What pound test wire do you use?

[@Thomhuntfishing]

For perch fishing (with a chance of Pike) I use 10-13lb wire, for light pike fishing 25-30lb wire for heavy pike fishing 50-60lb wire 👍🏻

[@kieranberney8620]

Would you knot 0.9mm florocarbon or crimp?

[@Thomhuntfishing]

I have used double barrel crimps in the past as it seems beater but I know some guys use knots

[@kieranberney8620]

@@Thomhuntfishing thank you for your reply. When you crimp would you use a flemish loop (as used when sea fishing in heavy mono or wire)as a security measure because as you know crimps slip.

[@Thomhuntfishing]

I’ve not used a Flemish loop on heavy fluro before, for me with 0.9mm-1.2mm fluro it would end up quite bulky which I’m not keen on. With a double barrel crimp, leave about 3-5mm tag end, and use a lighter to melt the tag end and create a small blob on the end. Then even if the crimp slips, the blobbed end physically can’t pull through

[@kieranberney8620]

@@Thomhuntfishing thank you for the reply and tip with lighter. Use it for carp rigs never even thought about it for floro traces.

[@Clearvision21]

Any thoughts on copolymer?

[@Thomhuntfishing]

Haven’t really used Copolymer much as when I do use a ‘line’ for traces it’s Flurocarbon. But from what I know Copolymer (2 types of nylon) is generally better than most monofilament lines (1 type of nylon) as the blends can give different effects on strength, diameter, abrasion resistance etc but still much more affordable than expensive flouro

[@Clearvision21]

@@Thomhuntfishing thx for the reply. you got me looking more into the Westin range of rods 👍, look amazing quality. Would the jerkbait w3 & w6 be a good starting point to use for canal/river. Looking for a versatile rod for lures ranging from 30g upwards. Thx

[@Thomhuntfishing]

@@Clearvision21 Is it specifically pike you’re targeting? The jerkbait rod is pretty short and strong, designed for working good sized lures accurately for pike in fairly shallow to medium depth water. As for the quality of Westin kit, all of it is exceptional. The W3 range is the best value range of rids I’ve ever used, brilliant performance at a great price. But I also have a few W6 and they are just 👌👌👌

[@Clearvision21]

@@Thomhuntfishing 👍 yes pike, I have some smaller kit for say perch on canal. Probably the lower cost range. Wanting to buy something that's going to be able to handle larger pike as I improve but also feel nice. Appreciate your advice 👍

[@DoctorGibbon]

never used fluorocarbon leaders until last year, used wire for 25 years in Denmark not really sure you are right

[@Thomhuntfishing]

I guess it’s a cultural thing, I know 95% of people here in the UK use wire, but nearly all (probably 80-90%+) of the guys I know in the Westin team in rest of Europe are the opposite and use thick flurocarbon.

[@peterfitzpatrick7032]

Pulling stats out of your arse is not nearly good enough... and I have no interest in "looking at european culture" when I fish at home here in Ireland.... Lets all just decide for ourselves in our own individual countries.... Me ?... I'm sticking with wire... 😎👍☘🍺