Oh, did I mention that his eyesight is bad; anyway I proceeded to tie his flies on for him.

He stopped me mid stream and said ”wait I want to fish this new fluorocarbon tippet, it is supposed to be stronger than your monofilament”.  “Fluoro what” I asked.  “Fluorocarbon Tippet” the fly shop salesman had sold my friend some snake oil and I was chuckling beneath my breath.

Never the less I tied it on for him.  I waited as he slowly waded into the water first, one cast and Blamm one solid hook-up.  “Must have been the flies,” I told him.  We both chuckled and he moved up stream to fish our secret spot.

I planned on keeping a close eye on my friend, just to make sure he wasn’t cheating or something.  After a few minutes, I also entered the water to fish.  One cast two and then seven, yet no strike.  HMMM, same fly same drift, what the heck!  I was growing increasingly weary of hearing “there’s another one” from my friend!  That evil cackle of his was about to divide our friendship!   

Did I mention he has very poor eyesight; well he was catching fish 4 to every one I landed.  No more mister nice guy for me it was my turn to take the lead, I crept slowly to the edge of my favorite riffle, the one that never lets me down.  One false cast and I was above the rifle drifting perfectly into the seam.  Waiting, waiting, waiting, I couldn’t believe it I caught nothing, zilch, zero, nota.  One more try and then ten still nothing.  I changed flies 3 times and still nothing.  All the while I kept hearing “There’s One” from downstream.    

He lost several flies and I would politely go down and tie another one on for him.  He hadn’t changed flies one single time!  You see he has very bad eyesight.  At that moment I had become a defeated man.  Out fished on my river in my favorite spot on my own stinking flies!  What kind of gratitude was that? 

He continued to catch fish all day, and I, well, I tried to catch fish all day.  The drive home was filled with “how many did you catch” and “better luck next time”.

It never once occurred to me, that the tippet, this so called Fluorocarbon material, could have had anything to do with his success!  I can honestly say I went home with my tail between my legs.

I logged on to the Internet and typed in a Google for Fluorocarbon fishing line.  Little did I know that the information I was about to receive was going to change my life forever!

I read that while heavier than it’s brother Monofilament the tinsel strength of Fluorocarbon is much greater.  And more importantly to a Nympher, like myself, it is virtually invisible under water!  That rotten &*#! 8&**!!!  He knew it all along and was laughing at me.  Maybe it was myself who truly had the poor eyesight.

I immediately went out and bought every type of Fluorocarbon tippet I could find.  There weren’t that many back then.  Some I found were more brittle than others and some were stronger.  I found that unless I wetted the tippet knot it would cut through itself weakening the line. By the way, that is a very painful lesson to learn on a huge Rainbow.

Low and Behold, I started catching more fish!  Not just a few more, a lot more!  I landed a 26” Rainbow on 2 pound Fluorocarbon and 9 more fish without changing my leader and not a single break.
 
So here I am sharing with you, my fellow fly anglers, if you aren’t using Fluorocarbon and your buddies are, you are going to hear, “better luck next time” and “how many did you catch”.   

I still use Monofilament for dry flies; it just seems to float better.  But for nymphing, I will never look back.  Fluorocarbon all the Way!  Until something better comes along...