After watching Mike Maddelena’s video on the Midlands Striper Club page, It got me to thinking.(insert sarcastic comment here)What length do you make your down rod leaders? I usually make mine about 24" or so. I tried 4’ once and my baits wanted to make friends and turn my lines into a tangled mess. Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
3’ for everything I do. Occasionally I will run them about 5’ on planers but that is usally when I am running split shot on them. On a 21’ boat I am only running 6DR. I tried 8 but tangled too much. If u have healthy bait and long leaders your gonna have tangles…just my experience. I know some people who run 4-5’ leaders and do well but its not for me. Plus when leader material is 15-20$,for 75’ I tend to not get carried away with length.
I’ve been using mono for my leaders. Actually, the same stuff that’s on my reels. Someone told me a while back, that he did the same and didn’t think it mattered. Do you think using fluorocarbon makes that much difference?
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
It did in saltwater. It’s just a habit that has stuck with me since moving from the coast. Couldn’t say for sure. Figure if it helps in the clear coastal water, should work on the clear Murray water.
I also use yellow braid, and it catches as many saltwater fish and striper as my old green, red, clear, etc.
I use the cheap stuff for party fishing, 10-15$ per 250 yrds, but when tourny fishing or chasing big fish I use the seagaur blue label. U only get 25yrds in a spool but is the best in my opinion. When tying knots u can feel the difference, also its much more abrasive and can take a lot more scraping on stuff than other flouro or mono. There is a big difference in the “limpness” as well.
Also after watching the video he looks to only be using 4 rods. Much easier to use longer leaders if u use less rods.
I thought that was what you were using. We use that for tarpon. And if I were tourney fishing with money on the line, I would use that as well. Heck, I am so paranoid that if I were to ever tourny fish I would probably change my rig out after each fish landed. I have seen some of my rigs get chewed up after fishing a few times. Striper have some pretty rough teeth.
I use only fluorocarbon leaders in my largemouth tournaments. Usually around 3 1/2’ to 4’. It seems to make a big difference in the quality and quantity of fish I catch. My last tournament in May was a good example. I had big fish and won the tournament with the long leaders. In my opinion fluorocarbon is the only way to go. Especially in clear water. I do watch closely for nicks in the line and re-tie as often as necessary. It only takes a few seconds to re-tie a new leader on a Carolina rig.
My leaders are typically 4 to 5 feet on all my rigs. When downrod fishing with my 22 footer, I’ll run 3 rods per side and hardly ever have problems with tangles when not fishing Murray during 5- and- done. I use snells; so I have to cut the leader off the swivel each time I re-tie. When my leader reaches less than 3.5 feet, I trash it an pull off some fresh Seagar Blue Label. If fluoro catches that 1 fish I wouldn’t have caught otherwise, it’s worth the $.
I use about a 3’ leader. I never put two rods beside each other at the same depth and there are more than 3’ apart. I normally run 8 downrods when just moving and spotlocking on downrod fish. I use longer leaders on freelines and planers.