I am not sure if this has already been addressed or not but I wanted to see what everyone thinks about leaders. How long to make them? Metal vs Braid vs Mono? How long or how short? How long or how short? What are the benefits? And what are you personally using? I have heard a lot of different things and I wanted to hear from you all.
Justin M
you will get a lot of different answers… leader used and type and length will depend on what you are trying to catch. I fish a short leader for sheeps but a long one for sharks. I use mono most of the time but flouro in the winter when the water gets clear. Steel for sharks,
I guess primarily I would be interested in what people are using for reds
Justin M
20-30# fluorocarbon when throwing jigs for reds and trout, maybe 18". 80-150# stainless steel single strand for sharks (36" or so)
For catfish, 100# mono, 24-36", or if they are real active, the cheap stranded wire leaders with the beefy clip swivel.
20-25 lb. flouro and most go lighter than this in the fall/winter because the water is so clear. 18" to 24" is the norm for a Carolina rig and cork. I will do a shorter leader if fishing in real shallow water. Frankly, often times I use a shorter leader if I get cut off and don’t feel like putting on a new leader - you’ll still catch fish.
If you are fishing artificials, learn how to tie a knot connecting flouro to whatever you have on your spool (hopefully braid).
If you are in any of the rivers that even have slightly stained water, floro isn’t required. Actually, I been fishing for 30+ years and catch a mess of fish all over the place, never once used floro. From rockfishing the Chesapeake bay, to offshore for bottom fish and Tuna, to the Ashley and harbor - no floro.
I carry two 400 yard spools of cheap line, 40# & 80#. 40# for the smaller fish, 80# for larger fish. Never had a problem catching, rarely do we ever lose a fish from line breakage. My 40# spool is going on 6 years old - total investment was about $4.
Lures and jigs - 90% of the time its braid directly to the jig. The only time I use a leader is if I am fishing for larger fish and need something to grab.
Now this area in the dead of winter with clear(er) water - I will have to see if it makes a difference. So far, at in the harbor, at the jetties and up one of the rivers it has not. We’ve been catching slobs at the grillage with 80# standard mono - and no breakoffs.
Plus I think that Reds are a fairly stupid fish…
P.S.
As for lenght of the leader - I was fishing this weekend with leaders from 9" to 3’ - didn’t make on bit of difference.
I mainly use flouro because it’s quite a bit tougher (at least, the leader flouro) than the same size mono.
most of our reels are spooled with 20 lb braid and we usually tie (uni/uni knot) about 15" of 15-20 lb fluro. not so much for stealth, but for abrasion resistance. the fluoro holds up better than the braid on shell and such. we throw a lot of jigs and plastics. we use fluorocarbon line, not leader material…it’s about a tenth of the cost.
Capt. Tim Cutting
www.fishthegeorgiacoast.com
Thanks guys for all of the help so far
Justin M
quote:
Originally posted by gratefulredmost of our reels are spooled with 20 lb braid and we usually tie (uni/uni knot) about 15" of 15-20 lb fluro. not so much for stealth, but for abrasion resistance. the fluoro holds up better than the braid on shell and such. we throw a lot of jigs and plastics. we use fluorocarbon line, not leader material…it’s about a tenth of the cost.
Capt. Tim Cutting
www.fishthegeorgiacoast.com
Glad to hear you are having good results using the main line type fluoro.
I tried that a few years back and wasn’t terribly impressed, but then again it was with Berkely Vanish, which was a horrible product (though it supposedly is better now).
FYI- Cabelas house brand Fluorocarbon line is made by Seaguar. Good stuff and very reasonable.
A few things about fluorocarbon:
Make sure you’re buying 100% fluorocarbon. Some of the stuff out there is not 100% or is just coated.
Fluorocarbon is not invisible, but unlike nylon monofilament, it has the same refractive index as water.
As noted above, one of the biggest advantages of fluorocarbon is the abrasion resistance. Fluorocarbon leader is far more abrasion resistant than braid or mono. This is a huge advantage fishing around structure like oysters, docks, vegetation, etc.
Fluorocarbon also doesn’t stretch like mono and therefore makes better leader material. When mono stretches, the diameter decreases and it inherently becomes even less abrasion resistant than mono.
Fluorocarbon sinks. It’s not the best line or leader for topwater applications.
I disagree with others about using fluorocarbon line as leader. Fluorocarbon line is much softer than the leader material and not nearly as abrasion resistant. It is made to be supple and to cast easily, not to hold up as leader.
Even though our water is muddy, my opinion is that it does make a difference, particularly in the winter when the water is clear and the fish are pickier and not as active. I’ve seen first-hand fluorocarbon outfish mono in our inshore waters. Sure, you can catch fish tying directly to braid or with mono, but I’ve never seen either of those outfish fluoro. For inshore fishing, using fluorocarbon certainly doesn’t hurt.
For applications like tuna fishing, it absolutely makes a difference. Ask anyone who has chunked for tuna in the last 10 years what they use.
Once fluorocarbon becomes nicked or abraded, it becomes more visible under water. Retie frequently.
I typically make my leaders longer than most - typically 4’ to 5’. This gives you even more abrasion resistance and allows you to retie frequently without tying on a new leader.
As someone else mentioned, the uni-to-uni is the most reliable connection. I use 3 wraps on the leader side and 10 wraps on the braid side. Tighten the knot very
Spot on info their “Dude”.
*Good point about the leader material being stiffer than the flouro “line”, very true…
Everyone will give you a different opinion about types and brands of Flourocarbon, As Dude said, Seaguar and Gamma are the two top fluorocarbon lines on the market, however gamma went through some manufacturing changes a few years ago which caused some issues with some of their supply, But don’t let that scare you if you had a bad experience in the past. It is by far the strongest most abrasion resistant flourocarbon on the market, and it is back to the same quality it used to be! Highly recommend…
What knot do you guys like to use to tie your leader to main line? Ive been using a Yucatan knot which seems to hold a little better.
Double uni knot and blood knot are the two strongest braid to flouro knots…both equally strong and equally easy to tie. Comes down to personal preference…for me the blood knot tends to pass a little easier through the guides because the tags are in the middle, but its hardly noticeable.
quote:
Originally posted by 24FlatbackWhat knot do you guys like to use to tie your leader to main line? Ive been using a Yucatan knot which seems to hold a little better.
I seldom tie a line-to-line knot for leaders. My applications almost always are a great place for a swivel to help deal with line twist.
quote:
Originally posted by Redfish_mattquote:
Originally posted by 24FlatbackWhat knot do you guys like to use to tie your leader to main line? Ive been using a Yucatan knot which seems to hold a little better.
I seldom tie a line-to-line knot for leaders. My applications almost always are a great place for a swivel to help deal with line twist.
I never use swivels. Less hardware is better. Not a good idea to reel/cast a swivel through the guides; a properly-tied knot is not a problem. Line twist is only an issue if you reel against the drag with spinning tackle, and barrel swivels do very little to prevent line twist anyway (ball bearing swivels do, but few people use them inshore).