Heavy Leader Materials

[Mr FeLiX]

Morning all,

Just wondering, when it comes to leaders of 40 Pound and above, would it be better to use monofilament or flurocarbon material?

I understand both have their advantages, and I'm asking if anyone knows from experience, fishing for jew, sharks etc.

Any help appreciated,

Felix

[tugger]

i've had threadfin salmon chew through 60lb monofiliment but never had them go through flurocarbon of 60lb and it tends to be better for tying knots

[nadders]

have to disagree with ya mark,

fluro is generally more abrasion resistant but the knot tying capabilities tend to be far better in suppler line like mono,

i use black magic tough trace which is a mono leader in anything above 20, have double thumblocked on large threadies without wearing through

mainly use tough trace in 20 and 40lb chasing jew in the river. i used to use black magic fluro in 40 and 60 but the knots were horrible and lost a few fish that way

cheers

Dan

[Terry H]

Fluro can be a lot more abrasion resistant than Mono.

Nadders have you tested how tough the fluro v mono is? Fluro in 40lbs is tougher than the 60lbs mono... If you use the black magic in 20lbs mono, you'd be better off using 20lbs fluro - its much tougher and likely to survive a lot longer in the jew or threadies mouths. I can't remember what lbs was used, but Matty Mott showed us the difference when we were fishign on his boat one day. The difference was amazing, and he was demonstrating it with, I think 40lbs fluro and 60lbs mono.

But as highlighted, the main issue is knot tying ability.

Mr Felix, at any given breaking strain:

Mono is going to be significantly easier to tie, but less abrasion resistant.

Fluro is much harder to tie, but much more abrasion resistant.

As for the original question, I would probably prefer to go with a lighter fluro. As the lighter fluro will be the same as a heavier mono.

[nadders]

doesn't matter to me if 40lb fluro is tougher than the 60lb mono for the threadies as i've never had the 60lb wear through under double thumblock maneuvres etc

personally i prefer the superior knot tying and more supple nature of the tough trace, never had the 20lb tough worn through by a jew (i don't throw 20lb at threadies though i have caught a few using 20lb black magic without issues, just have to go easier)

on the flip side i have had 20lb fluro worn through by threadies, by going a bit too hard on them

i fish mainly at night and mainly in the river so not too worried about line visibility, for what i do i don't see any reason to put away the tough trace and lower my knot strength by using fluro

[Bri The Pom]

I also generally use 40lb black magic leader and have only been bitten off a couple of times. The 30lb black magic fluro the knots are alot bigger and stiffer, i bought in the week 30lb yanamoto shock leader which is 100% nylon small dia and very supple,so im going to try this in the morning, but there is also jinkai leader which i havnt tried.

My opinion is you need to find a leader that you have confidence in and suits your type of fishing.trial and error.

Bri.

[marlin magic]

Bri i use black magic i think it good had no probs with it yet

Cheers Brett

[tugger]

i thought black magic was a fluro but i tend to use the brand jankai which was invented by an aussie but was eventually funded and produced by the japanese have used this for years and tried black magic once but i have gone back now with the later brand being a bit more supple

[Bri The Pom]

Black magic with a black label is a mono in a tough and supple trace - which is great.

Black magic with a yellow/orange label is a flurocarbon which is quite stiff in the higher range.

what is the difference between the green and red jinkai.Do they do it in 30lb.

cheers Mark thats another secret/tip that we have taken off you.

[dhess]

I just tend to use black magic tough trace in 60-100lbs. Never had it fail from abrasion. Can't comment on supple trace.

Occasionaly use 40lb black magic fluro for plastics but its a pain to tie nice clean knots in.

[Mr FeLiX]

Went to BCF and grabbed a spool of 40 pound black magic supple trace (fluro). Not the best to tie knots in as said, and I had an albright simply come undone at the knot costing me a rig, but it may of just been a bad knot

[jeff f]

pen 10x 20-30-40lbs

lemax 60-80lbs

jinkai 100 and over(still got some 1000lbs lying around)

[Mr FeLiX]

Anyone know of a good joining knot for use in heavier leaders? Connecting 30 Pound FINNS braid with 40 Pound Black Magic Fluro

[dhess]

For that eact line combination I use bimini twist to albright.

Never had one fail but tying it well takes a bit of practice.

[Yellow Peril]

I agree with most other posts. I use Black Magic tough trace (black label) for 40 and 60lb leader when bait fishing. I use fluorocarbon in 4lb up to 20lb for plastics. I either make up traces with hooks on one end and swivel on the other which are stored in zip lcok bags, or sometimes I will run a double and tie a double uni knot to the leader, mainly for trolling and lure casting. But might not work for you as I use mono main line, so the double uni knot is a mono to mono connection.

[nadders]

felix im not sure if id recommend the 40lb fluro as the knots are always going to be dodgier. the tough trace imo is just as good leader wise and so much easier to tie in

i use an improved albright no bimini and cant remember last time i broke at the leader knot, actually i can, using 15lb braid to 15lb black magic fluro

otherwise 99% of breakoffs are at the loop knot

[Mr FeLiX]

I just found some 30 Pound fluro (Black Magic) hidden at the back of the cupboard and after using just an albright to join the 30 pound FINNS with the 30 Pound Fluro, it seems pretty strong. The knot beds down for better than the 40 Pound stuff, so might stick with the 30 pound unless really pressed

[Bri The Pom]

Ye Felix anything over 30lb in the black magic fluro the knots are too big.