Tips on fluorocarbon leaders

[Bud]

Hey all you sp anglers out there. Anyone out there got any advice on what f.c. leader you use on your sp rigs and why you use it. Never bought it before..going to buy it this week...don't want to spend my money without having some knowledge. Cheers.

[Feral]

With soft plastics I mostly dont use a leader, just tie braid straight to hook. Bigger stuff, or bigger plastics I will use a 20lb flouro leader about 5 to 6 foot long.

[Bud]

Well know you have stumped me mate as I have never been able to find a knot that doesn't allow braid to slip when tied directly onto tackle..

[dhess]

How about a spider hitch?

[Cowfish13]

If you use a uni knot with 10 twists, it never slips out

[Feral]

A Simple bowline, never slips (unless you tie it wrong!)

To tie th eleader to your braid, an Albright. There is a recent thread on knots with both these knots, and others in it. Experiment and see what you like.

reality is most people who complain about knot failure have to much drag on. Same deal with straightening hooks. If you need stump pulling power, use bigger line, - dont blame your knots!

Post edited by: Feral, at: 2007/05/13 18:12

[blue_mako]

dhess: What are you talking about? A Spider Hitch is a line double knot :dry: , not a terminal knot.

Bud: I don't use braid right to the jighead or hook as it's more visible to fish and less abrasion resistant while under pressure, i.e. When you hook a fish and it's rubbing up against a snag, braid will always rub through first over fluorocarbon.

Think of it this way, the mainline should be the line of which you can see. The leader should be line the fish can (or can't) see.

This is why colours like smoke, black or grey are bad mainline colours as it's much hard to see when viewed with water in the background. Colours like Pink, FLUORO Green/Yellow (Dull greens are hard to see) or White are the best coloured braided main lines to use.

Fireline Crystal is a good mainline as it's white and has no colour added so the colour doesn't fade, and it has all the regular advantages that Fireline already has. Plus it's harder for fish to see, but very easy for the angler to see.

Anyway back to leaders, as for brands strength etc. 10lb fluorocarbon is probably the best all round leader strength. You can use it on Bass, Flathead, Trevally, Bream and most other common fish you may encounter.

Be sure to get fluorocarbon LEADER, not fluorocarbon line. Leader material will usually be in shorter amounts and costs more then fluorocarbon line. Fluorocarbon leader has a much more abrasion resistant outer layer then fluoro line or mono. Fluoro line is only slightly more abrasion resistant then mono.

I like brands like Yamatoyo, Siglon and Nitlon DFC. Kokoda Seaguar is also a good line for the price if I'm low on $$$ .

I use an Improved Albright Leader Knot as my braid-leader connection. There are much stronger leader knots then the Improved Albright but I like it as it the smoothest casting leader knot. I would not bother with the usual Albright as it slips through often when under pressure or has been casted lots. I use a 6 turn Uni knot to tie lures that need to be tied down to the tow point (Spinnerbaits, surface lures and jigheads) and a Perfection Loop Knot (Hardbodies, slugs, etc.) with different sized loops depending on the size and action of the lure.

Hope this helps,

Troy

[Bud]

Blue_mako: Thanks mate just the sort of info I was after. Will go to the tackle shop now a little more informed. Cheers mate, much appreciated.