I ran into a similar situation some years back on the St. Croix river on the ME/CA border. The place holds 95% smallies but a few weedy bars had packs of 2-4# pike . Being a sucker for a good surface strike, I kept casting to those bars which decimated my popper supply in short order. That was the last time I went fly fishing anywhere without some bite leaders tucked away.
After some experimentation, I now make 6" ultra thin wire leaders from Mason Single Strand Stainless wire and stock a few in my fly bag. I start with about 10" of the 58# tobacco colored size and twist a small haywire loop in both ends. On one end though, I capture a small snap ( as used on spinning gear) in that loop. The looped end is tied into the leader and the snapped end is used to attach my flie/popper (and change them out easily as they get destroyed. )This wire is about as thick as 14# test so casts easily and is not that visible.
Not saying there isn't anything new/better out there but this has worked for me on everything from pike to bluefish for over a decade.
http://www.masontackle.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=155
