Fishing Leaders

[MIbassin]

Hey guys-

 

i was wondering if you think that fishing leaders(im talking about the metal ones not fluorocarbon) will scare away the fish if im using swimbaits such as hudds

 

the waters around me are by no means clear with a few exceptions.....most lakes have visibility of 2-3 maybe 4 feet.

 

Although i have two lakes with 8-10 foot visibility.

 

I have many small pike and pickerel around where i fish so i want to see if you guys think that by using a leader, it will scare away the bigger bass. However i don't want to lose a 60 dollar swim bait 

[The Young Gun]

Don't get me wrong, as a musky fisherman in northern Wisconsin I've caught small and large mouth bass with a .029 diameter wire leader that's 174lb breaking strength and 12 inches long.. But look up fluorocarbon leaders. You can get just any size you want length wise and poundage. Stealth Tackle makes very quality fluorocarbon leaders for toothy critters.

[Marty]

As I just posted in another thread, I wouldn't trust any filament with pike, whether it's mono, fluoro or braid. Another poster said in that thread that if you can cut it with a knife, a pike can cut it with its teeth. I've always used steel leaders. Whether they have any effect or not, I don't know, but the important thing for me is that I have confidence when using them.

[MarkH024]

You will be just fine. Bass are ambush predators and on a bait like a swimbait it usually gets hammered. Your leader wil not pose a threat or scare them. If you're fishing $60 baits in pike waters protect your investment. My.02

[derekxec]

i have a friend who uses wire for everything bass, snook, trout, redfish etc and he does fine and even says its easier to tie(it takes me a while to tie wire so i think hes a bit crazy lol) but he catches tons of fish so really just use what you prefer cause the fish dont care 

[rockchalk06]

I've never used a wire leader or the Alabama rig which is wire, but bass seem to tear that sucker up. Logic would say, if they hit the rig, then the wire leader shouldn't be an issue

[SirSnookalot]

i have a friend who uses wire for everything bass, snook, trout, redfish etc and he does fine and even says its easier to tie(it takes me a while to tie wire so i think hes a bit crazy lol) but he catches tons of fish so really just use what you prefer cause the fish dont care 

I have those same kind of friends, the above mentioned species are considered to be very line shy, yet they are caught on wire all the time.  Some crimp surlon coated, others use piano wire using a haywire twist.  In some fast water situations a wire leader can get that lure a bit deeper.

I personally do not use wire when throwing lures, I also don't spend $60.  Losing lures is part of fishing for me, not that I enjoy it but I don't get overly upset.  Luckily I have a friend that's a Rapala rep, cost me $6.00 for a srx 12, one of my most used lures.

[skeletor6]

You will be just fine. Bass are ambush predators and on a bait like a swimbait it usually gets hammered. Your leader wil not pose a threat or scare them. If you're fishing $60 baits in pike waters protect your investment. My.02

 

X2....i would be devastated losing a $60 investment. I would be more worried about the line effecting the action of the swimbait.

If not, I would go with a very thick diameter high quality fluorocarbon as they have the highest abrasion resistance and are really tough lines during any type of circumstance if you get a quality version. Just make sure you check your line often for knicks, kinks, etc. I also have heard good things about high pound test mono for the purpose. In most tests I have seen, fluorocarbon holds up much better under abrasion.

 

Definitely do not go with braid, toothy critters slice through braid very easily. A heavily infested pike lake while fishing braid took that idea away.

[SirSnookalot]

If I were fishing with $60 lures I'd be using wire for sure.  The lure's action will not be affected if you put a loop while crimping or looping piano wire.  The tyable wires sound like a good idea, I have yet to try them, bit pricey but what's a few bucks to save a $60 lure.  I would not use f/c leader, it's different than f/c mainline, the knots don't seem to hold as well and hasn't been proven to me that I get more strikes even fishing for species much more line shy than bass.  I use 40# leaders every single day, toothy critters cut thru it likes it's butter, 60 or 80# for the objective of catching a bass sounds pretty absurd.  IMO wire seems most sensible to protect a $60 bait.  Earlier I said I don't use wire, well I do only in making my barracuda tubes, but when I'm casting lures for them I use mono leaders, and I do get cut off , the smaller ones have the sharper teeth and spaced closer together, more of chance of a cut off.