Question On Floro Leaders

[ErikMon Bills Fan]

Hey all this is my first post but have been a long time lurker. I have never used a Fluorocarbon leader but I think I have been missing out. I fish in a tidal small river in CT for small pike LMB and SMB that is usually murky and cloudy, I also fish small ponds and am almost always throwing into cover or under trees with Stanley Ribbit frogs and weedless soft plastics. Now I have one pole with suffix 832 25lb braid and almost always tie directly to the lure so the pike dont steal my lure and get stuck in his stomach, I also dont lose lures to trees as sometimes I get to confident and cocky and make a dumb risky cast and the braid will never break. I loved it when i Switched to braid last year when throwing into slop but sometimes the line was clearly visible and fell awkwardly behind the soft plastic ruining action. So my questions are is it worth it to switch to a floro leader?

Will i lose my lures to small pike  and now Im sad cuz it has an xrap stuck in its throat?

If im useing 25lb braid should I use 25lb floro leader or a little less like a 15lb ?

Is there a difference if I just get a spool of 150 yds of a regular Fluorocarbon or should I only get the small one that says Leader material?

What kind you use would help and thanks for reading this long rant and understanding. Ice out just happened so im fiending and need to redo all my rigs.              T

[MickD]

I suggest you try a flouro leader to find out whether it makes sense for you. Only you can determine if it makes sense.   It has its drawbacks, like needing a line to line knot, the knot may make noise going through the guides, or with small guides, it may not go through without serious noise or hanging up.  

What line to line knot?  Start with double uni as it is pretty easy to tie, but don't cut corners with the number of turns, and lube it when pulling it tight.  The Alberto is a little smaller, but not as easy to ty properly.  Flouro terminal knots are a lot like braid terminal knots, but make sure you lube them (spit) when drawing them down.  If flouro gets kinked it likely will fail.  If you feel nicks in it replace it.  Check the line to line knot now and then to be sure it is not beaten up.  Rety if it is.

What kind of material?  A big spool of flouro LINE will work OK, but a spool of flouro LEADER MATERIAL  is better for leader as it is harder and tougher, although in higher tests, it is harder to ty.  If you use about 25 pound test it will resist pike teeth some, but the only reliable way to avoid cut-offs is to use a metal leader.  I'm not sure how 25 pound leader material compares with your braid, but both can be cut by pike.

 

What do I use?  When I'm fishing for bass or walleye I use 15 or 20 pound flouro LINE for the leader and when a pike takes a tube, most of the time they snip it off like butter.  When fishing for pike, or if likely to get a  pike bite I put about 10 inches of 20 pound tieable metal leader on the end. It is pretty fine and does not affect the action too much if a cross lock snap is used.  I use about 4-6 feet of flouro leader.

 

Keep in mind that you seem to be pleased with the braid that you are using.  Adding a flouro leader is done only to prevent fish-spooking by the braid.  If you are not spooking them now, maybe it isn't worth the trouble.

[Darren.]

First off, welcome aboard!

 

Second "Bills Fan" gives you points on 

my board, so long as you mean the BUFFALO

BILLS!!!

 

I use leader line for all my fishing, anywhere from

4-15 lb test. I don't face the pike you have up north

much down here, but I catch plenty of Pickerel.

 

Rarrely lost a Pick, and actually have caught most

on 8lb test.

 

My braided mainline is 10lb on spinning and 20lb

on baitcasting. So no, you don't have to match 

your braid.

[gulfcaptain]

Great thing about flouro leaders, it takes a long time to go through a filler spool of InvisX when you use 3-4 yards at a time.  Other then the Uni to Uni, look into the Alberto Knot, actually pretty easy to tie and comes thru the guides quite nicely.  Agree you don't have to match line size.  Think the heaviest FC I fish is 17lb and most of my outfits are spooled with 20 or 30lb braid.  Use 15lb a lot in areas where I need the abrassion resistance.  I would go back to the size line you fished prior to braid which worked best for you.  You could even go to a small topshot of mono since you say you're fishing in dirtier water and not have the extra cost. 

 

Welcome to the forums.

[Crestliner2008]

Welcome aboard! If you tie direct with your braid, I can almost guarantee you that you will loose some of your lures to pike. Braid has great torsional strength, but it doesn't do much with abrasion resistance, which is what you need. Go for the fluoro leader as said above. 12# - 15# tests is fine. Learn to tie the Alberto knot and you'll be good to go. Pike will sometimes bite off a fluoro leader too, so don't get discouraged. It's just part of the game and fluoro puts the odds in your favor. 

 

Also, look for the florocarbon that is specifically designed for "leader material" (usually 25 yd. spools), vs. the 200 yard reel filler spools. Those larger spools have a softer, more supple line for reel management. I'm convinced that the abrasion resistance on these filler spools is not up to the task. 

[ErikMon Bills Fan]

Thank you guys for your input!!!   MickD I used to use metal leaders but I noticed a different fall and action on weightless plastics which I throw 75% of the time so I stopped and with my braid Ive yet to lose a lure. As soon as the metal leader got hung up on a tree limp it developed a kink or loop that was ugly and hurt the action. Maybe on days when im really targeting pike I will try the tiable metal leader and see how that works.

ANd Derren M I am a Diehard Bills Fan and the only thing that im more excited about this upcoming fishing season is the Football season. Our "COLD FRONT" defense is so scary and now we got alot of new toys on offense if we can just have average QB play we could be close to the playoffs. 

Thanks Crestliner for your advice on leader material spools cause I was about to go the cheaper route but wanted reassurance that getting the smaller spool was worth It. 

 

You guys are awesome now I gotta get off the internets and hit the water.