Flouro leader question

[mrpike1973]

HI, I use 20# braid. They say to match the leader weight with the main line weight. Does that mean I should use 20# or 6# flouro. or what do you use?

 

 

[Musky hunter 82]

Depends on what you're using it for but if it were me I would put a 12# fluoro leader.

 

I put 15# braid on a spinning rod and matched it with a 8# fluoro leader, on one of my baitcasters I have 50# braid with a 17# fluoro leader.

[gunner55]

I agree with the above. Are you using it for stealth, or for toughness? Walleye? Musky? Northern? Bass? For me, I use it most on my walleye rod which has 6# mono on it & most of the time I use 6# flouro for a leader but will go to 4# at times. I do have braid on a couple poles & my flouro leaders on those are usually about the same # test or less. A side note is the presence of a lot hammerhandles & Zeebs on the lake I fish most. 

[mrpike1973]

I use it for Bass mostly. What applications would a leader be best for? I wacky rig, cranks, spinner bait, and jigs with paddle tails on them.

[Wanderer]

I use 20 lb flouro for most everything in my bass fishing.  For me, it's mainly to keep the pike bite offs to a minimum.

 

It seems you need 20 to handle their teeth and it doesn't detract from the baits action.  Anything more starts killing your bait.

 

Not sure if that's the right answer for you but I've been happy doing it that way.

[Musky hunter 82]

MrPike1973 I asked a similar question a while back regarding line and lure combinations are here's what I came up with, now a lot depends on the rod and reel but here's what I decided to go with.

Baitcasting rods

Swim jig/topwater frogs - 50# braid (just because I had it on that reel already, will switch to 30# next year)

Spinnerbaits/Chatterbaits - 15# mono with a 17# fluoro leader (help with bite offs from northerns)

Jigs/Rattle traps - 17# Fluoro

Squarebill crankbaits - 12# Fluoro

 

Spinning rods

Wacky rig - 8# mono

Jerkbaits/Texas rigs - 15# braid with a 8# Fluoro leader

[mrpike1973]

Wow, A lot of help here. Thanks I will take all of this info to use.

[megofishing]

when i fish for pike or muskie i use 40-50lb braid and an 80# fluoro leader about 12" that I make myself...never had a bite-off and have reused leaders over and over again...oh, and have caught plenty with this set up

[gunner55]

Welcome to FM, mof, Good 1st post too.

[HugeHogChaser]

Hey guys,

 

New to the forum here and I have a quick question;

 

I have been using seaguar knots to attach my fluoro leader to my braid, and for some reason, it is always knicking my guides, causing me not being able to cast as far. I am relatively new to baitcasters, so i was wondering if anybody had any suggestions? I was using 30 pound braid with a 12 pound seaguar flouro leader. Even tho the knot is so small between the leader and main line, it seems to knick the last few guides, and hinders my lures from dropping as quickly... any ideas? thanks in advance. 

[Musky hunter 82]

I have been using the Alberto knot and really like it, it's easy to tie and one of the strongest knots when going from braid to Fluoro.  I mostly have been using that knot on a spinning rod, for baitcasters I usually just like to run straight braid or straight Fluoro. 

[HugeHogChaser]

24 minutes ago, Musky hunter 82 said:

I have been using the Alberto knot and really like it, it's easy to tie and one of the strongest knots when going from braid to Fluoro.  I mostly have been using that knot on a spinning rod, for baitcasters I usually just like to run straight braid or straight Fluoro. 

Thank you very much! I appreciate the information. I think I will run straight fluoro then. 

[Musky hunter 82]

What are you using the rod for?  Bass if so what lures are you going to be using, the reason I ask is that if you're using a Jig you're going to want to up your line weight to something like 17#.  You mentioned that you're new to baitcasting, a couple of tricks I used when I was first learning to cast to help manage backlashes, is set the tensioner knob so the lure just pulls out the line, then make a long cast and pull off another 20-30' of line from the reel, place a piece of electrical tape across the spool and reel the line back in. Now the backlash will only go as deep as the tape.

[HugeHogChaser]

I have a few different rods. The one i was originally referring to i am using for crankbaits.  i have a jig and worm rod as well. I have mastered the cast, just trying to learn more about leaders. Thanks!

Do you recommend i use 17# test for my worm and jig rod?

[Musky hunter 82]

Just your jig rod for sure.  12# would be good for worms.

[HugeHogChaser]

thank you very very much. your advice is appreciated!

[Musky hunter 82]

No problem, I always try to help out another fisherman whenever I can.  Squarebill crankbaits 12# fluoro would be good, but if you're talking lipless crankbaits I'd run that on 17# as well.  Here's how I have my baitcasters setup:

 

6'6" MH - 50# braid (Swim jigs, and topwater frogs)

7' MH - 15# mono with a  18" - 17# fluoro leader (Spinnerbaits/Chatterbaits)

7' MH - 17# fluoro (Jigs, Lipless Crankbaits)

7' M - 12# fluoro (Squarebill crankbaits)

 

Worms, tubes, jerkbaits and topwater poppers I use a spinning rod

[HugeHogChaser]

Thank you that is very useful information. I can never learn enough!

 

Right now I have a 7' MH  7:1:1 reel ratio #17 fluoro for my jigs, spinner baits. (bought the 17# fluoro after we spoke a few days ago) 

 

Also have a 7' MH Abu Garcia Orra SX combo, but i just ordered a Wright and McGill Skeet Reese 7' Glass Crankbait Rod which i may take the 6:4:1 reel off of the Abu MH rod, and put it on the 7' med glass crank rod, and use that as my cranking set up. 7' med rod with 6:4:1 reel. What do you think about that? 

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by HugeHogChaser

[Musky hunter 82]

Here's my take on gear ratio reels, and I'm by no means an expert but I do fish a lot.

6.4:1 and under I like for swim jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, jerkbaits and swimbaits I'm mainly fishing them slow not burning them

7.1:1 and up I like for jigs, rattle traps and squarebills usually I'm burning a rattle trap, for the jig is to quickly reel in line to pitching to the next target or quickly reeling in slack line when a fish bites.

 

With that said I'd leave your Abu setup the way it is and use it for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and swim jigs (put 30# braid on this one) you could also use it for frog fishing if you want

 

Buy a high speed reel for your crankbait rod.

[HugeHogChaser]

Right on, great advice. I appreciate you taking your time to provide recommendations and personal experience. It definitely makes the bait caster learning process much easier. i hope you have a great weekend my friend. Ill be sure to check in soon with some updates. I hope to do some river fishing this weekend if I am able to rig all of my rods up tonight. 

[Bass Thumb]

Best advice I can leave here is to use fluorocarbon designed as leader material. It's a little stiffer than standard fluoro, but it's tough as nails and ties much, much better knots.

 

I have never once broken the braid-to-fluoro knot, and that used to happen regularly when I used standard line. I typically use #10 Sufix 832 with a Double-Uni connecting knot.

 

I prefer this in #6 for bass and walleye. It's $10 for 25 yards, but a 6-8' section will last you a dozen trips at least.

Edited April 3, 2017 by BassThumb.