Leaders
Many people never use a leader, and sometimes the conditions
just don't require one, but at other times, a proper leader will make the
difference, between having a great day, and a disappointing one. In
the Bottom rig section
I talked about leaders that were lighter than the main fishing line, to
protect you main line from snags. I will now talk about why you might need
to use them.
Shock Leader
A shock leader is used when throwing heavy weights, and/or
when using light line, to fish for heavy fish. The shock leader is a heavy
line tied to the main fishing line, it is twice the length of the rod, plus
four, or five turns on the reel spool. The key to this is a good strong knot,
that is small enough to freely go through the rod eyes. I use my EZ Knot,
line to line knot, but a double Uni knot also works, when tying this to braided
line, use a drop of super glue on the knot, to make sure it does not slip
out.
When using a shock leader you can use a very light weight main line. Light line throws much further than a heavy line, giving you the ability to get way out there where the fish are. When landing big fish, the shock leader allows you to either grab the leader with your hand to land the fish, or tighten up the drag, once the shock leader is on the spool of the reel.
My favorite type of shock leader is braided Spectra, it is very strong, yet very small dia. and ultra abrasive resistant, even to the point of sharks skin not cutting it.
When using a shock leader you can use a very light weight main line. Light line throws much further than a heavy line, giving you the ability to get way out there where the fish are. When landing big fish, the shock leader allows you to either grab the leader with your hand to land the fish, or tighten up the drag, once the shock leader is on the spool of the reel.
My favorite type of shock leader is braided Spectra, it is very strong, yet very small dia. and ultra abrasive resistant, even to the point of sharks skin not cutting it.
Special shark rigging tip
When shark fishing, a steel leader is needed to the hook,
and most fisherman make one long enough so that the sharks tail can not cut
their mono line when fighting the fish, (this will happen more times than
not, when using a short steel leader). this leader sometimes needs to be over
8 feet, with the lead at the point where the leader starts, this rig is very
hard to cast. My solution to this is a 2 to 3 foot steel leader, then a 12
to 20 foot 100# Spectra shock leader. this cast easily, even from the
beach. I have yet to have a shark cut this rig, or ever to have it fail,
even when landing up to 600 # sharks from the beach.
Hook leaders
Many species of fish have teeth, others have mouths that
can abrade line, when fishing for these, the hook leader needs to be able
to hold up against this abrasion, and even perhaps cutting, sharks of course
require heavy steel leaders, single strand is the best for these, where other
toothed fish can be caught on multi strand steel leaders, many of these the
Spectra line works well on, some just a heavy Mono will work quite well. Check
with the locals where you are fishing to determine what leader will hold
up against the fish your going after, of course if you get cut off on one,
you can always step up to the next stronger leader material, or heavier size,
the next time you rig up.
Weight leaders
When fishing a three way or dropper rig, you want you weight
leader to be smaller than your main line leader, unless you are throwing
exstreamly heavy weights, your weight leader must be able to withstand
the whipping action of the cast.