Leaders for Pike/Musky

[TenthousandLakes]

What types of leaders work well and which brand is good? Would this affect the action of my lures and does visibility play a big factor?

[20lbSloughShark]

My favorite for quality is still Cortland Toothycritter, but it is $8 for 10' compared to the more common Berkley at $3 for 30'. You can also get pre-made leaders with snaps or rigs. In that case They are all similar. It will affect the action of some real light lures like spoons less than 2", and smaller jigs, but I would never use these for pike. It is debated weather or not leaders scare fish away. Even if they do scare some, I feel leaders prevent more cut-off's than scare fish. If you want to try the middle road, 50-100 pound mono or florocarbon makes great leader material, and is clear. Heavy mono will hurt lure action even more than wire (unless you use heavy wire 50#+; I like 30 pound). Wire is unnessesary for small pike, but as soon as they hit around 30" their mouths are big enough to completely engulf most lure.

BTW, if you use bait, like suckers, you absolutely NEED a leader. No matter what, the teeth will be raking the line then.

[goblueM]

Wire is unnessesary for small pike, but as soon as they hit around 30" their mouths are big enough to completely engulf most lure.

I've gotten bitten off many, many times by sub-25 inch pike.

[mainbutter]

My pike setup: Braid main line (anywhere from 20-80lb test depending on my gear), back to back uni knot connection to 8-12'' fluorocarbon leader (20lb test for lighter stuff, 60lb test for lures pushing into the musky realm). I attach lures either directly with a uni knot, or sometimes with a snap swivel if I want to change lures frequently.

After every fish, I run my fingers along the leader to feel for tooth damage. If I feel some damage, I trim the leader or tie on a new length.

Not quite a dozen pike yesterday, no bite-offs on 20lb test fluoro. More than one engulfed a lure. I can't remember the last time I had a pike bite me off when I was running fluoro 20lbs or more.

[20lbSloughShark]

I've gotten bitten off many, many times by sub-25 inch pike.

I don't mean to sound snotty, but how do you know the size of the fish if you were bitten off?

[mainbutter]

I know I'm not the only one who's been bit off/broken off at boatside. Last time it happened to me, a lake trout made off with my favorite rapala, incidentally the same lure I caught my first musky on. I couldn't retire the lure, it was too good of a fish catcher, but now I wish I had.

[RawHog]

Isn't that a pain?

One thing I can tell you is 30# power-pro and a swimjig is no match for a slimy city hammer-handle-snake-pickerel. I can remember earlier this year as soon as I had gained confidence with swim-jigs and stocked up on 4 or 5, they were all gone!

I don't use typically use fluoro direct ties to lines and lures. I have knot issues with it? I stick with braid and factory leaders.

It would be great if you could consistently catch big pike in the metro lakes.

Maybe you can.

Whoever is that dude, you're a beast.

Bring me fishing.

I think the 100# fluoro musky leaders I use are from Reeds in Walker, they were purchased at a mpls fishing expo. I like them.

One thing I really like to keep in mind with swivels, particularly muskie swivels is to make sure not to over open/bend them or even open them with high frequency even if that means picking a bait and sticking with it for a while. In my experience the first place a swivel will snap is exact opposite side of the knot.

[goblueM]

I don't mean to sound snotty, but how do you know the size of the fish if you were bitten off?

clear water

[JPenny]

I've been making my own leaders for years now. I started making them because I was not satisfied with what was on the market back then. Are pike leader shy? If they are I haven't noticed it. I use either 45 or 60lb stainless stranded coated wire for most of my leaders and single strand wire for jerkbaits and any "stop & go" lures and I do pretty well catching big pike. Personally, I have never used flourocarbon leaders because I've never felt the need to. Some may feel it's an advantage and if that's the case, use them. I don't so I don't. A good point was brought up about snaps. They do wear out. Any wire that is bent back & forth will eventually break, including snaps. The last few years I've been using a new snap called "fastac". It doesn't open & close like conventional snaps. Instead it twists on and there is no bending of wire. If a lure does not have an eye, like a spoon, I add a split ring and it works fine. I haven't had one fail in 4 years now. Some folks just do not want to make their own leaders for whatever reason. If I were to ever buy leaders, there's only one guy I know who makes a good enough leader to earn my trust. Gene Seuring of Rockford Illinois makes leaders out of aircraft cable and they are the finest available for sale to my knowledge.

[AaronM]

What types of lures are you fishing? I've always been a steel leader guy, but have gotten into the fluorocarbon leaders the past few years. I use 130# test for muskie, and drop it down to 50# for northerns. It surprised me, but the flouro is extremely abrasion resistant. Casting to rocks or brush really doesn't nick up the line too bad. I do keep my eyes on it, but a flouro leader can last through many, many fish.

It's clear so it doesn't have the sight factor as metal leaders. However, when using jerkbaits, I still prefer a 12" solid leader. For everything else, flourocarbon gets the nod.

[JPenny]

Spoons, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jigs, and anything else I figure will get a strike. I'm guessing that flouro leaders would be an advantage on pressured waters, but most of the places I fish are not pressured. I clearly understand that on pressured waters fish might become conditioned to wire leaders, but where I fish they are not leader shy and I see no distinct advantage to using them. I know some of the high profile muskiemen in the industry and have been told of bite-offs when using 100lb flourocarbon leaders but that 160 seemed ok. And that's another reason I don't use the stuff. The thought of a fish swimming away with it's jaws pinned shut bothers me. But, that is just my personal opinion and if you feel they give you an advantage I wish you good luck.

[AaronM]

Like everything they have a time and a place. However, I do think they offer advantages other than visibility. I believe my crankbaits have better action without a wire leader to damper their movement.

To each his own, but I would recommend trying them out.

[mainbutter]

I agree with Aaron, I hate the way steel leaders affect my #9 and smaller rapalas. A big crank like a 9'' jake or grandma, I have less of a problem with, but when I'm trolling shad raps for lake trout or pike, I never use steel anymore.

One funny note: My grandpa had never heard of fluorocarbon the first time I showed it to him. He thought that if we were fishing pike, it was "use a steel leader or lose your lure".

That day, we both caught pike. No bite-offs for me with a handful of pike ranging 20-30 inches, but he had two steel leaders fail on him, breaking at the swivel on a cast or retrieve. I tell myself it had to be a bad batch of crummy chinese knockoffs, but the fact is that I've now seen enough steel leaders fail to make me realize they aren't invincible either.

Use quality equipment, inspect whatever you are using for damage, and if you are catching fish with it, keep using it. It's hard to go wrong with terminal tackle choices if you stick to those principles.

[JPenny]

Mainbutter, I like your principals and totaly agree with them. I don't often use smaller cranks like you mentioned, but I did make some great catches this year on Rapasla DT1's, including one at 45". I can see where flourocarbon has it's place and it's not that I'm so old school that I never try new technology, but so far I'm satisified with my catches and will continue on with the leaders I'm presently using. And I wish you well using whatever you choose to use.

[Esox_Magnum]

I'm not big on fishing pike but am an avid muskie guy and all but 1 leader on my 5 set ups are 130# or 150# Flouro, 3rd season with 95% flouro and no issues... I do only use the Stealth leaders, and like others have stated have had 174# quality solid wire leaders and 7 strand fail... luckily not on a fish...

[50inchpig]

My two cents, I'll agree that floro will give you better action on some baits but I don't buy into it making a difference on pressured waters or otherwise, especially since baits are trolled or casted and retreived straight back toward the boat and any fish inclined to eat will already know you're there one way or another.

Anything you buy or anything that has crimps is subject to fail. I was ready to switch from solid wire to floro this year but know of just too many failures with it, lots of them on big fish, to switch now. I'm sticking with my own solid wire leaders. You can buy a roll of American Fishing Wire at Fleet Farm for $5 that'll last years, twist them up in 60 seconds, and replace them for pennies when you need to, floro is expensive. As far as lure action goes, I've found that changing the size of the snap will usually offset any loss of action with the straight wire.

[davidbigreelz]

I must admit i almost never use a leader. I have my northern and musky rods spooled with 35lb braid and have simply not had the bite off issues(i have to state here that the vast majority of my big fish fishing is trolling) If i am going specifically for "big" musky i will sometimes make leaders quick out of a spool of 295lb test .2mm steel leader material i got from cabelas for fishing western Australias coast. Just make a loop at one end, spin it around itself and select a length and repeat with the other end. I believe the less weight of this leader helps to not effect baits as much.