[Uncle Russ]

I think I have now developed (with a lot of help of the folks on this board and a little bit of internet research) a pretty good idea of line usage for offshore fishing, wind-on leaders, top shots, and such. One thing that still puzzles me is the relationship between the breaking strength of the Spectra main line and that of the mono or fluorocarbon leaders you use. I realize you use heavy leaders, much stronger than the Spectra, for shock and/or abrasion leaders. However, one thing I have always done when using fluorocarbon for inshore fishing, is to have some element of my terminal tackle that would break before the Spectra did. Shouldn’t you always have a length of leader that is weaker than your main Spectra line, in order to prevent losing it or having to cut it?

I am fairly certain I have seen recommendations (just for example) for 130 pounds of Spectra with a 300 pound snap swivel, tied to a bottom rig with nothing less than 200 pound test in it, except for the breakaway sinker drop line.

I guess I can see that, if you are trolling, out in the open, with no rigs or wrecks or jetty rocks or other party-boat lines to tangle with, you will either land the fish, pull the hook out, or get spooled. But around any kind of structure or, in the presence of other fishermen, doesn’t it make sense to use some length of lighter leader? Thanks.

Russ

 

[Guest]

when we fish near rigs trying to pull amberjacks and groupers out of their homes we need the heaviest set ups to turn these creatures and get them in the boat. the heavier leaders assist us with being more abrasive resistant and harder for the barnacles and toothy creatures to cut. if you can't get enough drag to stop them then you will surely end up being cut off or wrapped up on a rig leg. you could fish lighter leaders but you will end up losing more fish.....rick

 

[Deep_Sea_Gull]

Yep. Mcgolfer's way. For the reasons he stated.

 

[ksong]

The need of heavy leader line

-more pressure on the end line
When fighting fish, the pressure is not distributed equally along the line.
More pressure is on the end of line. When you break your line when your sinker got hung up at the bottom, the line closer to the sinker most likely get broken. That is one of the major reason you got to use heavier leader line than main line.

-abrasion resistance
The other reason is abrasion resistance. Whether you fish bottom fishing or trolling the most exposed section of the line to structures, fish teeth or boat bottom is the learder line.


The need of lighter leader line

-line shy
Some fish are line shy and some fish don't. And some other fish do line shy depending on the conditions.
Tuna are notorious for the line shy sometimes though they don't mind most times. When it happens you got to get down to lighter leader line to get bites. Loop to loop connection is the excellent way to change leader lines without changing your reel.

-better presentation
It is no secret you get more bites when you present your bait more naturally and heavier and stiff leader tend to drag your bait.
Even for jigging, it is necessary to use a lighter leader line to give more lively action to the jig, especially when you use light, small jigs.

 

[Uncle Russ]

Rick, Gull, and Kil: Understood on the abrasion resistance, the necessity of horsing the fish away from structure, and the presentation considerations where fish are line shy.

I had not thought about the terminal end being more prone to breakage, but I guess that makes sense.

So what happens if you don't have a breakaway rig (or even if you do) and you get hopelessly hung up on structure? Do you just wind the 130 pound around a chunk of wood, turn your head and have a couple of the biggest guys on the boat pull like hell, or do you cut the Spectra?

Oh, by the way, on another unrelated topic, I got the 50W in Rick, and it is a thing of beauty. I love it and can't wait to catch something worthy of it. I'm either going to put it on a Calstar 7465H rail rod or on the 760H--not sure yet.

I also got the Twinspin 30 in with a spare spool and an Accurate 7-foot spin rod based on the 700H blank. I had one spool filled with 80 and the other with 65 (Power Pro--it was all the guy had, but I will replace it with JB solid.) The really wierd thing was that one of the spools would not work with the pre-set: couldn't get any drag at all. I called the factory and the rep walked me through an inspection that revealed the big nut on the front of the spool was cross-threaded! He said they didn't do it--that their QA would never let that happen, and speculated that the retailer had taken it apart to see how it ticked and cross-threaded it while reinstalling it. He said that was relatively easy to do. So back to California with the spare spool to have the guts re-done. Hopefully it won't get caught in a fire storm, a flood, Santa Ana winds, an earthquake, a mudslide, a volcanic eruption, a riot, or a demonstration in favor of letting everybody on death row back on the street or the deserving freedom lovers in Iran or Nicaragua, and will be returned safely to Texas. (No offense to any Californians on this board, but my ex-wife lives there--you understand.)

Russ

 

[Deep_Sea_Gull]

I have seen were you had to cleat the line to break it off.
Too bad about the spool. I hear you about the ex being in Cali...

LOL my ex-girlfriend went to Dallas, TX...