Fish-Hawk.Net

There was an article on fall frogging in the latest issue OOD. One of my pet peves was addressed. 10 dollar frog cut up by 18in. pike.

A simple remedy for fixing cut frog was offered. Soldering gun. Well duh!!! Brilliant tip.

That got me thinking of my other issue. Bit off frog.

I usually use a small piece of 25lb Big Game as a shock leader of sorts because I find braid knots a bit brittle. That trait does not really show up until launching heavy baits as far as one can.

I admit my mono is no good as a defence aginst pike teeth.

I know I must use fluoro leader material, not flouro line....because thay are different.

What lb test flouro leader should I use as a defense aginst pike? I use 50lb PowerPro as a main line and was considering going up to 65lb on the frog rod.

Thanks,
DS

40lbs. After hundreds of pike between my buddy and I,we have only had one bite off.

You will definitely want to get a true Fluoro leader material - Seaguar is excellent. I've used the 25yrd spools of 25# and 20# before and had maybe 1 or 2 bite-offs. Its really "wirey" though, so it will definitely not handle as well as a soft and supple braid will.

I currently have 8# CFX leader material (made by P-line, another great fluoro company), recommended by Ed @ Paddletales, on my tube rod for smallies tomorrow.

I also have had the pike + frog = -10$ dilemma. So I take it you uni-knot the fluoro leader material to your braid main line?

I have the 65# PP and it has yet to fail me. Big pike little pike... doesn't matter... that frog is coming back to the boat. It might have some finger holes like a bowling ball... but it is still in my possession!!

I also use the 65# for the bottom 6 to 8 inches in a Carolina set up when there are pike around. Works great!

Craig

CPrince - you have a lot more luck than me then. I have had so many bite offs on 65lb Tuff line or 50 lbs PowerPro that its no longer funny. Now granted, I have not lost a frog on these lines to pike, but jigs or title shots are another story.

I can also attest that regular "fluoro" line in 14 - 17 lbs (Berkley Vanish) is absolutely useless against the swarm of snot rockets. I have even started to contemplate using a 6" 30lb black wire leader when I throw jigs now since Im so tired of seeing that 'tick' on the line, setting the hook and getting a face full of braid back.

I will be looking for a better leader solution over the offseason.

Fox

fisherguy33 wrote:I also have had the pike + frog = -10$ dilemma. So I take it you uni-knot the fluoro leader material to your braid main line?

I use the Alberto knot. Quick, easy to tie, and very very strong.

curls wrote:You will definitely want to get a true Fluoro leader material - Seaguar is excellent.

I was looking at the Seagar leader material. sounds like I'll be giving the 40lb a try next year.

fisherguy33 wrote: So I take it you uni-knot the fluoro leader material to your braid main line?

I use that knot almost exclusively, however I have been experimenting a bit with the Slim Beauty Knot. It's supposed to be better at joining unlike sized line diameters together.

Drop

Yeah I can imagine. I have 40lbs seaguar for pike leaders and it's pretty stiff stuff, tying it with limp braid would be a pain.

As for Cprince's comment...your Nasa Lake pike are wussies. You saw me lose tons of cane toads even with 65# PP. Showed up on Nipissing this summer with a dozen hollow body frogs, came back with NONE!

The months ahead will be great for finding a good knot to join 65lbs braid to 40lbs fluoro leader.

Good thread, thanks for the input everyone.

Yannick

Rule of thumb for toothy Pike or Musky is always use a flouro-leader that is more than the main line.
So if you have 50lb Power-Pro main line use 65lb. flouro leader.
Tie leader to main line with a uni to uni knot and tie flouro either to a snap or to the lures split-ring using a Palomar knot.
Check line and knots frequently and ALWAYS check them out well after a caught fish.
It's very springy material though.
I use pre-made and custom made fluorocarbon leaders of 80lb Seagar for spooky situation fish in my Muskie fishing. Mainly for natural presentation baits.
Good Luck

Great article. What length leader do most of you recommend?

doublest wrote:Great article. What length leader do most of you recommend?

For most of my braid rods I run about 3-4 ft of leader. My pitching rod I have a short 18-24in. leader. My dropshot rod has about 5-6ft. of leader.

In the end, it's what works best for you.

Practice tying your knots this winter. Opening day isn't a good time to learn a new knot.

Drop

DropShot'r wrote:... Opening day isn't a good time to learn a new knot.

Drop

April 22nd, 2011 can't come soon enough for QC zone 10!!!



Craig

Good advice on one of the posts about using a leader thats stronger than the main line ... spot on as far as i'm concerned ... when fly fishing for finicky trout we always think the opposite but for the big guys you can throw out the heavy test line. I found this out the hard way several times.

I fish with some guys who still believe in and use the old mono ... I don't get many days on the water so I can't afford to lose a big one.

I just did the test. 40lbs Maxima fluorocarbon leader material uni-knots nicely with 65lbs Power Pro.
The only reason I switched from 65lbs pp to 50lbs was to try to decrease pike break-offs (on Bob Izumi's advice). No doubt I'll be switching back to 50lbs next year to increase casting distance.
I have a spool of 50lbs PP here as well, a little smaller diameter than the 65, but I can't imagine it'll make that much of a difference with the uni-knot.
Awesome! And thanks for all the tips guys!

Yannick