who uses a flourocarbon leader for pike?
 

Anyone here tie their own flourocarbon leaders for pike?

How do they hold up?

What lbs test of flourocarbon do you use?

Ever have a fish break them off?

I tie my own fluorocarbon leaders for pike out of 50lb Trilene Big Game Fluorocarbon Leader Material, and I drop down to 30lb for walleye.

They stand up very well, and I've never had one bitten off. I have had a couple break back in the day due to dodgy crimps (my fault) so now I've moved to tying all my leaders instead, and haven't had one break since.

You do need to check them for nicks/cuts from time to time though.

I built a bunch of pike leaders and quickstrike rigs out of fluorocarbon three years ago. I used 80lb.

I've never caught anything over 8lbs with them, so I can't speak as to how well they would handle a monster. They have stood up well over time.

But, I feel I made them too short. Everything is 18". If I could do it over, I would make them longer.

who uses a fluorocarban
 

I use 40 lb. Seagar fluorcarbon for pike, and it is excellent. It's extremely abrasion resistant. Be sure to check it now and then, if it's starting to fray a bit, then just cut off that portion and go again. It's especially good for ice fishing with bait, they don't seem to see it like they would with a steel leader.

all good info. I think I'll give it a try. I won't be using crimp's, I'll just tie direct.

What kind of sleeves/crimps are people using with their fluoro leaders? I'm probably going to make the change over this winter to fluoro from the coated wire.

I used the "Malin Sleeves MS6B-.080" for the 80lb Trilene Big Game.

The 80lb is just too thick for me to get a good knot in. I would say if the line can be knotted, it should be knotted.

Big fan of floro leaders. I use 100lb Berkley Big Game on my tip ups (quick strike rigs), and have used it in the summer as well. By the end of the winter season my rigs feel like sandpaper and look like they should break by just breathing on them, but I'm sure I could get alot more use from them if I wanted to. I crimp mine as I can't tie a knot with the heavy stuff that I'm comfortable with. One trick with the crimps is to melt the tag end a bit so it mushrooms, and will be harder to pull through the crimp sleeve. I also run the tag end back through a second time as insurance. Also I use these Scotty downrigger sleeves...

http://scotty.com/fishing-gear-equip...sConnector.gif

Just started this year, love it
 

Using 40lb fluoro with 60lb terminal, tied with San Diego Jam knots. Trying to tie them in the 20"-24" range.

They work great, much better than standard wire leaders you buy from any fishing store. They will start to show effects from teeth so be wise about replacing before you lose a big one.

I've had only one break so far but it was such that I strongly suspect it was from the tooth of a large fish that hit squarely on the leader.

I did land a 14lb pike at Wab only days after switching so I'm sticking with them.

As an FYI, my buddy uses 80lb with 100lb terminal. I tried using one but it was too heavy for my lures - impeded the pulsating action of my Rapalas and other lures of that type/style. He uses larger lures (6"-8") and it seems to work well with those. So my advice is size your fluoro leaders and terminal according to your lures. The larger your lures, the heavier your leader can be.

Use double sleeved rather than single. Better for crimping.

Offshore double sleeves from Bass Pro or something similar. I have 3 different types, they all work good.

Those that are tying, can add a little fishing glue or crazy glue to help with the knot.

Lookup saltwater knots for an idea what to use with heavy mono.

Can you explain why you tie them in the 20"-24" range, and how you use the different lengths?

I definitely feel that 18" is too short. I don't know if I'd feel that 20" was enough.

I use 60 lb for my pike leaders , and tie them 2 to 3 feet long I like the long leader and when there that long if you need to clip some off big deal . I two tie them Direct to my main line then sometimes will use a quick snap or tie direct to the lure .

Nothing more than personal preference really...as fluoro is almost invisible in the water, just kinda guessing on how far up the leader my swivel needs to be to go "un-seen" by fish. That being said, I see no difference in my catch rate between the old black or silver leaders and the fluoro's. But would like to think it makes it more appealing.

2nd, I find it's a good length to manipulate and keep leverage on my side if I need to grab it when there's a little guy on trying to be a tough guy at the boat.

3rd, if we get in a casting situation, it's a good length for that as well. I tend to use lighter, smaller lures (1oz, +/- 1/4) and find that hanging a lure 30"-36" from the tip gets me good distance. Any longer and it seems like trying to throw a wet noodle.

Definitely no science behind it though...I don't use a longer or shorter leader for any specific type of fish or fishing.

The biggest thing is they last much longer than the wire leaders do. Especially if you get a pike that likes to do the "death roll" on the way in. A couple fish do that and a wire leader is usually wound up like a spring. I've used one fluoro for an entire day and never had it do that to me.

Titanium leaders are an option as well. Longest lasting leader out there. You can also buy titanium leader material for those that want to custom build their leaders. They don't kink like reg leaders and will last long times(or till you lose it).

That is what is making my decision easier to switch this year. With the coated wire, once it's been wrapped around something, there is no getting the 'coil' out of it, and you need to make a new rig.

Have heard a lot of good things about flouro, and this might be what pushes me over the top to build a few.

For those of you who do use it, do you tie it directly to you main line (likely using a blood knot), or do you go put your own swivel and a swivel-quick snap on the bottom or tie directly?

Big fan of the quick snaps/swivels but from what I have heard about flouro, not sure how well it will tie to those.

I use 80lb fluro for leader. I usually tie 24-30" of it to my line, then tie directly to my lure.Takes a little longer to change lures, but that is why i rig up rods for every presentation. I usually have a minimum of 4 rods in my kayak setup for tons of different situations.

So much easier just taking a spool of fluro along that fighting with steel leaders that kink of hand tied fluro leaders that you have to roll up and deal with the snaps.

Just my opinion

40-80lb mono is what I use.

pike to ~15lbs and no problems.

I troll all summer for pike. I tie 20lb braided line directly
to crankbaits. I catch a lot of pike and they never bite it off.
No leader necessary.

What is your technique for tying the 80lb? I had a terrible time trying to tie it. I gave up and used crimps.

I use vise grips and a old hook in a bench vise keep wet and some practice helps. Less wraps are needed for most knots . A plamar knot takes some doing .

This

Also, for those that are crimping proper tool is a must. And again the double barrel is the best.

x2, I have found that the larger the line diameter, less wraps makes a better knot.

On my summer rigs I use 3' of floro, a quality swivel crimped to one end, and a snap swivel on the other end. Redundant in a way, but I did it by mistake the first time, and it worked well so why mess with it...:cool:

TrophyPikeHunter is a fink.

He switched over to fluorocarbon when he saw an increase in my catch rates on those days when the pike tend to be a little finicky.

lol.

As he mentioned - I use 80lb fuoro leader material knotted (clinch or palomar with melted tip of the tag ends only ) and apply a drop of crazy glue for added insurance.

I have landed over 500 pike on my first leader - but it was finally getting knicked up so I tied up a couple more.

I toss and/or troll bigger stuff and it works great. I also tied up a few 50lb leaders when I'm chucking smaller stuff.

The fluoro allows you to grab the leader without of fear of getting cut up if the pike freaks out at the side of the boat.

95% of the the fish we land never leave the water, we just reach down and pull the hook out while he's still in the water. Easy on the fish and easy my hands.

I will not ever go back to steel leaders ............

For you guys that make fluoro quick strike rigs, how long are you making them? 24"-36" seems like over kill to me. For my coated wire rigs, I don't think I made one over 14", but maybe there's a good reason to make longer quick strike rigs with fluoro?

For quick strike rigs I only use 12-14". You could go longer but I think they would get tangled up pretty good if you did...

Steel you want as short as possible because it's so visible.
Fluoro you want as long as possible because it's almost invisible.
I normally tie about 6-8' of fluoro (using a double uni knot) to my line. It gets shorter as I change lures or the leader gets knicked so I cut some off the end.
I haven't found any 30-40lb fluoro but when I do, I'll be using that for pike / walleye. I've landed plenty of mangroves jacks, barracuda and estuary cod on 40lb fluoro leader and they have teeth to rival pike and live in a barnacle and oyster encrusted environment.

That's how I feel too, but I wasn't sure if guys were making quick strike rigs the same length as a regular leader. And if guys are, I'm curious as to the reason why.

You're talking about a regular leader though. I just mean the length for making a quick strike rig for hanging bait.

Gotcha, had to look it up, never heard of them before.