Leaders for Pike Fishing?

[prime89]

(03-20-2012 11:54 AM)manitoubass2 Wrote:  

(03-20-2012 12:56 AM)prime89 Wrote:  Cool.

Yeah cus Ive been thinking of going leader less..or jus use fluoro as leader material and braid for my main line.

There are situations where I do use a leader. If I do, it's generally about 16-18".

That being said, there are alot of factors that come into play.

Over the past few years that I got serious about pike fishing, hands down my favorite approach is to tie direct with 15-20lb braid. It has great abrasion resistance and easily handles the biggest of fish.

Sometimes, I do use a leader of the same as my mainline though, just so I have a barrel swivel attached to keep my presentation from spinning in the current. I do this mainly when I'm fishing the bottom of the water column in 10 FOW or more.

And I'm not a fan of Southbend products. I bought some 8lb mono for my kids rods, and when I was spooling it up, you can feel some stresses in the line. Fresh mono should be very smooth, and you shouldn't feel any nicks or stress on the line. I know the pricepoint is nice, but I'd pony up and spend a few more bucks on quality line, Like Trilene XT (for mono), or Powerpro braid, or Suffix 832 braid, or even duracast braid.

Hope this helps!

Cool.

Oh no when it comes to line I don't with nething else but power pro braid or spiderwire for lightere setups. I just never really used leaders till this year when I started getting more serious with pike fishing.

I have one of my rods with 30 lb power pro braid..good quality stuff, I really think I can use that without a leader. I guess Il try that tommorow.