If you fish near northern pike, sharp rocks, or very clear water, you probably haven’t asked what is the purpose of a leader in fishing. However, you might want to know how to make a fishing leader, or how to tie a fishing leader onto your main line. If so, keep reading, as this article will discuss the reasons you’d want a fishing leader as well as how to make them and tie them onto your main line.
Why Use a Leader When Fishing?
There are several great reasons to use a leader when fishing. The most common are the desire to make your line less visible, the need for greater abrasion resistance, as some protection against sharp teeth, to use less fishing line overall, and to act as a shock absorber which allows you to throw heavier baits and fight heavier fish.
Invisibility
Braided fishing line sticks out like a sore thumb to a fish. Fluorocarbon line is nearly invisible. If you’re fishing in ultra clear water, it stands to reason that you might do better with a fluorocarbon leader than you would with straight braid, at least around line-shy species. You need a leader for bass fishing if the bass are highly pressured, as they will spook easily. Why give them one more reason?
Abrasion Resistance
One of the main reasons why you should use a leader when fishing (and especially fluorocarbon ones) is that it’ll add extra abrasion resistance to your line. Monofilament can scuff up easily. Braid, while super strong on a straight pull, can be sliced and cut by sharp rocks. A leader made from fluorocarbon again provides the answer. This will give you some peace of mind while you pull your bait past barnacles and rip rap.
Protection from Teeth
Perhaps the main purpose of a leader in fishing is to protect your line from sharp-smiled menaces like northern pike and chain pickerel. Their teeth can easily slice through fishing line and ruin your day. In this case, fluorocarbon might not be enough. You may want to use a wire fishing leader made from steel or titanium instead.
It Can Save You Money on Fishing Line
Fishing leaders can save you money if you play your cards right. I tie directly to my lures rather than using a snap swivel, and this means that I can go through a bit of line each year. Consider this – every time my line gets a little frayed, or even if I just want to change lures, I’m cutting off and losing at least a foot or so of line, maybe more. On the other hand, if I used a long enough leader to start (call it 2′ or so), then I could get through a couple of reties with that before I had to snip the main line. Over time, it’ll add up.
Shock Absorption
Some people rig up their fishing gear with “shock leaders.” These are a bit different than the traditional fishing leader in that they are considerably longer, and have a different purpose. Often used in surf fishing where hefty baits are flung great distances, a shock leader is about 30′ of considerably heavier fishing line tied to your main line. Its purpose is to absorb the shock that your weighted lures and bait will produce while being cast, so the forces produced while casting don’t snap the lighter main line instantly.
Note that the same concept of shock absorption that applies to casting will also apply to catching significantly heavier fish. Many people claim to have caught fish on low-test line. What some don’t tell you is that they were using a much heavier leader.
Why Should You Use a Shock Leader?
Any time that you need to make long-range casts, you’re going to need a heavy enough bait to load the road and achieve this. Using a shock leader allows you to get away with using much heavier line for the leader than your spool can normally handle, which in turn allows for heavier weight.
While you often hear about shock leaders for surf casting, they’d also come in handy if you were trying to fling heavily weighted bait for into a river for catfish or other large freshwater quarry.
What Type of Line Makes the Best Shock Leaders?
Because the purpose of a shock leader is to absorb the force of casting, you’re going to want a line that stretches well. This makes monofilament the best choice for the job, as it stretches much more than fluorocarbon or braid.
How Heavy of Line Should I Use for My Shock Leader?
This is going to depend on how much weight you need to cast. About 10lb of line strength per ounce of fishing rig seems to be a good balance. Just remember that this doesn’t just account for your sinker – you also need to think of the weight of the bait, hook, and any bells and whistles attached to it. When you consider how much current the ocean or a river can push, you might have quite a hefty sinker indeed which would require a considerably-sized shock leader.
How Long Should My Shock Leader Be?
You need enough length so that it can actually absorb whatever shock you’re going to put it through. If you tie it too short, it won’t be able to stretch enough to do this, and you’ll just be wasting time and gear. For this reason, you’re going to need to tie on a good amount – something like 30 feet or so. This is certainly a leader that is going to wrap around your spool several times – not one that’ll dangle past your last line guide on a cast. This could necessitate a fishing rod with larger eyes. Then again, if you’re using this technique to go for giant fish, that’s probably a given.
How to Use a Shock Leader Carp Fishing
Carp are a really good example of a time when you’d use a shock leader in freshwater fishing. These fish have an annoying habit of hanging out just out of reach of most casts unless you use a heavily weighted bait. All the same concepts of using a shock leader for surf fishing also apply to carp, and this can be a great way to get your bait past where most of your competition has offered carp a snack. In small ponds that don’t see a lot of boats, this could, in theory, get your bait past the fish’s perceived “danger zone” and into an area where they aren’t as hook shy.
How to Make a Fishing Leader
A fishing leader can be as simple as a length of sturdy fluorocarbon or pliable wire tied to the main line with a double uni knot. However, some people prefer to add a swivel between their leader and the main line to minimize line twist. In that case, you can mass-produce leaders ahead of time simply by tying them to swivels. Just make sure you use a large enough swivel that it’ll be able to spin, yet small enough that it can pass through your line guides if you need it to while casting. It can be very difficult to cast with too much line dangling from your rod tip!
Some people like to use a snap swivel on the other end of their leader (where it will attach to the lure or hook). Many store-bought leaders come this way. If you want to do this, simply tie the other end of your leader onto a snap swivel.
How to Tie a Fishing Leader
The question of how to put a leader on fishing line depends on how that leader was constructed. If you bought a pack of leaders from the store, they likely have a barrel swivel attached to one end of them. Attaching them to your fishing line is as easy as tying your favorite knot.
It gets more complicated when you start asking how to tie a leader on fishing line when that leader doesn’t have a swivel attached to it. You basically have two options:
- Tie a swivel on yourself.
- Join the leader and the line together with a knot that doesn’t require a swivel.
Each has their advantages. In my opinion, a swivel is just one more thing that can fail. On the other hand, it minimizes line twist and is easier to use, especially if you want to mass produce leaders ahead of time. This is advantageous in that you don’t need to mess around with them on a windy day on a rocking boat.
How to Tie A Wire Leader
One of the easier ways to tie a wire leader is to use the haywire twist. This is quick and easy to tie and strong. To tie it, you’ll push about 6″ or so of wire through the eye of your fishing hook. Then, you’ll form a loop with the wire. You want to hold the eye of the hook as well as this loop while simultaneously twisting both the tag end and main line so that they corkscrew around each other and catch. If you don’t do this, and you only twist one end of the line around the other, it will simply spiral and will slip when a fish bites. Once you’ve done 5-6 corkscrews, you then can twist the tag line around the main another 4-5 times. Make this very tight.
The video below is how I learned to do this and it does a great job of showing you exactly how to do the technique. The photo you see before you play the video illustrates very well the difference between the corkscrews and the twist. As you can see, the corkscrews lock the wire together, giving it strength. It’s also easy to see how simply twisting the wire wouldn’t work with any decent sized fish.
How to Attach Wire Leader to Fishing Line
How to Tie a Leader on Braided Fishing Line
I prefer to use a double uni knot when tying braided fishing line to a fluorocarbon leader. It’s a strong knot that is easy to tie, even in the wind, and holds up well. I use it for everything from joining leaders and fishing line together to fixing broken shoelaces on the fly. To tie it, follow these steps:
- Take your two lines and lay them next to each other, parallel. Make an overhead loop with each around the other (Figure 1).
- Spiral the tag line of each around the two lines on the inside of the loop 6-7 times (Figure 2).
- Pull each tag line taut to form a uni knot (Figure 3).
- Pull both main lines together to snug the two uni knots up against each other (Figure 4).
Here’s a figure from my book, Fishing with Kids: A Parent’s Guide, which illustrates the double uni knot.
Do You Need a Leader for Bass Fishing?
Because largemouth and smallmouth bass lack sharp teeth, using a leader isn’t strictly necessary when bass fishing. Even so, you might need a leader for bass fishing when you’re in very clear water, near very abrasive structure, or when fishing in areas inhabited by toothy predators like northern pike or chain pickerel.
Fluorocarbon line makes a great leader for bass fishing. It is nearly invisible under the water, which makes it great while fishing in very clear lakes. It has great abrasive resistance, which makes it a good leader material if you’re fishing near rock piles. Finally, while it isn’t metal, it will stand up to sharp teeth from bycatches like northern pike and pickerel better than a braided or monofilament main line.
Should You Use a Leader with a Spinnerbait?
As a rule, I don’t worry about leaders when I’m fishing spinnerbaits. This is because the bent wire frame offers your line decent protection from teeth. Further, spinnerbaits are typically worked so fast that they produce reaction strikes. Fish don’t have time to notice your line and realize something is wrong. I’d argue you can get away without a leader for spinnerbaits.
Should You Use a Leader with Topwater Lures?
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you do, it had better be monofilament. You don’t want to use fluorocarbon fishing line or leaders while using topwater lures because fluorocarbon sinks. While it probably won’t be enough to submerge your entire lure, it could sink enough to pull their nose down and kill their action. If you find you’re losing too many topwater lures to pike or pickerel, you might want to upsize your lure to something like a Devil’s Horse that has a better chance of surviving the odd Esox strike.
Should You Use a Leader with a Jerkbait?
In general, a leader shouldn’t negatively affect a jerkbait’s action. Indeed, jerkbaits make outstanding lures for northern pike, and are often fished with wire leaders. This is fine, but make sure that your leader is longer than the jerkbait itself so that it won’t get hung up on the hooks. Since several northern pike jerkbaits can be as much as 8-12″ long, you’re going to want a leader at least this length if not longer.
Can I Use Regular Fishing Line as a Leader?
Yes, you certainly can. While you can buy a spool of purpose-built “leader material” fluorocarbon, there’s nothing wrong with simply using some regular fishing line as a leader. Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to notice any difference, at least while freshwater fishing. Using regular fishing line like fluorocarbon as your leader is convenient and will save you money. You’ll note that the purpose-built stuff is more expensive yard for yard. Further, you’ll get all the same benefits: abrasion resistance, reduced visibility, and a bit better protection against teeth.
Conclusions
If you’ll be fishing in very clear waters, or those with pike or pickerel, you’re going to want to learn how to make a fishing leader. As mentioned, there are several great reasons why you should use a leader while fishing, and most of them boil down to a simple fact: it’ll help you hook (and land) more fish. Fluorocarbon’s near-invisibility will help you hook line shy fish. The abrasion resistance and ability to withstand teeth of leaders of various material will help to prevent your fishing line from snapping. Finally, leaders can absorb some of the shock of hefty casts, allowing you to reach fishing grounds beyond the reach of most anglers from the bank. In short, you would do well to keep some leader material in your tackle box, and use it when it makes sense.
Thanks,
John Paxton
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