Was straightening a leader before i was fishing the other day, and when i straightened it, it snapped.
So this makes me ask the question, when should i change a wire leader for a new? I believe the leader was 180lb too.
I would of hated if that happened after a fish hit, so now im concerned. I did catch a good amount of fish on the leader this year, so i can see why it happened, but ill def be more careful now.
I don't like wire over 120-130 for the reason that it can just snap with little warning. With lighter wire I can see that there has been some fatigue and will retie right away. A couple places I watch:
– the loops at the ends, when they become oblong (not round I'll change them)
– the leader takes an extreme bend, around something like a hook and doesn't straighten easily
No reason to chance it, wire is cheap and they're easy to make.
I use 7 strand for that very reason. It lets you know when its breaking because one strand will break every time. When they start that they only 6 strand and they get scrapped out. I have never had a leader fail in the water. I also use 49 strand and that suff is the coolest leader material on the planet (to me). Its supple and soft and lets lures dance and play . I have it in 130 pound shark braid and I love it for my Weagle rod. I have been using the same one for 2 years and its still like freaking new. I have a spare ready to go but so far no fraying or even a wear spot. In contrast I use about a dozen 7 strand leaders on my main rod every year. #1 I use that rod a lot more and #2 that wire is more brittle. But like Will says dont take a chance if it looks bad it probably is. Mike
I use terminator 15 strand titanium leaders. The 65# and 80#, and they're the best I've found, so far. I've had some for over 3 years, and not one has ever kinked or bent, while staying supple. They're about 12-18$ apiece but worth every penny. I've tried other brands of titanium leaders, they've either kinked or broke off completely. As wire leaders go I don't have a lot of experience with them, probably because I don't fish many jerkbaits. But the terminators , they are strong. I've broken 80# test numerous times on snags but have never had one of these leaders fail. Loaning them to friends or braking my line, is the only time I've ever replaced them, so I don't know how long they would last.
Wire leader fisherman, what's the pro's and con's?
Favorite lure/type with wire leaders?
Wow, good to know, I'll definitely keep an eye on them. I don't if they fixed the problem, you had a few lemons, or I've just been lucky, but I haven't had a single issue them since I started using them almost 4 yrs ago. I guess, no matter what is used when musky fishing it needs to be inspected before use. Would hate to lose "that one" on just being lazy.
Well, I use these leaders on all my applications, never had one fail-ever. Hundreds of hours, on many of the same ones. Trolling, casting pounders, swimn joes, everything. I've even hooked up a 65# and tried to brake it. The 80# braid line snapped, and this was a leader that had been on my rod for 1 1/2yrs. Maybe the older ones weren't as good, don't know, but until I get a single one to ever fail me, I gonna continue to use them, especially for pounders.
With $20-$30 (or less) worth of supplies, you can get what you need to make many years' worth of single-strand leaders, and as Will said, they take only minutes to make.
Some Mason 120# single-strand wire (get the 1/4# spool): <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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Some solid rings and good ball-bearing swivels:
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and a pair of round-nose pliers (I got mine at Michael's—don't tell anybody!)
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and maybe a Dubro Kwik-Twist tool:
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Steve and others, here is one place to get 49 strand.
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I dont see the 130 pound test anymore but they have 90 and 175. Its somewhat thicker but resists kinking like for ever. Toughest stuff I have ever used. On my big bait rods I use nothing else. Mike
How often do u use Terminator leaders on pounders? ive had them break on only a couple days of throwing Mag dawgs for several days straight.. Im just warning you now id dump them. It will happen, i had several New 80# leaders break and slowly break apart where i caught it happening after using a mag dawg or super D for 7 hours of fishing. The way they are put together is just poor. Usually the clamp near the bottom of the leader breaks off from the stress of throwing the heavy baits.. They just are not made for that kind of pressure or stress from throwing a heavy bait all day.
They can throw smaller stuff, but anything over a regular dawg size will break them down over time. This isn't just me either. 3 other friends of mine who use to use them had the exact same problem using bulldawgs of any size, we were just lucky enough it didn't happen with a fish on.
Im pretty sure it was everyone else on this board that warned me about these as well before i ended up losing one with a fish on
Frustration with downtime created by changing kinked wire leaders is why I began trying flouro leaders. Now the only metal I use is heavy (240#) straight wires and only for glide baits. Otherwise its 80# flouro for everything except jig/creatures.
btw – back in the day I had two failures with titanium leaders. Both times I hooked timber while trolling a river and the leaders broke while the reels were letting out line per the drag setting. Later, I hooked into the same debris with my homemade flouros but this time the boat turned rather than the leader popping. Anyway, I have no faith in fancy titanium leaders.
No, I really mean 80#. Climax with Stringease snaps and decent swivels, the knots are painted with a light touch of superglue. I've been advised to use heavier by others, too, but so far so good.
I would be concerned that the super heavy leader would retard the action of lures like Suicks and twitch baits. No so?
I just read the thread about the failed flouro leader. Wow, never saw the like.
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