Leaders – Getting the leader right could yield more bites!
My experience with leaders goes back to some of my earliest fishing days. I was warned that fishing for Northern Pike required leaders due to the sharp teeth. Leaders don’t really stand out when you are standing in a row of terminal tackle. I used to think leaders were about keeping a fish on the line. Now I realize they can make a difference with bite percentages by improving or degrading lure performance. My first leaders were stainless steel. They were cheap and available everywhere. I could buy a couple for under $10. Then things changed as I pursued pike on a more consistent basis.
The first time I realized something may be wrong was fishing an outpost that had several portage lakes. One of the lakes had a good reputation for catching pike so I made the quick hike into Petersen Lake. I made a 15 minute boat ride to the first bay and it was game on! I quickly lost count of the number of pike I had caught. I also quickly noted my spinner bait was running erratically. I lifted the bait out of the water and saw two things. The lure was twisted way out of alignment. That was easily fixed bend it back. The leader looked even worse. It was kinked in several spots. I tried to straighten the leader and it wasn’t happening. I grabbed another one tied it on and away I went. 5-10 fish later I was right back in the same spot. I grabbed another leader and repeated the processes until I ran out of leaders by about 1p. That’s when I decided I needed to rethink how prepared for next year’s pike trip.
As I researched the leader issue I fought many articles written by Muskie fishermen. They seem to have worked out the best leaders for different lures. I had a plan. I would spend closer to $8-10 per leader and fish Titanium leaders. Simple enough. As I flash forward to my next trip this was a major improvement. I could fish all week with one maybe two Titanium leaders. Problem solved. Sort of….I thought back to those Muskie articles. They also mentioned single wire Titanium leaders, multiple wire Titanium leaders, and Fluorocarbon leaders.
Here are the rules I follow now based on my experience.
- Single Strand Titanium Leaders – Jerk baits / Glide baits
- Fluorocarbon Leaders – Everything else
- Multiple Strand Titanium – Everything else if you don’t want to move to Fluorocarbon Leaders.
So the decision now comes down to the everything else category. Why Use Fluorocarbon vs. multiple strand Titanium. Fluorocarbon is more flexible, transparent in water, and a bit more flexible. Cool! That is all good why not always use Fluorocarbon leaders. Teeth nick them up! You need to be carful after many fish that the leader isn’t too damaged to keep fishing. You definitely will burn through a few during a trip if you focus on Pike, but I like how easy they are to fish. I also feel like I get a few more bites. Multiple strand Titanium will last days / weeks / years, but catch a few less fish.
So, there you have it. If you are rigging up for a Canadian pike fishing experience, spend a bit more money and rig up with a few Titanium single strand leaders and some Fluorocarbon. I usually go with 80 pound to 100-pound leaders for my Canadian adventures, but anything 40-140 is probably fine.
Hopefully this advice will help you get better movement on your lures as well as keep those big fish hooked up!
Good Luck!
Brett