braid/leader ratio

[woolly_bugger]

hi,first time on.can someone tell me what size mono/flouro leader to use with 30 lb braid.i'll be fishing reef and bottom in tassie waters for stripies(trumpeter).also what length of leader?alsoshould i tie leader direct to metal jigs or use a heavy snap.

[billfisher]

I normally use 2 rod lengths, ie 12 to 14 feet. This is enough to protect against abrasion and put a little bit of stretch back into the system. As to breaking strain there a few things to consider. If you go lighter than the braid eg 25 lb the leader will break before your expensive braid if you get snagged. So for table fish such as mowies and snapper this is what I usually do. The relatively light leader is less likely to put them off the bite too.
If you are after larger, dirty fighters such as kingfish I would use a leader of the same breaking strain as the gel spun or perhaps slightly heavier. What you can do is use a lighter leader to the sinker only. Usually it the sinker that get snagged and hopefully the gel spun won't break.

[woolly_bugger]

thanks for the info. thats pretty much the stuff iwanted .i was also able to find a string on jigging where iwas able to get a lot of info on terminal connections,under the chat topic "jig sticks. looking forward to putting my new outfit together .rod is a custom built Samurai NV 9 and reel is TSS4.do i need to put a layer of backing on first or can iput the braid straight on to spool. i've been told to load the braid wet and tight .is this correct.

[billfisher]

Most people put a mono backing on simply because the braid is so fine you will need to buy a very large length to fill the spool, which is an unecessary expense. It needs to be wound on tight but I don't think you have to wet it.

[woolly_bugger]

thanks billfisher,i'lll let you know how it all hangs together.i'm looking forward to seeing how our local striped trumpeter respond to dep jigging.haven 't heard of any one using jigs on them but dont see why they shouldn't work.will post when i have some results,
Ian

[nigelr]

Hi Woolly.
Firstly, welcome to Ausfish! :)
Now, any chance of you spillin' the beans on the Tassie scene? (Only in a general way, of course! ;)) Whats the deal with these 'stripies', how big do they grow, are they good to eat, where are they found, any other good fightin' and eatin' species youse chase down there? The Boss and I might find ourselves in those parts if we're lucky in a year or two, I'd feel MUCH better about it if I knew there was good inshore boat fishing. #::) Whereabouts do you fish out of, north, west, east or south coast?
Regards Nigel. :)

[thumps]

heya wooly

i used to fish a metre of 80lb trace with a paternoster rig straight off it.

most greenfish(strippies) in the south are in a hell of alot of water....so youll need all the line you can stuff on that tss....but i guess you know that...livin down the neck ;)

good luck with the jigging...i cant see why you'd wanna drop a lure and wind it up that far flat out....i found it hard enough with bait...and then getting the fish up that far..but each to there own

careful you dont hit the pick handles on the way down...and then on the way up...ive had those things swallow a big snapper lead on the drop.

[thumps]

Hi Woolly.
Firstly, welcome to Ausfish! :)
Now, any chance of you spillin' the beans on the Tassie scene? (Only in a general way, of course! ;)) Whats the deal with these 'stripies', how big do they grow, are they good to eat, where are they found


how big???...are reported to grow to 1.2m and about 25kg and live for about 30 years.

any good to eat??....the best fish i have ever eaten....leave coral trout,emporer in the bin..this is the real deal

where???....They are found throughout southern Australia from Sydney to Kangaroo Isand all around Tassie

and have a bag limit of 8...and that bag limit includes what you have in your fridge at home....ie...if you have 3 in the fridge...you can only take 5 more

[Jeremy87]

One of the disadvantages of braid is its knot strength, the leader knot will almost always be the first thing to fail so there is no point using lighter leader since the knot fails and you get all your braid back anyway (the only time that braid breaks before its knots fails is if it is damaged and in that case its no good to you anyway.)

[Whitelightning]

Being a novice to braid, can anyone tell me the difference between a mono double and a mono leader. What knots are used? Any diagrams would be appreciated - reference to knots in one of the well known books?

[billfisher]

Jeremy87,

This has been discussed in another recent post. I don't agree that the leader knot is alway the weak point. You should be tying a bimini double in the braid first (50 turns). Then using the double line to tie to the mono.
So if your leader knot breaks before the main braid line you hust have a 50% or less knot strength, which is very poor indeed. Note that the bimini double is regarded as having 100% strength.
Also for bottom fishing with bait you may not always want a heavier mono lead for shy fish.

[nigelr]

Hey Thumps.
Many thanks for your reply, mate. Suddenly the idea of Tassie has me grinnin'!
Cheers!

[Wyoming]

Jeremy is on the money when it comes to fishing the plastics because you want to achieve a knot with a low profile so that it slips through the runners with a minimum of fuss. I'm talking plastics here, in-shore chasing fish to around 6-8 kg, so the knots may well be different for higher, off-shore duties.#Also, the braid invariably is stronger than its published strength, so a 10 lb braid will typically break at around 16-20 lb if it has not been abraded by coral, rocks structure etc. #God works in mysterious ways and She frequently makes the hook snag. #Usually, there is no alternative but to tug the whole affair until the hook dislodges OR you break something. #In this case, you are better to break the mono (or the flurocarbon) simply because there is less of it to replace.

For the braid to leader knot, the best in my opinion, is the blood knot or alternatively, the hangman's knot. #If using flurocarbon (who doesn't??) #take an extra 4 turns when you are making your knot to the braid and I find that aound 2 metres of leader is about right. When you are done with this, put a spot of superglue on it, spit on your fingers, and roll the knot to a neat profile, then you can just about guarantee that under tension, you won't break it at the knot. #BTW, the same knot is fine for joining lengths of braid - it is usual to simply cut out a tangle and re-join with a blood knot.

At the business end, tie your hook or jig head with a bog-common trilene knot without the Superglue treatment - this is where it will let go.

One final word on braid - it's truly an amazing breakthrough offering no stretch at all, so you can feel a fish changing his mind! It is as dear as poison, so every 3 or 4 months, I change mine around by swapping it end-for-end; that is the end tied to the spool becomes the end tied to the leader . You need 3 spools to do this task. Also, you need to wind the first 40 metres (at least) through your fingers so that you can feel for mechanical damage, because you can be sure that this is where it will fail - usually when mates are watching and you have engages a serious fish.

Hope this helps.

Neil

[Jeremy87]

You don't have to agree if you don't want to billfisher. As Neil said braid will brake higher than its rating, so why do the rate braid at 10lb when it brakes higher when tested, because braid has pore knot strength. Some companies go as far as to list actual strength and then the knot strength of braid. Yes a bimini twist will increase the knot strength of leader connections so by all means use it. But when you're fishing around reef and you hook up onto something solid that is giving your drag a good workout i would much rather know that i can safely put my drag up to 1/3 of main line strength and not have to worry about my burred up leader that has is being put to the test. I think the reel question is whats more important to you, a trophy fish or 50 metres of braid. If you want to downsize your leader below your mainlines braking strain for timid fish then use a lighter outfit.

[billfisher]

There is no need to use a lighter outfit for timid fish, just change your leader to suit what your after. The braid is so fine it is versatile enough to do this.
As I mentioned before you can use a slightly lighter leader than your braid and then tie a double in the business end. This way you get a fuse in the system and don't sacrifice abrasion resitance at the business end.
My 50lb braid outfit is overkill anyway for the majority of fish I am likely to hook. If I get a trophy sized fish on I will relish having a battle on my hands. I don't like the idea of using gear so heavy that fish have no chance of getting away or even pulling line off the reel.

[woolly_bugger]

Nigel, Thumps is right on the money about stripies.Tassie has a strong inshore fishery,albeit without the range of species available to our northern friends.Flat head (tiger and sand),trumpeter ,aus salmon,couta. Some of the biggest bream you're likely to see.(recent articles in Modern Fishing).Also escapee atlantic salmon,sea run trout as well as our world class brown and rainbow trout fishery.Also,southern blue fin tuna.albacore,mako shark make up afairly strong game fish field.Over recent years yellow fin tuna have made an appeance.Striped marlin are a regular occurance around St Helens,but not common and less so further south.Snotty Trevally(warehou) are a seasonal capture,as are large numbers of calamari and arrow squid.
Thumps, you're right about the couta.They're about in huge numbers this year and good size (metreplus) great fun on fly or light spin tackle,but areal pain when chasing serious fish.Why lures for stripies?Well I've caught them on bait and want to try something different.And we rarely have the joy of targeting king fish.You sound like a former tassie fisher.

Ian

[nigelr]

Many thanks for your reply, Ian, much appreciated! :)
Regards, Nigel.

[thumps]

wooly bugger

yeap im a Hobart Boy

moved north last Feb ;)