leader help

[gator79]

I am new to offshore fishing, I mainly fish oil rig platforms and structures. mostly bottom fishing, some trolling. what is the best type of leader? and the best way to connect them to your line, either tie or crimp. hopefully fish in the 20 to 100 pound category.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: leader help

Leader depends on the fish you are after.... For some you'll need a short piece of wire (for the toothy critters), while other times mono or florocarbon will be fine....<br /><br />For most connections, just tie.. Crimping is usually quite un-necessary, unless your rigging your own large trolling lures or something crazy... <br /><br />For trolling, and this even applies to bottom fishing as well, whatever rig you use, make sure you incorporate a good ball bearing swivel somewhere in the rig to keep line twist to a minimum... If ya don't, its a real mess to untangle...<br /><br />For connecting wire to a hook or swivel, use a haywire twist.. It's vert easy to tie.. haywire twist

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: leader help

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: leader help

Your bottom fishing may be a little differant then around my way. We don't have oil rigs but we do have rocky structure and sunken vessels and we fish in 200' of water <br />From main line to leader like Snapperbait says is a good swivel. All my leaders are fluorocarbon just a matter of preferance, [always caught fish on mono] Fluro is tougher then mono and will hold up better to abrasion. Leaders are generally 4-5' long. <br />for deep sea fishing I use a 2-3 hook set up spaced a couple of feet apart with a bank sinker on the end. The sinker will be anywhere from an 8oz-20oz depending on current.<br />When jig fishing I use the same as above but the only differance is I put a 10oz- 24oz jig depending on the current.<br />One of best & quick knots to tie is a Palomar knot to the hook,[strong]<br />I don't use crimps until I get into using 180-300lb test lines mainly used for giant blue fin tuna fishing.<br />I make up my own wire leaders from 12"-24" long. attach the swivel first and then the hook, easier to do that way.And I generally use 70-80lb single strand wire, which is Malin stainless wire [brown]Also I buy my hooks a hundred at a time

 

[gator79]

Re: leader help

are you talking about the swivel that you can put a hook on or just a plain swivel? what size and brad are best? thanks for the help

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: leader help

Talking about a plain swivel,ball bearing swivel from main line to leader. As far as poundage goes it depends on the weight,size of fish that you are targeting. Sometimes I use a #100lb swivel, sometimes a 200-300lb swivel. When buying good swivels a 200-300lb swivel in some cases aren't any bigger then a100lb swivel.<br />When deep sea fishing my main line is #80lb dacron. My leaders range from 50-150lb test. With a single hook I generally use 50lb testleader With a 3-4hook system I may use 150lb leader. The cod fish that I target range in weight from 10-50lbs.

 

[cjones4@hvc.rr.com]

Re: leader help

Here is a link to a good article about the often overlooked swivel:<br /><br /> http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/saltwater/fishing/article/0,12746,584098,00.html <br /><br />Enjoy.