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richz

Pike Leaders

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Trying to tie up some pike leaders and I am having some problems. I am trying to use Mason hard mono. Trying to use 30" 30lbs. to 24" 20lbs. and about 2' of Knot 2 Kinky wire. Trying to tie a blood knot to join the 30 to 20lbs. This stuff is so stiff I cannot get a good blood knot. Any tricks to make this connection?

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No I have not MuskyFlyGuy I wanted the knot to be as small as possible, didn't want to pick up weeds. Think tonight I might try some hot water and see if it might soften up the line some.

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Rich give this a try instead. Pick up some Beadalon which is a flexible coated wire that women use for making bead necklaces, you can get a spool at Michaels Craft store for about $4. I've been doing a ton of pike fly fishing the past 4 yrs ion the fall now and use that stuff all the time. When I first started after pike on the fly I tried all the stuff out there like "knot2kinky" and other stuff that is "supposed" to be good. And found it all to be really hard to work with and hard to tie knots in. Then I tried the beadalon and it's very easy to use. You can easily tie loops in each end and because it's coated you can take a sharpie and color it black as well. Stands up to pike teeth very weel. I've caught up to 35" pike so far and no issues.

 

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I like Steel's recipe and will make a point of looking for the wire he uses... I do a lot of leaders with 20lb hard Mason (connected to a bite tippet of 40 to 80lb fluoro...) for tarpon and it is a relatively large diameter stiff mono. Instead trying to connect 20 Mason to 30 Mason - I'd use a softer mono for the 30lb - something like Ande Premium or Sufix Superior (these are lines - not leader material)... Blood knots will do for mono to mono connections but a far superior knot (if you can learn it) is the Slim Beauty from Australia. I use it almost exclusively these days for connecting different mono sizes -it's almost 100% line strength as well. For the mono to wire connection you might want to try an Albright Special knot - that's what most I knew used for years and years...

 

As you move up in target size (here I'm talking about shark leaders) then it's time to go to stainless trolling wire (I like Malin's in coffee color) and tiny solid tuna rings - but that's another deal entirely...

 

Steel - hope your trip is going well...

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Steel - hope your trip is going well...

 

Been back about a week now Bob wink.png Was away for around 15/16 days, had a great time. Yeah pick up some of the beadalon wire and give it a try, I bet you'll like it. After trying stuff like the knotable wire and finding it next to impossible to tie a knot in I picked this stuff up at the suggestion of a friend and after using it wondered why I didn't try it in the first place lol.

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Beadalon works ok, I use it but it will get a pigtail kink after a couple of fish.

As far as the mono part of the leader this is closer to what I do in this video.

https://youtu.be/7DOy7ZjSDgY

 

Instead of using the butt section I use a straight length of 30 lb. fluorocarbon and the loops as in the video.

And like Niklaus states, keep the leader SHORT. pike are not line shy and there is no reason to use a long leader which in practical use is counter-productive as stated in the video.

 

In this video you will see how to make a wire trace with the plastic coated wire. I use this method and have never had a wire trace fail on pike over 40". You can easily put a Stay-Lok or Crosslock snap on the wire trace to quickly change flies. I like to tie my pike flies on tubes and a couple hook rigs as in this video. You can use single hooks if you don't want to add the stinger.

If you want to use the Titanium then make the big loop for connecting to the fly line and you can tie or snap the fly to the other.

https://youtu.be/9sXXm3PNgQo

 

Yes, the video is not in English but I'm sure you can follow along.

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Any wire leader can look like that after a good fish.... I rarely ever expect to use one a second time once it's gone to the wars..... That kinking and curling occurs when the leader saws back and forth around either teeth or the bones in the fish's jaw stucture - and any kind of wire - solid, twisted, braided will show the same result after a good fish. We only use wire leaders in the salt for fish with seriously sharp teeth - sharks, barracuda, bluefish, the various mackerals... For everything other than sharks and 'cudas I always try a heavy fluorocarbon bite tippet in conjunction with flies tied up on long shank hooks first since the fluoro (even heavy fluoro...) will draw more strikes...

 

Hope this helps and must admit that I've never gone after any freshwater fish with teeth - unless it's a saltwater fish like a big bull shark that's way up into a freshwater area....

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attachicon.gif 20190901_065752.jpgThis is Beadalon, same stuff as your picture after a few 30-40 inch pike.

 

 

 

 

Simply have not had that happen to me. As Bob said any pike leader can do that if reused a number of times. I usually use one for a day or so and then the next day tie a new one. You get 90ft of Beadalon for $4 so it's not a problem using a new one for a new day of fishing.

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