IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Northern Pike => Topic started by: Ironeagle on Jan 05, 2012, 09:01 PM
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i want to give flourocarbon leader a try, im going to get segar leader material, what would be best pound test to get and still be able to pick up some bass and other fish? #40 - 50? heavier? lighter? and also what knot should i use in heavy pound test?
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I did any experiment last season.i put 5 80 lb flouro leaders on my sons tipups and kept the regular steel leaders on mine. I noticed no difference between them. I wont waste the extra money for flouro again
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40 or 50 pound fluro leader would be fine, make sure you get the leader material, not just the line. I have had much more success with it than anything else.
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I just switched to fluoro 60Lbs, p-line, I like it but be D**N careful I hooked and lost my biggest ever northern last week on fluoro and it bit thru like nothing.
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Make sure you get leader material as this makes a huge difference...we use 60-80# and just tie a regular fishing knot, you will only get about 3-4 twists out of it and might need to use pliers to pull it tight, but i have never had one break. We have caught numerous pike over 15 and 2 over 25 with this setup and had no issues with leaders breaking. we also catch bass and pickerel with the heavy leaders. One issue is keeping them from curling, what I did was drill a small hole in the top of the tip up by where the flag goes into the woods, this way when you fold it up I put the hook right in that hole then tighten down the spool to keep enough tension on the leader to keep it from curling.
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around this neck of the woods i use nothing under 100 and if im fishing sticky structure i will go up to 150...some may think its overkill but thats just my style prepare for the worst expect the best...ps with anything over 80lb u need crimps!
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word to the wise... not all fluorocarbon leaders are made the same! better to spend a few extra bucks and go with something like seaguar
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#40 Seaguar, anything heavier has too much memory for my liking.
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Based on my experience with toothy critters and plastic leaders, 50# would be a minimum for me. Do choose a dedicated leader material over a piece of regular fluorocarbon intended for spooling a reel. Do lubricate your knots well and pull 'em tight; a nail driven somewhere and a pliers are good tools.
Do stick to a respected name in manufacturing like Seaguar, Ande or Hi-Seas. My buddy uses Cabelas label made by Seaguar and seems to like it well enough. I've got a spool of 60# Ande coming; best value in a known mfg., 50 yds. for about $30.
Remember, you can land a really big fish on light line if bite offs are not a consideration. I've landed fish that weigh 3x the # test of the leader/line. Provide enough diameter in your leader choice to insure a couple of incidental nicks won't weaken it enough to lose what you seek.
/mike
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so the heavier stuff coils bad? you can't straighten it like you do a tippet/leader for flyfishing?
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You can straighten the heavier stuff, but with my tipups (HT Polars) I dont have a good method to keep the leaders straight.
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i got ya, just try to straighten them by hand when you start up for the day. we can only use 5 at a time. for me that would only take couple minutes.
How hard is it to tie knots with the 40-60lb line?
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How hard is it to tie knots with the 40-60lb line?
Easy with a uni knot, heres a pic of one of mine with 100 lb triple fish flouro leader material.
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j25/MasterAngler28/P1020148.jpg)
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I use fluorocarbon leaders for everything i fish for. Berlkey Vanish is the brand i tie up. i use small treble hooks and use a palomar knot only. the heaviest weight test i use in the winter is 30#. most of my pike rigs are 20#. walleye rigs get 10-14# test. perch get 6-8# test.
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open water, baitcasting for pike and musky i go as high as 125# test using a big game cable knot and crimp above the knot.
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good luck
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I use fluorocarbon leaders for everything i fish for. Berlkey Vanish is the brand i tie up. i use small treble hooks and use a palomar knot only. the heaviest weight test i use in the winter is 30#. most of my pike rigs are 20#. walleye rigs get 10-14# test. perch get 6-8# test.
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open water, baitcasting for pike and musky i go as high as 125# test using a big game cable knot and crimp above the knot.
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good luck
how come you drop down in #test during ice season?
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First post, great forum guys.
I chase pike exclusively thru the ice - I certainly am not lucky enough to see some of the monsters that our Canadian neighbors do. About 7 years ago, I switched over to running fluoro leaders.
I agree that there are certainly brand names out there I'd stick to. Seaguar, Pline come to mind. I personally go lighter than alot of you do. I've been running 20lb Yozuri Hybrid, or 30lb Offshore Angler. I typically run longer leaders, so that I can quickly re-tie on the ice, if necessary. I've been bit off 2x in the last 3 years, but they were snakes...
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Seagar 30# leader material is what i use , never had any issues...
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Im always on the look out for cost effective alternatives. This is something i have used for softwater fishing and so far it has worked good for ice fishing too but i have yet to land any 40" northerns ice fishing. But if it works for muskies it will work just the same for northerns.
Im sure people will disagree and i did too before i tried it, but what i did was went out and found some 120# mono, which was $80 for 3000 yards (if im remembering correctly). Much much cheaper than fluoro and all the same benefits for being close to invisible and yet strong. Granted you still need pliers and a good knot but it works!! i landed muskies 40-55" this year on the same leader and it is knicked up and never broke. I used it for casting and for sucker fishing. I took alittle extra precaution and super glued the knots so they would stay tight and not budge. I dont have any problems with it coiling up and have yet to see any negative side affects to saving TONS of money going this route. I will say that you need a quality mono otherwise the cheap stuff discolors and clouds up and also drys out and will then coil up and eventually become brittle and break.
Hope this helps! :tipup:
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I tied up a bunch of quick strikes with 80lb floro. It is quite stiff and I would not even consider using it on smaller baits. Most of the bait I use weighs around a pound and it is enough to keep the floro taut. I will continue to use it along with wire quick strikes until I can conclusively say if it gets more flags. If I lose a fish because of the floro breaking I will go back to using steel exclusively.
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Been using both 30# and 40# flourocarbon leaders with no problems yet. Like others have said, the leader material is better as that is what it is designed for.
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i ended up getting #50 seguar, its as smooth as silk... alot nicer than the springy #17 berkley vanish i used before.
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Do you tie your hook right to the flouro, or do you use a swivel?
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i use 20# P-line florcarbon leader. have been bit off a handful of times, but it happens. i get tons of flags though with floro. tie direct to keep it stealthy.
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Do you tie your hook right to the flouro, or do you use a swivel?
I tie it straight to the hook, I think the swivel is just one more thing that could potentially spook pike away
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Thanks, I bought 30# flouro, and some 3/0 octopus hooks, I usually run
Treble hooks but gonna go back to a straight hook for a bit. Gonna tie about 3' of the flouo to the barrel swivel from my main line then Straight to the hook.
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i use mainly Berkley flurocarb 20# test for pike leaders. 8# for perch and walleye. 14# when all 3 combine. 20# given the nod if painted into a corner. i usually don't get painted into a corner so. . . . . i've gone as high as 150# for musky in open water with large baits and as low as 2# for bluegill on the ice. i normally don't go lower than 6# or higher than 30# for most situations. i've found that flurocarbon requires a 2# up over mono. = 6# mono needs 8# fluorocarbon to equal strength in ice fishing conditions. talking berkley only. can't speak for stren, or other brands. my main line is braid. tied to a barrel swivel, with the fluro leader tied to that. palomar knot for anything under 30# test. double clinch for braid to swivel or dacron to swivel if over 20# test dacron/braid. the heaviest mono/fluorocarbon requires a big game cable knot and sleave. i'm not set up to do that and buy those leaders from a friend in Wis. (sells on ebay - charlier).
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so the heavier stuff coils bad? you can't straighten it like you do a tippet/leader for flyfishing?
You're gonna think I'm nuts, but here is what I do to prevent coiling of heavy leaders: I use the wife's steam iron on them! I place the line on an old towel, then fold the towel over the line. I then sit the hot iron on the towel and slowly pull the line through the towel until it is straight. Then I cut the straight line into the lenght I want and rubber band it to a piece of ferring strip (I bought it at Lowes, out of a scrap pile sale, four feet for $00.50, and cut it to fit my jet sled). I put the wood in my gear sled. Once on the ice, I tie the leader on & fish. I know it sounds like a lot to do, but no ore coils!~
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I can tell you for trophy chain picks (above five pounds) 20 lb floro is risky. No problems with 30. I don't have enough experience with Pike to say. Not to say you can't get big picks on eight pound leader I have caught thousands...but to have the fish of decade pop 15 or even twenty....it hurts.
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I use 50# Seagard Fluorocarbon with 5/0 circle hooks for pike. My son had a 29" pike in the 5-6# range break of this weekend. I know this because he landed it later that day and I found the hook and leader in the stomach when I cleaned it. I'll be upgrading to 80# leader material soon.
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OMG......I thought women were overthinkers. Sigh.......
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you guys must have to order this stuff, If I go to Bass pro, or Gander, they have flouro, but only to #20, and it is not leader material.
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I make my own musky leaders and I use 80lb. I would never go smaller. I make my pike leaders with the same size. I like to crimp on a single hook pimple on one end, then make another small leader above it with a treble on one end. The stinger hook slides up and down above the pimple. I put the single hook in the back of the minnow and the treble in the mouth. I've been planning on making a leader holder that will keep the leaders straight in the off season.
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Ive been running one of my tipups for perch lately, with large fatheads, along side two pike tipups with steel leaders. I was using 6# fluoro on the perch one, and you can guess what happened there. Since then ive been using 20# mono leaders and the accidental pike biteoffs went away. Just found some 20# trilene 100% flouro leader locally (25# diameter), and i will give that a shot tomorrow. Perch, crappies, and bass didnt seem to care about the thick leader.. I might just run heavy fluoro even on non pike waters.
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you guys must have to order this stuff, If I go to Bass pro, or Gander, they have flouro, but only to #20, and it is not leader material.
Fish USA has leader material
http://www.fishusa.com/Leaders-Line
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I use 60 or 80lb floro. I have been bit off a few times but I've had a lot more flags since I switched to floro. This year I've caught a few dozen pike and 13 musky with only 1 bite off while pike fishing.
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i use 65# power pro braided and have caught probably 10-15 pike and havnt had one cut the line yet but then again iv always hooked them right on the mouth and never had them inhale the hook past the knot
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Braid is the worst leader material you can use. Poor abrasion resistance, highly visible and it will cut you to the bone if the braid is in your hand and a big fish takes off.