Kiwi Dan Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hello all Can someone answer a couple questions ive got. I picked up a new rod and reel tonight and decided to load it up with some braid. I havent got any braid on any of my other rods and reels but thought id give it a go for the new outfit. As I told the bloke in the store I want to use this as my 2nd Kingie outfit. I ended up buying some 30pd braid and he told me to put a leader on as well. So my questions are. Why do you put the leader on and whats the benifit? How long should I make the leader? Should I tie it straight to the braid or put a swivel on? Basically any help I can get would be great!! Cheers Dan GO MANLY!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayKay Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Im sure someone will come up with a better answer, but this is what the tackle shop guy told me. You use mono leader on braid lines because the braid doesnt have any slack at all and if you get a bite and you strike too hard, it might rip the hook out of the fish' mouth. I put about 6ft for jigging, and 3-4ft for shallow water. Someone please correct me if Im wrong and Id also like to know what others do. GO EELS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnno Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 (edited) Leader acts as a shock absorber as Jaykay has said also it give you a abrasion resistance as we all know kings fight dirty if you just had braid as soon as it touched the rocks/snags ,mouth of fish under pressure POP as a joke/truth you will sometimes get them leather jacketssnipping lines and you want it to be the leader rather then the braid i run 1m-1.8m of leader but if i get some back in a bust of,I will check it and hook up shorter in length so you don,t waste lots of leader. GO EELS Edited September 20, 2007 by johnno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastspinna Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 braid is highly visible in the water... leader is for shock purpooses and also for stealthiness.... on short leader ie under a metre you can use a swivel but any longer and you need to connect the lines... i'm sure you will get a different response, but i very rarely use more than 1 m because i hate leader knots goin through the guides... another thing remember that braid breaks above its breaking strain... 30 pound is solid stuff..... never never never wrap this stuff around you hand and try to pull off a snag.....that is if you like your hand.... this stuff will cut you to the bone.....i use 10 pd fireline and with a 20 pnd leader, usually the hook or jighead will go first, it is pretty strong stuff and can be hard to bust off.... i'd love to know how the boys on the gt rods pop snags on 80 lb braid.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfish Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 usually tie the leader to the mainline by 1st tying a double in the mainline, just loop the mainline back and tie a bimini twist or plait. try googling these knots or maybe find in a fishing book! much easier if someone shows you! then attatch the mainline to the leader with an albright or double uni knot both feature in the knots link at the top of forum! you can tie lines straight togethr but if your chasing something which will test your line strength i would go with the double for extra strength! also sammys favorite method is to buy a wind on leader which has a dacron loop on the end, tie a double in the braid mainline, then join the two with a cats paw! GO EELS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inhlanzi Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hey Kiwi Dan So my questions are. Why do you put the leader on and whats the benefit? shock absorbtion, visibility, ease of knott tying, makes tackle shops heaps of cash selling short pieces of mono at high prices! How long should I make the leader? 1 to 2 m. I start longer and as you change lures etc it gets shorter. Should I tie it straight to the braid or put a swivel on? I prefer straight to braid with less then 30 lb and swivels on 50 and 80lb. There are many knots you can use but I my favourite is the bimini and double uni. Learn to do a bimini with braid and then a double 4 turn uni. 4 for the double braid and 4 for the leader. Trim the ends neatly and add a dab of superglue if you want to be really finniky. I have used this on King jigging ( a really harsh test of knots ) and it works great. Remember if you are using braid you must put a length of mono on the spool first oherwise the braid wil slip and spin under pressure on the spool. Hope this helps cheers inhlanzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 (edited) Dan Everyone is right. The knot I use is an Albright. We have 6 rods in the boat all rigged with 30lb braid and 40-60lb leaders and the Albright is on all of them. We haven't had a problem to date. I also use the Albright on my lighter rigs. The binminiinimi twist is far too complicated for me. I just don't have the concentration span to produce one. GO WALLABIES Edited September 20, 2007 by Ceph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Thanks fellas, this really helps, im going to go with the Albright knot bascially because ive got sausage fingers and those complicated knots will probably do my head in and something will probably end up getting chucked in the drink Thanks again and everyone should get on this trifecta Manly - NRL All Blacks - RWC Kiwis - one off league game in October!! Cheers Dan (ive just left myself wide open for a roasting there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDiko Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Dan Everyone is right. The knot I use is an Albright. We have 6 rods in the boat all rigged with 30lb braid and 40-60lb leaders and the Albright is on all of them. We haven't had a problem to date. I also use the Albright on my lighter rigs. The binminiinimi twist is far too complicated for me. I just don't have the concentration span to produce one. GO WALLABIES You'll be suprised how easy it is to tie once someone shows you how. I second the Albright knot, very streamline with minimal resistance through the guides as opposed to a double uni knot. Just make sure you practice the knot at least 5 times before you go and fish with it mate, it can be a bit tricky to start with. IFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastspinna Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Thanks again and everyone should get on this trifecta Manly - NRL All Blacks - RWC Kiwis - one off league game in October!! Cheers Dan (ive just left myself wide open for a roasting there) what are you a bookie lol.....i might leave that alone and hang my head in shame if it happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 what are you a bookie lol.....i might leave that alone and hang my head in shame if it happens I wish that would be unreal!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Hi Dan, As mentioned, all suggestions are fantastic and a great guide. This is what I do... I assume you are spooling the braid on an eggbeater, in which case you would probably want to cast the line out from the boat/shore etc. This means that you do not want a knot on your reel, as it will effect the castability of your outfit as the knots get stuck and are a hinderence. So as a rule of thumb, determine the length of your leader by joining it to your braid about 10cm above the bail arm of the reel, then establish your casting position, then cut off your leader where you usually position your line for casting, so at no point will you have the knot on the reel whilst casting. Obviously the legth of your rod will effect this also. For this reason, I would not be using a double on your braid as this will also be a hinderence for casting. The Albright knot (Click here) is brilliant for the above application. Dabbed in a bit of super-glue will also round off any jagged edges which may get stuck in your rod. Pull your knot tight when done and cut the tags nice and short. If you are using an overhead, or an eggbeater which you have no intention of casting, then I would use about 2m double on your braid (via Bimini Twist), then connected again to a leader using an Albright knot. I would increase the legth of my leader in this instance to about 4m (i.e. now it will be winding on to the reel). The size of your leader should be the same or slightly heavier then your mainline by about 25%. So for 30lb braid, I would have a 40lb leader. The reason I do this is so I have a good stretch factor and extra strength at the most pivotal moment- when the fish is next to the boat. Hope this helps Anthony Thanks Anthony it certainly helps, it all helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbark Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet...but you'll probably want to put a couple layers of heavy mono line under the braid as well as backing. this gives it something to "bite" into and avoids the whole lot spinning around on the spool when under pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet...but you'll probably want to put a couple layers of heavy mono line under the braid as well as backing. this gives it something to "bite" into and avoids the whole lot spinning around on the spool when under pressure. Hello mate yeah unfortunately i put the braid on before i read the post about putting mono on first. Looks like im gonna have to start again!! DOH!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Agreed Dan, definitely a must. No backing will give you grief. and should i use the same knot, the albright? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Hey Dan, You should vary your leader length according to where your fishing. But in saying that, it really doesnt matter as i have caught kings on leader lengths of 1.5m+ to 20cm and less. I know that when im spinning for salmon and they bust me off(and i lose my leader), i just re-tie the next lure straight to the braid and its all the same. What method will you be using to target these kings? You would use a slighty different approach, and terminal tackle, if you were downrigging as opposed to drifting, trolling or anchoring, thus resulting in the need for different knots. When downrigging, its best to tie the leader straight to the braid using the bimini twist (it really isnt that hard, just practice a couple of times on cheap line and you will master it in no time), or the Uni-Uni knot which is one of my favourites as its quick and easy. However when using other methods such as trolling or drifting it is optional whether you want to use a sinker or not. And in that case, i find that a swivel is essential to keeping the sinker in place. DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastspinna Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 i used the albright, and since raiders advised me to increase my wraps to 8 i have had no more problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Fluorocarbon leader sinking low viz is the go for the stealth factor.......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolongeramember Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Im surprised so many people use the Albright knot. Ive pretty much strength tested all the knots out there and I reckon the Albright is very weak. I can tie an Albright on a braid to mono connection and a simple blood knot on the end of the mono and the Albright will let go WAY before the Blood knot. This tells me the Albright is no good. With braid the only way to go is a double. Either a bimini or a plait. Anything else is weak. I am a huge fan of a correctly tied half blood knot and use a slight variation of it to tie to a braid double and its the strongest connection Ive tested. Something else Ive found to be extremely important to knot strength is how well the knot is tied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylo Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 albright has worked for me ... my hooks snap off WAY before the join before my braid to mono leader does... 8lb braid to 8lb mono Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolongeramember Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 albright has worked for me ... my hooks snap off WAY before the join before my braid to mono leader does... 8lb braid to 8lb mono If it works for you that cool man. Its just my personal opinion on what I have found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastspinna Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 i'm with stylo, allbright is the go if tied correctly my hook knot usually fails first... the main reason for using this knot is its castability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Loops Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 this thread is very interesting.. To all the guys out there tying their leader to the mainline using an albright - are you doubling your braid line?? The knot I struggle with the most is the bimini twist that I use on the braid to double the mainline. Then albright the leader material. So - question is - what knots do you guys use to double your main line?? Is there an easier knot that the bimini that still retains the line strength? Cheers!! AndyLoops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastspinna Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 (edited) andy, re your first question.... when using 10 pnd fireline i don't tie a bimini twist, but i should say that after lookin thru other raiders posts, our allbrights are different.... i tie geoff wilsons improved one... have a look on platypus lines site under albright.. i use 7 wraps each way in the 10 pd and 9 each way in the 6 pnd 6 pd fireline i tie a short bimini because it the most solid and connect as above .it took me a while to learn to tie it correctly, but since then i never have a problem... when in a rush sometimes i leave the bimini out and just double the braid and use the same knot as above...in a pinch it will do the job Edited September 28, 2007 by flathead fanatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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