S.p Leaders, Bit Of Help.

[youngy555]

evening.

I got out in the weather this afternoon and gave soft plastics a decent go, few hits and a small flathead. I watched a dvd about this technique of fishing yesterday and learnt quite a bit, the only thing that has got me stumper is the line recommended was to be light. Im using a small spinning rod and reel with 8lb fireline and a 10lb leader flurocarbon (vanish), it doesnt seem over the top to my eyes but compared to what was demonstrated on dvd is a few lb heavier, is what im using sufficient for flathead and bream or too heavy and perhaps snapper and kingies outside ? If only i'd been more patient in the past when using sps, had a ball in the rain. Is using the same pound mainline to leader a general no-no.

[youngy555]

To me line has never been a key issue in catching the fish, however the more im learning and my exposure to differnt fishing situations, certain things are opening my eyes more and more, this is definitely one

[Josh88]

Hi mate,

10lb is adequate for fishing for bream and flatties etc, however if you come across a bigger flattie and they do their headshakes on the surface near the boat quite often their teeth will graze the line and 15lb may be a better option. As for snapper and kings i have caught many kings on the surface with 15lb leader but outside i would imagine you may need to go to about 30lb especially if fishing deepwater around reefs etc..

As for the same weight mainline/leader i have done it before when not bringing more trace and it seems fine. Even if its just so braid doesn't run all the way to the hook so you get just a bit of stretch it still has a purpose. The strength of the trace all depends on the situation + target species.

Hope this helps

Josh

[The Iceman]

I cant see a problem with what you are using at the moment for flathead

For bream I would drop the leader down to 6lb or even 4lb in clear water but there is no reason why you wouldnt get bream with the 10lb leader if the water was a bit cloudy just make sure your leader is at least a rod length

[johnno]

to both posts

sounds fine to me what you are using

Plastic fishing is a art and takes a while to master

but the more you do it the easier it will become

[gerg]

Unless fishing heavy structure, I'd say at least a rod length of 4 to 6 lb leader should be fine. You may lose a few fish but might find that you hook a few more too.

cheers, Greg

[bjneville]

Agreed - drop down to at least six lb. You lose the odd thumper flattie, but with patience and a light drag you'll be surprised at the big mummas you can land. Just take your time, and never, ever lift the flattie out of the water by the leader. Use a net, and never let her head break the surface.

[mrmoshe]

I made the mistake yesterday in Narra Lake of tying on a lure straight onto my 6lb vanish as I usually use a leader of 10 or 12lb flourocarbon now. ( I must have been having a senior moment)

2nd cast and WHACK! a huuuge flattie takes the placcie and when I put some pressure on her, she does a nice barrel roll and PING!

Straight back to the car to rig up properly with the leader. Lesson learned the hard way

Went back to wading but couldn't raise another fish.

Cheers,

Pete.

[slinkymalinky]

Like with everything else in fishing... it depends! Work on the principle though of fishing as light as you can for the conditions. Soft Plastics (even for kings and snapper) are really a 'finesse' fishing style and work best when fishing light (but its all relative).

You should have no problems with 10lb leader for the fishing you described. On the rare occasion I chase only bream, I'll usually fish 6lb in reasonable open water but go as high as 15-20lb around oyster racks. I always fish lighter leaders when the water is clear, the conditions calm and the sun up. You'll definitely do better on bream if you concentrate just on them, forget the flatties and therefore fish lighter.

If I'm only targeting flathead I fish 15lb fluorocarbon... they've got nasty choppers that can wear through fine leader, and they seem less fussy about leaders than bream.

10lb is a good compromise giving you reasonable finesse but a better chance on flatties.

For kings around harbour markers I usually fish at least 20lb and sometimes (if its not too still and bright), I'll even fish 40lb. In open water with surface fish, sometimes I drop down to as little as 10lb just to get takes.

Given that you're pretty new to it, spend some time fishing Iron Cove or Hen & Chicken bay to get used to it. The fish are prolific, both flatties and bream, the water is usually a bit discoloured so the fish are less spooky, and they're great spots build your confidence.

Cheers, Slinky

[gretsch]

I use 8lb fireline and a 10-20lb flurocarbon leader depending on species.

20lb for Jews, deep water jigging and occasional rat Kingies

14lb for big Flatties

10lb for shallow water work.

To be burutally honest though, for me it depends on whether I can be bothered changing it everytime.

I guess I mainly use Bass hard 7kg fluro.. that stuff is great. Strong, supple and thin for its rating. Tony Fishfinder talked me into it and he wasn't wrong. It is awesome line.

[Davy]

in terms of leaders choose the breaking strain you plan to use, and then another 2 that are a few pounds lighter and heavier than that. that way u'll always have a 'safety net' when bigger fish show up or if the fish become finicky (in this case bream!). im going to take this opp to vent my frustration in losing a big mother of a flattie the other day

with retrieves.. VARY THEM! sometimes just reeling in quickly to make another cast can get u on to a good fish

[youngy555]

Thanks to everyone for their tips, really appreciate this site and the info im getting of you fellas

[DaveD]

So true about the varying retrieves. I was actually using bait a while back, same cast and retrieve for a good 20-30mins, thought I'll do a different style retrieve, first cast of it and bang Im on. Smaller flattie, but a flattie nonetheless.

[coastspinna]

i use 15lb mono leader when chasin flatties, only short like 40 cm.....on 10 pound fireline... they don't seem to care too much...

unless its super clear then i might use fluoro about 10 pound and back the drag off a bit...

for bream spinnin the 4 and 6 pound will let you cast lighter lures further, and this is vital when casting little lures or unweighted plastics to spooky fish ...