Why Use A Leader When Fishing?
If you’re at all interested in fishing then you’ve probably heard people in the community and on fishing sites talking about leaders. You’ve probably picked up that they’re not talking about people who take command and organize things.
Basically, a leader is a short piece of extra strong fishing line that you tie to the end of your mainline with the other end tied to your lure and hook. To find out more, read on!
What Is A Leader?
As we just mentioned, a leader short piece of extra-strength fishing line that you can tie to the end of your mina fishing line. It’s more resistant to breaking than a regular fishing line, due to this extra strength, and is also less visible to fish.
While we did say it’s short, that’s a relative term. Leaders can range in length from 12 inches or even less up to 20 feet or sometimes even beyond.
Why Use A Leader?
There are two main reasons to use a fishing leader. They are…
To Protect Your Main Fishing Line From Damage
You might not think that that’s a huge problem – after all, your line’s just in the water, right? Well, it is, but you have to remember that it actually faces quite a few hazards down there. Depending on where you’re fishing there can be all kinds of rocks, reefs, debris, and so on for your line to get snagged on.
Trying to yank the line free of these snags can sometimes cause it to break. Even if that doesn’t do it, rubbing up against abrasive surfaces like rocks, coral, and barnacles can wear the line down over time. It also depends on what kind of fish you’re after.
Some (like codfish, for example) have very sharp teeth that they can and will use to chew through your fishing line completely. A leader will greatly reduce these problems since it’s much more durable and damage-resistant than an ordinary fishing line.
If you know what you’re doing, you can even use a leader to make the snags less likely in the first place. Depending on how you tie it, you can arrange it so that the leader keeps your hook off of the ground. If you do this, the risk of snags is significantly reduced. There are many different ways of tying a leader but a common one that will achieve this is called the drop shot, where the hook is higher up than the weight.
One other way that a leader can protect your line is with the help of a swivel. When a fish is on your hook, it’ll jump a thrash around as it tries to escape. This can cause twists in your line and over time, this can damage its integrity. If you use a swivel with your leader, your main line won’t be in any danger of twisting.
To Present Your Bait Better
Different fish react to bait differently. While some will just go for it as soon as they see it, others are a bit more cautious and will investigate for a while before they bite.
If they do this, some of them can sometimes notice the fishing line and this might stop them from biting, meaning you’re out of a catch. Some leaders can get around this problem for you because they’re made out of materials that it’s much harder for the fish to see.
Types Of Leaders
There are several types of leaders. These are three of the most commonly used.
Standard Monofilament Leader
These use one strand of thinly-spun line and have several advantages. They’re stretchy and flexible which means that not only are they easy to tie the necessary knots in but also that if you get a fish that’s particularly determined to win its freedom and escape then the line has the stretch to handle it without snapping.
On top of this, it resists abrasion well and the knots are very strong. It’s fairly hard for fish to see and, oh, and it’s pretty cheap too! Sounds perfect, right? Well, there are some disadvantages too.
They absorb water and the UV radiation from sunlight, which causes them to degrade over time. Its low density causes it to float on the top of the water, and the stretchiness we mentioned, while it does make it easier to reel in energetic fish, can make it harder to feel smaller bites too.
Fluorocarbon Monofilament Leader
Like the standard monofilament leaders, these are made of a single strand of monofilament. However, they’re not as cheap and offer several advantages over standard monofilament leaders. For example, these are particularly difficult for fish to see, meaning they won’t be scared off by it.
They’re also even more resistant to abrasion and do not absorb water or UV radiation. They are far less stretchy, which is a double-edged sword – you’ll notice those smaller bites more easily, but aggressive fish have a higher chance of snapping the line. While the knots are fairly strong, standard monofilament ones are stronger.
Wire Leaders
This isn’t one type of leader as such because there are many varieties of wire leaders, including multiple different structures (single strand, multiple strands, knotted). They’re not especially hard for fish to see, but subtlety isn’t their game.
Where they shine is by adding some real toughness to your line for when you know you’re going to be doing battle with some really tough fish that are going to fight very hard for their freedom.
When Should I Use A Leader?
The answer, more or less, is “whenever you can”. You’ve seen the benefits of using leaders that we’ve talked about in this article, and those benefits are always useful. Serious and successful anglers do use leaders 99% of the time, so it’s a good thing to start doing if you’re looking to improve your angling.
Final Thoughts
There you have it. You should now know all there is to know about what leaders are, what kinds of leaders there are, and how they can help you raise your game when you’re fishing.
Try out some different types depending on what kind of fishing you’re doing and you’ll soon be catching more than you ever did before.
