I am heading for Awonga in search of the meter + Barra. Many different opinions have been given on terminal tackle.
I will use 50 lb braid Spider Stealth to 10X 80 lb Pen leader.
Does the leader need to be twisted - seems a little thick ?
What length
appreciate your thoughts
Thanks
Greg
Greg,
Been a few threads on the tackle for this, I use a Jack Erskine type with about a metre of leader.
Bottom 12 twisted back on itself with clip and plastic sleeve. With crimp above the plastic sleeve and clip and one on end of twist.
Haven't had one fail me yet, but have had a few damaged that needed to be replaced. Halco coast lock size 6 clips have never let go, but some like to tie direct. Its all a matter or choice, once a big barra inhales your lures and goes for a bit of tail walk you will see the need for the twist. The strike rate didn't seem to change with this setup, but the in the boat rate did.
Good luck and enjoy your trip
Trev
Fish for the future, enjoy the present but think of your children.
With an 80lb leader - no need for a twisted leader.
I fish 25lb line with a straight 50lb leader - landed plenty of 1m+ (touch wood)
Each to there own when it comes to big impoundment barra.
Both Mylestom and Happyrock seem to prefer different catch methods from what I can gather and that is not unusual for barra anglers.
I've used 30lb Platypus mono for years on a couple of outfits and have landed plenty of big Awoonga barra on this tackle, sometimes I don't bother using a trace at all, it just depends if I'm luring out in the open gutter areas or near known snag country.
Clips are fine to use to attach lures, never had a problem, just make sure that the clip has a rounded bottom section, NOT 90 DREGEE angled on one side as these clips jam lures and reduce swimming action.
John.
Hey Guys,
Extremely debatable topic.
There are many different setups going around at the moment including single strand mono, twisted mono, wire , braid you name it!
All these setups obviously work (otherwise people wouldn't be using them) so I guess it's up to the individual angler to decide which will work for them.
Abrasive resistance is really what you're trying to achieve when selecting a leader and 10x is probably one of the toughest mono's out there!
Some other things to consider when selecting a leader.
Simple and easy - a lot of guys don't want any fancy stuff. Using crimps and clips requires special tools and some pre preparation.
Performance - does it impact on your choice of lure and how it swims. No good having a bullet proof leader if the lure action suffers and doesn't get any strikes.
Knots - big leaders generally have big knots which may impact on how the line runs through your guides when casting. (Probably not much of a problem when trolling)
Where - if your fishing timber or around rocks your probably going to want something you can really lean on to turn there head where out in the open you may be happy to let them run and tire themselves out.
How - what type of fishing are you doing. Casting , trolling, using hardbodies, soft plastics, down deep or high in the water column??
It's really up to the angler to decide where, how and what they're comfortable and have confidence with - I don't think there'a perfect setup for every type of fishing at the moment and it's only through experimentation that you'll find what works for you.
Me personally, I've been lucky enough to land a 116cm barra on 20lb flurocarbon leader, and then again lost sub 1m fish on 80lb mono.
If I was fishing for that fish of a life time I would be using the Jack Erskine type twisted mono leader as described by Trev.
Pic below is of a barra around the metre mark which inhaled a viper. Having lost three fish the previous day on straight mono leaders I have no doubt that I would've lost this one as well if not for the twisted type leader!
Matt C
Mylestom,
Have heard of a few people using that leader system and have heard it described in a similar manner to your descritpion above. However I am a little too daft to understand completely how it is done. Is there any chance of some pics of the finished product? Or do you know a web page or a book where it is described with pictures? No worries if you don't have time to piss around with this.
Greg,
80lb would seem to me to be overkill for a leader twisted over its full length. It is also very difficult to tie knots in 80lb twisted (thus the crimp in Mylestom's description). Many people use 80lb straight so I think this is the way to go if you don't want to go down the same path as Mylestom. I think 40lb 10X twisted over its full legth would make a twisted good leader in which it is still possible to tie knots (Lefty-Kreh loop is the best for either the twisted leader or single strand). Good luck.
Cheers
Last Cast,
Pic below of the Jack Erskine Type Leader.
Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them
Matt C
Matt,
Brillinat pic, thanks for that. Now the questions.
1. Where do you get your tube from? Is it called anything in particular so I can enquire about it in a tackle store.
2. Is it a double barrel crimp, such that you feed the line through crimp-tube-crimp, crimp the line and then twist? Or is it a single barrell crimp, such that you put the tube on, twist the section and then put the crimp on?
3. What sort of knot do you use to finish your twists and stop them from unravelling?
4. What sort of line do you use to make your leader?
Thanks in advance.
Cheers
Probably the best way to answer would be to explain how I construct my leaders.
Materials
Mono Leader - I use 80lb Penn 10x or 80lb Stren
Crimps or Alum sleeves - make sure they're for mono and not wire
Halco cross lock snap - 50lb (I think)
Plastic tubing and bead - a lot of people use the beads and tubing when fishing for whiting.
Tools
try to use the proper crimpers if you can.
Building the leader can be seperated into two stages.
The first stage is making the loop with the tube and snap.
Thread 20-30mm of tubing onto the mono leader along with the Cross lock snap and a sleeve. Double the mono back through the sleeve, the tubing and snap should be in the loop created, then tighten the loop
so that the tubing is flush with the sleeve on both sides.Make sure you have at least a foot of mono on your tag side and then crimp the sleeve.(It's important that the loop you've created allows free movement of the cross locksnap, so not too small!)
The second stage is the twist.
I have a nail in the shed where once I've done the first stage I hang the leader up by the snap. If I've explained things correctly, coming out of the sleeve is two lengths of mono, one about a foot long and the other (which is the main leader line) 6-8foot, which you twist together.
I do that by grabbing a mono line in each hand between thumb and forefinger and then rolling them between thumb and finger so the mono ends up binding together( a bit like rope). The twisted section need only be around 20cm so once it's twisted to that length, and with the twists being neat and relatively tight, slide on another sleeve and crimp.
Trim the tag end flush with the last sleeve, thread the bead on the leader before tying onto the mainline, this stops the sleeve going throught the top eyelet.
The length of my leader depends on the rod, basically I try to keep the braid-leader connection knot from the reel.
As you can see it's probably not something you'd want to be doing on the water so I usually have a couple of spares on hand if they need replacing.
Cheers
Matt C
That is a great description Matt. Got it all sorted in my mind now. Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I am sure lots of other people will appreciate this as well.
THANKYOU VERY MUCH FOR THE DISCUSION FELLAS AS I LIVE HERE AND HAVE NOT CHASED THEM BUT WILL BE SOON HAVE MY BROTHER INLAW COMMING UP IN JAN FOR 8 DAYS BARRA FISHING ILL MAKE SOME FOR HIM ASWELL .
REGARDS SMEE
Well described and saves me a bit of writing.
We have utilised these leaders and even then some of the really big fish will give them a fair bit of wear, so they will have to be replaced.
However with that setup you can swap and change lures all days without having to retie leaders all the time.
Sure some of the smaller outfits will catch fish and that is a matter of preference.
However the some of the guides on bigger fish also use this outfit on a daily basis and find that it works.
Have never (fingers crossed) had one let me down.
Don't get the chance to fish ever weekend on the impoundments, so when we do a trip we like to make sure what we have will do the job.
Horses for courses.
Have tried all the other leaders, Harro's twisted dogs, Straight mono, Flurocarbon leaders, Penn 10x single leader and also straight braid to braid leader with leaders of braid up to 200lb. But the one that has not let us down is the Jack Erskine Twisted leader.
Always carry half a dozen spare in the boat, but only had to replace them when a barra has busted the main braid line or got caught up deep in a snag and couldn't retrieve with the Strikeback lure retreiver.
Good luck and isn't this site the best for information.
Heaps of people willing to share experiences, all to help each other. Bloody good stuff.
Trev
Fish for the future, enjoy the present but think of your children.
Great stuff Matt & Trev. Going to Awoonga for a week on Saturday so might even try the twisted leader out myself.
It's what I use for making billy lures up already, except with the use of a snap on the end instead of the tubed loop straight to the hooks (if that makes sense).
Cheers
Paul
Ranger 188VX - "Sweet Chariot"
Thanks for all you informative comments and detailed description + pics.
Appreciate the help and I hope it has helped others as well and it all goes to almost guaranteeing catching the meter plus prise.
Greg
Matt C
Tying leader to braid?
Do you platt the braid or bimminy?
Do you havea preferred knot for the two?
Greg
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