MSBruno Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 If you use fluoro leaders for Pike, what length do you use? I'm trying to make them as long as I would like (3ft), but I can't cast as well as I'd like with a leader that long. I don't want to heavy guage fluoro leader to pass through my rod's first guide, so I'm having trouble controlling the 3ft of line out of my rod. I'm trimming it down and trying to work on the appropriate length of line that I can get a good ratio of length and catability. What length do you all use? What length do you find still gives you the invisibility of fluoro but still castable? Are the benefits of fluoro's invisibility negated after 12", 18", 24"? the longer the better? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 I use muskie leaders for pike 18-24" in either 80 or 130lb flouro. Big or small, they eat it regardless.. Pike aren't the brightess fish out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Fishing for pike.. in muskieless grounds... 12" steel. Why waste the money on floro.. Pike sure aren't line shy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syn Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Pike don't give a crap if its wire or flouro, if they are hungry they will bite (they are the thugs of the fishing world) but imo fluro does give me confidence that they will be more likely to bite. Perhaps flouro may increase my bite ratio....perhaps. I like flouro because it does not kink so easily like wire and I heard its safer for the pike (and musky) if it trys to roll itself in the leader. Anyhow I use 12-18" for casting and 24-36" for trolling (just letting the lure out not casting it). Really hard to do accurate casts with 2ft of leader and a 3oz+ lure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gbfisher Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Trolling will allow for a longer leader if yer worried about fish rolling in the line. Casting with a long leader isn't as easy. I use steel leaders myself for pike. When Musky season opens Pike are incidental.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Fishing for pike.. in muskieless grounds... 12" steel. Why waste the money on floro.. Pike sure aren't line shy! Suspending lures sink when you use wire. Maybe not such a big deal north of Parry Sound but early season harbour pike love that deadrift. Not to mention the other assorted critters swimming off points & pierheads this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singingdog Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Well, since flouro isn't invisible, you could shorten it down to 0" and have really good castability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Well, since flouro isn't invisible, you could shorten it down to 0" and have really good castability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepps Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 I've always used 12 inch 80# fluro leaders for pike with zero issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdrifter Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 I've always used 12 inch 80# fluro leaders for pike with zero issues. Yep!! And like clofchik mentioned, wire makes your slash baits nose dive.. A harbour northern that's seen it all will shy from a bait that sinks head first on the pause. I've seen it happen. Sure there's places where it doesn't make much of a difference, but here, fine tuning your presentation makes for way more takes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSBruno Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Yep!! And like clofchik mentioned, wire makes your slash baits nose dive.. A harbour northern that's seen it all will shy from a bait that sinks head first on the pause. I've seen it happen. Sure there's places where it doesn't make much of a difference, but here, fine tuning your presentation makes for way more takes. well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Not to worried about visibility so Flouro is out for me. I've been using 80lb triple fish for many years now and never been bittin off. Usually an arms length for trolling and about twelve inches give or take for casting. The stuff is easy to tie so you need no crimps and can make a leader on the spot in about 2 or 3 minutes.... Cheers !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuskyGreenHorn Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 All good points so far, I agree. Another reason to use shorter leaders for casting is when you have a follow and a fish doesn't bite. This is common in musky fishing, but I have sen the odd large pike do it. A shorter leader 12-18" facilitates figures eights or O's. Or you forgo the swivel if you are using most lures (with the exception of an inline spinner) and tye the flouro leader directly to your mainline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BITEME Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Suspending lures sink when you use wire.Maybe not such a big deal north of Parry Sound but early season harbour pike love that deadrift. Not to mention the other assorted critters swimming off points & pierheads this time of year. Hey HEY HEY to much information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSBruno Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Since the start of this topic, I've been out twice. Seems as though 24" leader works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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