to leader or not to leader

[GonnaCatchABig1]

it's kinda disappointing seeing so many power guys here. when i was younger i spent 90% of my time large mouth fishing with one rod using 4lb test and my bigger using 6lb. caught a 6plb pickeral on the small one. it almost pulled me in the water. the lose sand under my feet was giving way. no line snap. berkley trilene.. i swore by it. only lost to fish to snap offs. and one might have been a snapping turtle anyway. but i caught some damn decent bass on that 4lb stuff. and it cast like a fine wine. or something.

it's kind of disheartening to see so many guys go with the "over power the fish" style. as opposed to finessing it. stick with that 8lb bro. jsut put a leader on next time.

[jkjnp]

Originally Posted by GonnaCatchABig1

it's kind of disheartening to see so many guys go with the "over power the fish" style. as opposed to finessing it. stick with that 8lb bro. jsut put a leader on next time.

20 lb mono is not overpowering... in my opinion if you play a fish to long you exhaust it and great decrease its chances of survival upon release. Every line-break also leaves a hook in the mouth of a fish and decreases its chance of survival. 8lb test is for fresh water. I agree that playing a fish on light tackle is tons of fun, but....

All that being said, I know that Capt. Mike Neto who's out of RI loves to land trophy bass on light tackle (6-8lb test). Watching it done is nuts.

[snake slinger]

leave the 8lb test at home and get some 20

[EarnedStripes44]

when i was younger i spent 90% of my time large mouth fishing with one rod using 4lb test and my bigger using 6lb. caught a 6plb pickeral on the small one. it almost pulled me in the water. the lose sand under my feet was giving way. no line snap. berkley trilene.. i swore by it. only lost to fish to snap offs

it's kind of disheartening to see so many guys go with the "over power the fish" style. as opposed to finessing it. stick with that 8lb bro. jsut put a leader on next time. [/QUOTE]

When I was younger, I spent 90% of my time largemouth Bass fishing with 10lb line, especially if I was using live minnows. I spent a great deal of time fishing slow flowing rivers in Georgia, where the chances of hooking into a 20 or 30 llb catfish, drum or freshwater striper are just a great as landing that 5 or 6 lb bucketmouth. You may call it "over power the fish style", but I call it sensible preparation. I would use 4lb or 6lb line for Bluegills and Crappie in Farm pond, but not off a jetty or in a rolling surf, or for that matter any body of water larger than an acre. Oh, and buy the way, when I deadbait or liveline for Pike or pickeral, I use wire leaders...

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by EarnedStripes44

You may call it "over power the fish style", but I call it sensible preparation.

eh. i'm using 50lb braid right now. only because i am targeting larger fish. it was 25lb and i thought that was a bit excessive. but with me chunking more this year and seeing some big (4ft) smooth dogs brought in, in my spot. i feel more comfortable with the bigger line.

too me it depends.. chunking or live lining anything, i go heavier. 12lb in fresh for shiners. just because it's not really targeting anything specific. anything will latch on to live or dead bait. but with plugs you can specifically target a couple types of fish much better. if he is targeting little stripers i wouldnt go much higher than 16lbs. but if he starts targeting anything bigger.. no less than 20lbs. even with out a fight they could snap it. the one i literall dragged in yesterday felt like it was gonna break my rod, it was about 38inches. so if i hooked into anything over 40inches i'm in for a good battle even with my 50lb crap.

also take into account the size of the jetty. the one i used to fish was only about 20ft long. not all of them are massive like the ones on harbors. back water ones can be very small with almost no surf to speak of. my old spot was like fishing a lake.


all and all this guy just needs to match his tackle to the fish he is targeting and the water conditions. as well what ever else maybe in the area. (like you said).