Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Tackle & Techniques

Hard v's soft mono for leaders

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Sam Colvin:
I've fished with 170/200lb YGK N820 Shock Leader for sometime and only have recently moved to Varivas in the same strengths.

I found the YGK a beautiful leader to tie, but when fishing waters infested with Long Tom, i found the YGK nicked alot easier than the Varivas.

Nick Bowles:
Hi Chris! A good question and is one of those ones that a lot of people will answer with various answers as it is personal thing and also what gives you confidence when fishing. We have chatted about the shorter leaders and for me this is my preference for various reasons. But for leaders I tend to use heavier straight softer mono leader. I think that a softer leader is better if you using 200lbs+ leader as a thick 250 or 300lbs leader no matter how soft will give you a lot of abrasion resistance just because of the shear diameter of the leader.

For me my preference is Fisherman 220 or 240lbs for medium to heavy popping. This is soft and I find ties very well and gives me a bit of a shock absorber for the short leader system I use. Then on the heavier stuff I use 300lbs or 400lbs Momoi Hi Catch. This is cheap and most probably the best heavy leader I've used and caught a lot of big fish on it. The Momoi is harder than the Fisherman leader but still soft enough to tie the Yucatan Knot in 400lbs and gives plenty of abrasion resistance and I have not had it break in over 8 years of using it in Oman.

For the hard vs soft leader I think if you use a short leader you need to consider using a softer leader to give you a bit of shock absorption and if you use a longer wind on or twisted leader you can use a harder leader as you already have more shock absorption from the leader length and also you are using a smaller diameter leader to cast through the guides so will need a harder leader to give you a bit more abrasion resistance.

Cheers,
Nick

Luke Wyrsta:
Prosele is one of my favourites but has a limited life. As it is so soft and pliable it can wear and stretch to capacity. Therefore, good practice is to change it often. I have requested a prototype of 300lb+ but haven't heard anything new on that front.

The old faithful and economical option that has excellent performance is Fisherman Super Stealth. Supple with a little extra stretch.

For heavy bite-leaders I use Varivas Game in 300 - 400lb.

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