[troutfishernz]

Im thinking of getting some shock leaders,I havent used shock leaders before as a mainly fish off rocks rather that cast from the beach,I use a 12ft rod And mainly cast 3-4 ounce sinkers. ( I have lost traces before with line snapping during surfcasting from the beach) I was thinking of getting a 60lb mono shock leader ( I use a 25lb mono mainline and 60lb mono traces) would that be ok for fishing on the Canterbury beaches? Would it be a good idea to get a shock leader stronger than your trace or weaker?

Not sure if its true but ive heard if your Shock leader is a weaker lb rating than your trace it can often break when you get a snag ? that doesnt make sense to me as I thought the trace would break first as it would be under the most pressure even if it is stronger lb rating than the shockleader ?

Any Info about using shock leaders would be apprecaited.

Thanks in advance.

[Miliwolf]

The weakest part of the setup would break first, in most cases that would be a damaged section of your main line or the knot between mainline and shock leader.

A rough rule for shock leader is to use 10lb for every oz of cast weight. So a 4oz sinker would require a 40 lb shockleader, which is what I use for most of my casting.

[troutfishernz]

What sort of prices are they? Dont really want to spend a lot of money as I dont do a huge amount of beach fishing.

Also what sort of length is needed? Is 8m ok for 12ft rod?

[Miliwolf]

About $20 for 50m of line…. One and a half rod length should be about right, you want a few wraps on the reel and a bit hanging out the end for when casting.

No need to purchase tapered shock leaders or anything fancy. Currently using Berkely Big game Leader, but before that was using something by Sufix Surpreme I think.

[troutfishernz]

Thanks for that info Miliwolf.

Went and had a look at the fishing store in Timaru yesterday and they dont sell shock leaders under 80lb and even they were quite expensive.
Might wait untill im in a bigger centre,im sure they will be cheaper and have a better selection.

[Miliwolf]

Another option is just to purchase a spool of 24kg line and use that, there is not much of a difference between mainline and leader quality line

[baitman]

If i’m using a 20lb mainline I use a 50lb shock leader long enough to give me 2-3 wraps on the spool plus the length to the trace joined with a double uni works well espesially if rock fishing for abrasion resistance.
Just normal mono nothing special.

[elmo22]

i have surfix 38lb on my reel so dont use a leader surfix is a bit thinner than some other lines i use a 6oz sinker i use to have 20lb on my reel and use about 40-45lb leader and have approx 5-8 mts of leader that way when you get a fish up by the surf you have the stronger line on your reel and helps to land it better

[troutfishernz]

Thanks for the info guys.

Just made a shockleader out of normal mainline 60lb mono, A lot cheaper than using leader line, used about 7m for my 12 foot rod and double uni knot to join the 2 lines.

[yellowfin]

Tried some cheap rovex 60lb a while back for shockleaders had a lot of problems with it breaking even before my mainline which was about 30lb. Generally I use 80 – 100lb blackmagic leader line but if I’m only fishing for smaller things and need the casting distance I use 60lb. Depends on the size of the guides on your rod as well cos a lot of surf rods have quite small tips and you get the knot knocking on the guides a lot, fix for that is usually just upgrading the last 2 or 3 guides on the rod to a size up.

I wouldn’t reccomend a double uni as a strong connection for your shockleader, there’s a few others that are quite a bit stronger. I think most people use the blood knot which is pretty much the same knot you use for making dropper loops on a normal trace and works well for most people although not the strongest knot. I use a Centauri or fig8 knot I think it’s called mainly because it’s one of the strongest knots and I’ve never had my line break at that knot through fighting a lot of big fish and if you double your mainline for the knot using a bimini twist it makes it pretty much the strongest connection from mainline to leader you can make just becomes harder and more time consuming with the bimini twist which is why I don’t bother most of the time.

[Miliwolf]

I use the Lethal knot (AKA Bristol knot or no name knot). It is very simple and very strong. I do mine without the Double and never had the knot fail before the mainline, but some people prefer to double the line first

http://www.sportfishingmag.com/techniques/sport-fishing-knot-challenge

[baitman]

whats the best knot you know of to join braid to fluro ala softbaiting. I have been using a double uni or a blood knot but have trouble with the braid cutting throught the fluro, I have tried doubling over the braid. 20lb fluro on to 8lb braid?

[Miliwolf]

Again, Lethal Knot. He posted these diagrams on fishing.net several times over the last few years.

This is the standard lethal knot which I use for everything. Increase/decrease the number of turns to suit the lines being used.

This is the variation he uses for braid. But I stick with the standard one.
“>

Lethals knot

[baitman]

cheers mate I’ll give it a try.

[yellowfin]

I hate tying knots, so I got 1000m of 35kg braid on trade me and dont use any shock leader at all.
All fingers still attached and no blood yet.Have spooled two rods and plenty left.With plenty of
line strenght I can horse big rig in fairly fast.Also good security when a big blob of weed or sticks
latch on to line.All hook setups are attached using a clip on braid and hooks and sinker are
crimped to 100lb mono.

[Author]

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