Heavy Salmon Leaders

[Flatfish]

Looking to bump up the dosage required to land a chinook.Does anyone have any experience with 80# mono?Where are you getting it?Knots?
Thanks in advance.
Mark.

[Herring Impaired]

You could try replacement string for a garden string trimmer :grin:

I think if I were to go that stout, I would look at some tuffline or PowerPro.

[Robert]

80 pound mono is very hard to tie a knot in. It is very hard on the hands. No matter the test you can lose a big salmon. I saw a guy loose a salmon on 80 pound mono once.

[Dan Christopher]

ouch man you really mean business don't you

i run 50lbs power pro and a 40lbs leader and have not broke one off yet...buy then again my biggest was about 45lbs fish..i want to fish where your fishing to need 80 lbs leader.those must be big fishies.....go get them man :cheers:

[Finn-icky]

You might need to consider buying bigger leads when you get the 80lb. line. The line drag on 80lb. will require more of it for sure. In my humble opinion, Tuf line is a better way to go. Others will disagree with that, but I have never had a problem with it. Good luck either way.

[Finn-icky]

OOPS--- You said leader and not main line. My mistake. I use Maxima Ultragreen in the 40lb. size. Haven't had any problems with it. There are other good choices out there also.

[Flatfish]

Thanks folks.Already running tuf for mainline but it is not as tooth worthy(Tooth worthy?What kinda pinhead came up with that!Oh that was me...)ok err... abrasion resistant as mono.Lost a couple to 50 Big Game(thats right Wiz,Big Lame fails again.No it wasn't the knot :whazzup: )so we are looking for something bigger.Gotta be something out there graemlins/1zhelp.gif .The perfection knot would work perfect for k-16.Dunno about egg loops(80 is probably too thick to double in the eye of a 6/0Gammie).My Kwikfish stash is shrinking and I don't want to donate any to snags or fishes.Maybe someone has run PP or Tuf line(original as tuf plus is way yo soft to be leader.It's not "Tooth Worthy")as leader before?.I honestly don't think on a Backbounce eggs or K-16 situation these lines would spook fish as long as the leader was hit with a magic marker to tone it down.Just never tried it.The trimmer string would certianly work,but it is heavy,even for me.I also pretie my leaders,wearing gloves,so they are not too hard on the hands.Ready to fish that way too.Just clip them on and go.
Thanks again.
Mark and the hairy Flatfish dog.

[ 08-23-2002, 08:35 AM: Message edited by: Flatfish ]

[fishbait]

Mark, I think you will find problems with most knotts if you go above 60 lb.

[Dan Christopher]

hey hairy markfish :grin:

i only use 25lb big game on steelhead
i use 40 lb Ultragreen for the big boys

p.s that little star thing on the side of your reel is a drag..if you loosen it,, you wont brake the big game line.. :tongue: :grin:

[Flatfish]

Madman,
Maxima is my friend(yours too after admitting that Big Shame is not up to the Chinook task :wink: ).For those who care,FMS has 80# (thats right 80#) Maxima ultragreen.75 yards for 6 bucks or so.Thay also have some other stuff I can't live without(like BC Angling Post...Yaaaaa).Got stuff to cure eggs too.Man I love this time of year.
Fiahbait,
with the clinch and fishermans(dunno the real name to it,where you double the line 4 wraps and the bunny goes back thru the hole)knots don't work too well.The perfection knot(pretty sure that name is right)works well on heavy lines,at least according to my sources.
It seems that a few folks think I am going a bit overboard on this...maybe I am.But hear me out.If Dave Johnson and most other top guides run 50-65 main and 25 leaders for steelies which may run 15 -17 pounds for a nice fish.Then is 80 too much for a 40-45 pound 'nook.Not by much.The way I look at it is I have removed a way to lose a fish.My rods and reels would explode long before a line failure.Just like D.J.s winter steelie rods would if he TRIED to break the line.There are lots of ways to cracker fish.I have tried almost every one.Just trying to even my odds when I do hookup.
Besieds,the dog goes nuts when one of us is playing a fish,and if I gotta tolerate that humiliation,I mught as well land the fish...right??
Have fun ,I need to go spool up some 8# for a steelie trip Sunday.
Thanks and have fun.
Mark and the hairy Flatfish dog.

[fishbait]

Just a thought before you go copying the guides, most if not all the guides I know (lots) rig their gear for a couple reasons, they are on the water day after day and lots of tiems their clients don;t have a clue. IE: how many guides do you see running fish flash at B10..... very few, Matching your gear (compentant skilled angler) to a guide just because thats the way they do it is not always smart or the most effective. my 0.02 worth

[Nanook]

[ 11-25-2002, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[Flatfish]

Fishbait,
thats part of the reason why I am going to the heavier line.For whatever reasons,a lotta newbies land in my boat.A lotta my gear is deposited onto river bottoms because of this.With an egg rig(backbouncing)I really dont care if I lose a hook and weight.A "killer fish catching machine" Kwikfish(you have a couple too,right?)is another story.These will outfish others day in and day out.I had a bunch(20 fish catchers,6 hall of famers)most were sent to the bottom of a 'nook hole.Most were lost with 50 Big Game or 40 Max leaders and 50 tuf main.This is pretty much a Kwikfish thing.Now if you have a newbie in your driftboat.And you want him/her to hang onto a pig,one of the easiest ways to that end is a K-16 right?No missed bites(rod holders behind newbie if we are backtrolling so we don't set the hook too soon)And rod in newbies hand if we are backbouncing or backtrolling with a lead dropper(miss some bites here but it works too well to ignore).This is when most plugs are lost.This is also a very effective way to get Cracker into a fish.So to make a long story longer...Thats what I am thinking.Thanks for pointing out some of the pitfalls of following the pros.I usually don't follow the herd but in this case they are doing the right thing for me too.It's nice to think that someone is looking out for me once in a while.
See you on the water.
Mark and the hairy Flatfish dog.