I’ve seen a wide range from 30 lb fluro to 100 lb steel, with some saying any more than 30 impacts action and others that less than 70 you’ll get broke off. There are some large pike and muskie in this lake, and although unlikely to hook one I’d hate to lose it.

This comes up a lot.

I have been using this for a while.

Very good IMO.

This is why.

Done

A-Jay

I have never been bit off by northerns or muskie with any steel leaders. I think the ones I have typically used are the 30lb.

 

That being said, I used some 20lb flouro on a bladed jig recently and it held up pretty good too, but no guarantees. If it catches a tooth right, I assume it could still cut it.

30lb is ridiculous. I lost at least 3 vision 110's back in 2022 because i told myself 30lb fluoro leaders are enough, which couldn't be more false. Was literally getting cut off by 1.5lb pike. Right now when aiming for musky, i use nothing under 80lb fluoro leader, it's the bare minimum to be safe. But of course, if you're not aiming for actual big boy fish, and aren't throwing large lures, a vision 110 with a 80lb fluro leader will destroy it's action. Instead, i'd use something like 20-40lb titanium leader, it will give you better action on smaller, bass sized lures.

I use nothing but wire leader for muskie 

32 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

This comes up a lot.

I have been using this for a while.

Very good IMO.

This is why.

Done

A-Jay

Dannnng son how big is ole girl up top, 50?

I use 40 or 80 flouro leader material. I can tie the 40 and so use that with an fg knot and 5-6 feet of leader. I make leaders out of the 80 with crimps. I will say many musky shops sell crimped flouro leaders like that in the 80-150 range. I don’t notice a difference in action on moving baits and catch fish including bass. I haven’t tried the tieable wire above and am curious about that. I use 20 flouro leader on my bottom baits like a senko and have definitely gotten sawed off by pike. 

Both Pike and Muskies have a poor turning radius and miss the lure but get the line in front of the lure resulting in instant bite off using mono or FC line.

Hooked in the mouth the line usually stays away from the sharp teeth. big Pike have a habit of rolling getting the line around their gill covers cutting the line, important to keep your fish under control.

When I was Musky fishing using big heavy lures 30 lb Max UG copoly line with 12” wire leader worked good.

My PB 37 lb Musky was a gift for sure as my wife was with me taking a friend home to her island cottage and stopping to make a cast with a small bass jig under a airplane hanger to catch a Smallmouth that turned out to be the Musky. Good fish that jumped full body length and had to follow the fish until trying to net it with an old cotton net. My wife netted the Musky that went right though the net! Managed to put the Musky in the boat and ran the boat back to the party, lots of exitment and photo’s but unfortunate the Musky died from too much handling😒. The Musky keeps my mounts company and good memories.

Tom

 

While I’m a big fan of tieable wire, if you are going on short a pike fishing trip, just buy pre-made, steel leaders. To be safe, DON’T buy the cheap ones. High quality, ball bearing swivels, cross lock snaps in the 6-8 inches in the 30lb size should be fine, you can save some money and get barrel swivels instead but don’t skimp on the snaps!  Make sure you have a set of jaw spreaders and a piece of rope to tie them to the boat. You’d be surprised how many jaw spreaders are tossed overboard, many still in a fishes mouth! A pair of long nose pliers will also come in handy.

2 hours ago, ohioguy25 said:

Dannnng son how big is ole girl up top, 50?

Just a little shy of that.

Video replay below if you're so inclined.

https://youtu.be/c8ncmrbV3-M?feature=shared

A-Jay

2 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

30lb is ridiculous. I lost at least 3 vision 110's back in 2022 because i told myself 30lb fluoro leaders are enough, which couldn't be more false. Was literally getting cut off by 1.5lb pike. Right now when aiming for musky, i use nothing under 80lb fluoro leader, it's the bare minimum to be safe. But of course, if you're not aiming for actual big boy fish, and aren't throwing large lures, a vision 110 with a 80lb fluro leader will destroy it's action. Instead, i'd use something like 20-40lb titanium leader, it will give you better action on smaller, bass sized lures.

Pikes love vision 110's

9 minutes ago, Gera said:

Pikes love vision 110's

They do, and too much😆Even caught two carp (and they bit, not just snagged) earlier this year on my white 110.

4 hours ago, Gera said:

Pikes love vision 110's

You recommend bringing a Jerkbait setup mid summer?

my friend got a giant muskie on a V100 JR!!  he has a YouTube channel that captured the moment.   regular line as far as I know

1 hour ago, ohioguy25 said:

You recommend bringing a Jerkbait setup mid summer?

I would up here in MI. The bass here hammer them on straight retrieves this time of year. Always reliable for pike as well. 

17 hours ago, ohioguy25 said:

You recommend bringing a Jerkbait setup mid summer?

I actually meant they love to steal megabass jerkbaits... but yeah it will work for sure 

Brother and I made trip to Churchill River system last summer. We took 12" & 18" steel and titanium leaders. They worked well with our 40lb braid.

 

** Exception **

 

Brother had a huge pike next to the boat...it sucked in the buck-tail AND 12" leader completely...turned and snapped the braid like it was a knife through butter. How the heck it got in past the 12" leader was beyond us....

 

After changing to the 18" leader...and about 40 minutes later...had another giant pike do the SAME THING! Inhaled the lure and leader, turned and broke off the braid.

 

Ugh!

 

We caught tons of pike on that trip...and a fair amount of Walleye as well. Place was so remote, we were catching Walleye on 1oz. pike dare devils : )  Tasty!

I LOVE fishing top waters for pike. When a big fish hits, it’s like someone dropped a bowling ball into the water. The only problem was that little “snake” pike are really bad at hitting top water baits. They’d come flying out of the water doing summer salts completely missing the bait. Sometimes, missing it so badly they’d hit the line and cut me off. At least when that happened, the baits was floating so I didn’t lose it.

3 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Brother and I made trip to Churchill River system last summer. We took 12" & 18" steel and titanium leaders. They worked well with our 40lb braid.

 

** Exception **

 

Brother had a huge pike next to the boat...it sucked in the buck-tail AND 12" leader completely...turned and snapped the braid like it was a knife through butter. How the heck it got in past the 12" leader was beyond us....

 

After changing to the 18" leader...and about 40 minutes later...had another giant pike do the SAME THING! Inhaled the lure and leader, turned and broke off the braid.

 

Ugh!

 

We caught tons of pike on that trip...and a fair amount of Walleye as well. Place was so remote, we were catching Walleye on 1oz. pike dare devils : )  Tasty!

So then what is the ideal length for a leader?So then what is the ideal length for a leader?

17 minutes ago, ohioguy25 said:

So then what is the ideal length for a leader?So then what is the ideal length for a leader?

Think about how long a big pikes head is,

and then at least half that length again to account for it's throat should it swallow a bait.

I use something close to 20-24 inches and I'm NOT Targeting pike.

This is for bass fishing.

Casting can be a little different because I do not want the wire connection knot zipping through the guides on the cast.  So you may need to find some balance there - length vs effective casting.

But I will say, that if there are actually 40 plus inch pike in the waters you are fishing,

6, 8, and 12 inch leaders are not what I would chose.  Mostly for the reasons mentioned above. 

The two biggest musky I've ever landed ate baits that had NO Leader. 

One on 10 FC the other was 15 lb. FC.

Total luck IMO. 

I've lost hundreds of $$$ in baits to much smaller fish because I didn't pre-rig with wire first.\

Someday I'll learn.

I know many anglers who have success using Heavy FC. 

And if I was targeting pike I might try that.

But I'm bass fishing, so the thin wire still gets me bass bites

and when a pike eats the bait,

I get them too.

YMMV

A-Jay