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After many seasons offshore, you learn about all the little details that truly matter and make a difference. You become obsessive about these small factors that all help you consistently put a great day of fishing together. Once a fish shows up in the spread and commits, there’s one piece of the system that immediately takes center stage: your leader and its connection points.
In my earlier years freelancing on different boats in multiple locations, I saw more fish lost due to the leader or its connections than anything else. This didn’t happen because the material was bad, but because the setup and the connection choices didn’t match the situation. There is a proper leader type for every situation, and certainly no “one size fits all” when it comes to leader and its connections. To me, a leader has three jobs: absorb shock, resist abrasion and maintain control. Everything else, like stiffness, visibility and expense, comes second.
Things to Consider
Leader Length
If fishing a tournament, the most important thing to consider when factoring in leader length is the tournament rules. If you are not fishing a tournament, I personally always follow IGFA rules when rigging, as they are the standard. That way, when tournament time comes, you are already doing it right and it’s just another day of fishing. Another thing to consider is that monofilament stretches, so make sure to give a little room for stretch in case your leader gets measured after a fight.
I’m a big believer in using all the leader length I am allowed. Leaders give you more control of a fish boatside. Whether it is a wind-on leader that you can crank onto the spool and get those extra pounds of pressure needed for the endgame or a loose leader that your mate will use to take strategic wraps to manage the fish boatside, getting to that leader as soon as possible means the difference in a caught fish and a lost fish. This is especially important for release tournaments because once the leader touches the tip of the rod or a mate grabs the leader, you have caught and released that fish and are awarded your points.
Leader Size and Type
The next factor to consider is what leader size and type you want to use. Two main factors to consider here are the species of fish you are targeting and how you are targeting them. Big gamefish, especially billfish, abuse leaders in ways most anglers never fully appreciate until they’ve watched one up close and personal. Bills rough them up, tails scuff the leader, and heads shake violently, especially when boatside. Also, the blistering runs alone stretch out the leader on heavy drag. A leader must survive all of this while still allowing a lure or bait to do its job naturally.
For leader size, you really have to think about what you are working with. Leader size should reflect not only the target species, but also crew experience, fishing pressure, and whether the goal is release, meat or money. Knowing this will help you figure out the best leader strength to go with, as well as whether to use monofilament leader or fluorocarbon leader.
While I have already stressed the idea of fishing every day the way you would fish in a tournament, some of you might not fish tournaments at all, or maybe you don’t want the added expense of using expensive fluorocarbon leader when it might not be beneficial enough to justify the added cost. Something else to consider is that different line manufacturers, and even different types of line within a manufacturer, tend to have different properties from one another. This is important to research because thickness, stretch, suppleness, abrasion resistance and true rated breaking strength (most line breaks higher than its rated strength) all play a factor in how you plan to use your leader.
Fluorocarbon leader has its place, and I use it in necessary situations, such as when live-baiting, chunking, kite-fishing, or targeting tuna in clear water where visibility matters. Depending on the situation, I will use it for my dead-bait and live-bait billfishing leaders as well due to its excellent abrasion resistance.
Typical Setups
Now that you have gone through your situation and asked yourself the proper questions, it’s time to put it all together. The way one crew does things compared to another crew varies, but I will tell you what usually gets the nod in most situations among top crews.
When I’m pulling lures for blue marlin, I want shock absorption and abrasion resistance. High-quality monofilament leader does that very well, and we generally use 400-pound-test and higher for this, which handles the abrasive characteristics of a marlin bill in most situations. Use of a straight leader or wind-on leader depends on what your crew prefers to manage. This also goes for swordfish. I always tend to use 300-pound-test monofilament leader for swordfishing, which has handled the sharp bills of swordfish for me with great success.
For dead-bait billfishing on the troll with 30-pound-test tackle, a common setup starts with an 80-pound mono wind-on leader, typically around 23 feet long. At the terminal end, a ball-bearing snap swivel connects the wind-on to a 6-foot hook rig. That hook rig is usually built with either 60-pound fluorocarbon or 80-pound mono leader material snelled to a circle hook—an industry-standard configuration for this style of fishing. Some people beef up a little for a kill tournament or if they are light-tackle fishing for smaller blue marlin, but this is the standard. Others might scale down if they expect to only catch smaller billfish, like Atlantic sailfish.
When live-baiting and chunking for tuna, we tend to fish 30- to 50-pound fluorocarbon leader exclusively. With tuna, the decision becomes more situational. Water clarity, pressure and fish size dictate my leader size choice. When targeting tuna up to 200 pounds on the troll, a 29-foot, 130-pound fluorocarbon leader with a crank-on barrel swivel is a general favorite. This direct rig gives your angler the ability to wind the fish straight to the gaff shot. This is especially important if you are short-crewed because it eliminates the need for both a wire man and a gaff man, doing double duty as both jobs.
Most leader failures happen at connections, not in the middle of the leader itself. Connection points are crucial, so I wanted to note that, as far as connections are concerned, I recommend always crimping anything over 100-pound-test and tying anything under 100-pound-test. Leader systems shouldn’t be an afterthought. They deserve the same attention as lure selection, drag settings and spread design.
IGFA Leader Regulations
Leaders play a critical role in rigging, fish handling and abrasion resistance. When fishing under IGFA rules, their use and dimensions are clearly defined. Below are the official IGFA regulations governing leaders, reproduced verbatim for reference.
The use of a leader is not required. If one is used, it must meet the following specifications: The length of the leader is the overall length including any lure, hook arrangement or other device, and is measured to the bend of the last hook. The leader must be connected to the line with a snap, knot, splice, swivel or other device. Holding devices are prohibited. There are no regulations regarding the material or strength of the leader.
Saltwater species: In all line classes up to and including 20 pounds (10 kg), the leader shall be limited to 15 feet (4.57 meters). The combined length of the double line and leader shall not exceed 20 feet (6.1 meters).
The leader on all classes of tackle over 20 pounds (10 kg) shall be limited to 30 feet (9.14 meters). The combined length of the double line and leader shall be limited to 40 feet (12.19 meters).
The Final Connection
Every offshore angler has a story about the one that got away. More often than not, that story ends at the leader: a leader scuffed just enough, a crimp rushed, a system mismatched to the moment. When the leader is right, everything else has a chance to work. When it’s wrong, nothing else matters. That’s why I treat leaders as the most important connection offshore because when the fish finally shows up, that’s where the story gets written.
