Best Leader for Musky Fishing
New Tennessee musky anglers often ask what the best leader for musky fishing is. While the question is simple the answer is a bit more complex. Understandably new musky anglers are often confused by all of the options available to them. With this in mind let’s look at the pros and cons of common musky leaders to help clarify the matter of what musky leader is the best for you. Not only is choosing the right musky leader about price point, things like life span and lure action come into play when selecting the right musky leader.
Fluorocarbon Musky Leaders
Fluorocarbon musky leaders are what I would categorize as a premium leader. While the fluorocarbon material offers low visibility, strength, flexibility and is bite proof it comes with the highest price tag for musky and pike leaders on average.
Often musky anglers will pontificate how well concealed their leader is while fishing with fluorocarbon leaders. I would like to point out that the lures we are using have giant non-concealed hooks on them. Logic would stand to reason that if muskies don’t identify the 7/0 treble hook as a foreign object your choice of leader material won’t change your success on the water.
The tangible on the water benefits of fluorocarbon musky leaders is their flexibility. The slinkiness of fluorocarbon leaders allows for musky lures to have more undulation in the water. This flexibility is best exemplified when working rubber jerk baits like tubes and pull pause baits. The reality of the matter is that fluorocarbon leaders exert the least amount of influence on lures in the water. While the material of transparent, their benefit is more so their transparency on your presentation as they offer the bite-off protection required with minimal influence on presentations.
While the benefits of fluorocarbon leaders make is a great option it does require maintenance. Fluorocarbon musky leaders can and will fail if they become nicked or damaged from catching muskies or making contact with rocks or other abrasive surfaces. To ensure the safety of muskies and to avoid heart ache, anglers need to inspect and replace fluorocarbon leaders often. With Fluorocarbon musky leaders carrying a premium price tag some budget conscious anglers might find other options more palatable.
Multi-strand Wire Musky Leaders
Multi-strand wire leaders are a budget minded anglers’ option for a musky leader that offers flexibility with a longer life span than a fluorocarbon musky leader. Multi strand wire musky leaders offer very high breakage strength ratings at far thinner diameters that fluorocarbon leaders. Multi-strand wire leaders can be purchased that are rated for well over one hundred pounds of strength making the wire itself virtually impervious to failure.
Multi-strand wire leaders offer a decent amount of flexibility when working lures. While fluorocarbon musky might be a bit less rigid when retrieving lures Multi-strand wire leaders defiantly hold their own. While fluorocarbon musky leaders require a constant watchful eye for nicks and abrasions that could lead to fail multi-strand wire musky leaders are virtually maintenance free.
The lack of maintenance and long-life span of a multi-strand wire musky leaders makes them the perfect leader for musky anglers that are on a budget or fish intermittently. While multi strand leaders pose little to no breakage issue from muskies they can at times become kinked from snags or bad lure fouling. Once the wire of a multi-strand leader is kinked it is virtually impossible to straighten it back to true form.
Straight Wire Leaders
Straight wire leaders are made from a single strand of wire. They are offered in a multitude of weight options and by a large margin the cheapest option available for musky anglers. Rolls of straight wire are available for purchase for just a few dollars allowing musky anglers to make inexpensive but effect musky leaders.
Straight wire leaders are durable and prevent lure bite offs ensuring the safety of muskies and expensive lures. One could argue that straight wire adds more snap to jerk bait presentations such as glide baits and dive and rise lures. While this effect has been minimized by the advent of longer musky rods some anglers prefer straight wire leaders for the previously mentioned presentation styles.
With straight wire leaders being the cheapest option while giving some extra snap to certain lure classes they are not only budget friendly but useful in some on the water scenarios. One of the major down sides of straight wire musky leaders is kinks and bends. Once a straight wire leader is bent from snags, lure fouling while casting or landing a musky it generally becomes useless. Attempts to bend a straight wire musky leader back to true only weakens the wire itself making it a liability and far more prone to breaking.
After considering the pros and cons of different musky leader materials and styles one can easily come to the conclusion that there is no definitive answer for what musky leader is the best. The real question becomes what musky leader is the best for you. Making this not only a monetary consideration but also a matter of how much thought and maintenance do you want to think about on the water. Are you a tie something on and forget it angler? Are you an attention to detail musky guy? Or are you a penny counter? Considering questions of this nature will help you find the right leader for your musky fishing.
While all musky leaders are more than sufficient, anglers need to pay attention to the swivels and snaps on their leaders. Leader snap failure can occur from the repetition of changing lures as the metal of the snap can and will become fatigued eventually breaking. Swivels should also be inspected for damage, warping and fatigue.
Cheers,
Steven Paul
Tennessee Musky Gudies
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