Leader Length - Losing Fish

[Time]

Now that we know the leader can be 2 feet to 12 feet long, I was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on a correlation between leader length and lost fish.
With a shorter leader, is a fish more apt to use the resistance created by the flasher to slip off the hook than it would with a longer leader where it is, or may be, easier to maintain steady line pressure on the hook?
Just wondering as I lost two yesterday with 24-28" leaders, but landed one with a 48" leader.

 

[spring fever]

I quite often have to lengthen leaders when fishing anchovy sometimes as much as 8 to 10 ft especially when springs are close to their home rivers. I never have trouble with this length until the fish gets close to the boat, then the troubles can happen-depending on the netter and the experience of the angler. Personally I think the real short ties ( 24-28) inches tend to help big fish a bit as he is more likely to come into contact with the flasher. This can cause the flasher to foul or "walk" putting an unnatural sideways vector to the force applied from your rod. Just a thought.

 

[polywave]

Hi Time,
I find with the longer leader the fish has a better chance of spitting the hook because it's hard to reel in the flasher to take up slack when the fish moves towards the flasher and creates slack. I prefere a shorter leader.
I'll second spring fever's comment about problems when the fish gets to the boat. If one is tall, extra length in the leader may not be a problem. But if one is short (like me) then when the fish gets to the boat the fish may still be below the surface even when the flasher is at the rod tip and the person is all the way to the other side of the boat (gee, that sounds familiar!).

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey BC, I believe that is what is referred to as a "meat line" and it has not been legal for many years......... SS

 

[scott craven]

i think he's referring to dummy flasher's

 

[TenMile]

The dummy flasher setup works great, particularly with plugs. You can set your plug/spoon/bait as close or as far from the flasher as you want and don't have to contend with it as the fish gets close to the boat. Also gives you a better feel for the fish on your line and prolongs the fight.

I also have a couple of those flashers with the plastic "pin" in the end. The pin will pull out of the flasher with a big strike allowing the flasher to hang loose from the line. Doesn't help with the leader distance, but does take the flasher resistance out of the loop when a fish is hooked. I think they are called "Uncle Jim's" or something like that. I find they work great. Others have reported that the pin will start to slip after a while but I've not experienced that so far with the 2 I have.

 

[drad2k4]

They are called Farr better flashers. They work great I use them all the time. No point in fighting a spinning flasher once you hit a fish.

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey BC, you are correct. I can recall fishing with my dad that way 40 years ago when the fishing was slow and we usually hooked something up for the BBQ. You would see the downrigger boom start to bounce when you got a fish and depending on how much would determine how long you continued trolling before bringing it up as you had to handline the fish.... No sport whatsoever but, it did produce fish hence, it was called a meat line. SS