Living where I do, I don't have many opportunities to fish for Pike....plenty of smallmouth/walleye opportunities though....In the past when I have come up to the BW, I have used either "tiger wire" or 30# mason hard mono....both work, but have their negatives as well.  Lately I've been reading of people using 50-60# flourocarbon leaders with success...Anyone have any experience w/this?  What sort of knot would you use?  Any other ideas for pike leaders and/or bite tippets?

Mike

I have tried to "lighten up" with my FC. My first leader of #60 was shredded by a very average pike this past summer. I tried another and my big jig ended up gone. Back to the #100 which seems to do fairly well.

As for knots with FC here are my thoughts. You can purchase pre-made FC leaders of #100 lb test. I have had good luck so far with pre-made. Sorry, I can't remember the brand off hand.

If you prefer to tie your own and use knots I would go with #80 for sure. When you get to 100# you really start to get into the realm of crimps. With #80 you can use a tie fast (yes, once again.....works superb with FC) knot tool. Use the gryp knot. Be sure to use 3 wraps. 3 wraps will be the number of your counting. You will not go to 4 and neither will you go to 2, unless proceeding to 3 ;). Be sure and wet the knot and pull tight.

Try and avoid tying to to small an eyelet. A nice thick 5/0 hook is good.  

mastertangler wrote on Mar 12^th, 2011 at 1:59am:

I Be sure to use 3 wraps. 3 wraps will be the number of your counting. You will not go to 4 and neither will you go to 2, unless proceeding to 3.

MT,
Very funny!!! Afterwards we will feast on the Pike and the carps and the breakfast cereals!  :) Since this thread is not part of monthly fishing tip, I hope you don't mind me adding my two cents.   :-[

Anywho! Since my late spring trip last year, I have been using 20 Lb. test tieable wire (american fishing wire). Its thin, flexible wire you can tie regular knots with. I found it in the flyfishing section of the cabela's store.

In all fairness Android that humor was stolen from a Monty Python movie...."Monty Python and the Holy Grail". It was one of my all time favorites before I learned better. Due to nostalgia I just can't give it up. If you haven't seen it.........well, maybe your better off ;).

I mainly use nylon coated wire. haywire twist the wire to attach the fly and melt the nylon with a lighter. This is the approach a lot of big name guys use - like Larry Dahlberg. On occasion I will also use a light wire leader, that you would use with spinning gear. The problem with them is they kink so easy, then your presentation suffers. I also sometimes use single strand wire - especially if chasing saltwater stuff like barracudas that have such good eyesight.

I've used fluoro in the past and have had good luck as well. So you can see I don't have one set approach. One thing about Fluorocarbon is that smaller pike - say 2-7 pounds, can shred it unless its 80-100lb stuff. With big pike and muskies, guys are having good luck (including professional muskie guides) with 60lb fluoro. I've found Seagar to be by far the best. The smaller pike have much sharper teeth. use back to back uni knots to connect the leader to your tippet. Use a loop knot to connect the fluoro to the fly. If interested in fly fishing for muskies, this is an awesome blog - the flies are deadly and interesting approaches/info:

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Hope this helps.

Moonman.

If you check the articles archived on my website, there's a fly fishing for pike article that details how I use titanium as a leader. I've caught dozens of 40-inch plus pike with this rig.   (You need to Login or Register

Thanks for the help guys!

Mike