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Shocking Facts About Shockleader
Sea Fishing Article
Article: Simon Hayes
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When you look across many of the Internet forums the same sort of questions come up, and one of the most common questions you hear sea angler chatting about is shock leaders. Now for many this is a grey area to chat about as everybody has their own opinions on leader types and lengths. The common questions that come up regarding shock leaders are:
1. What strength shock leader should I use?
2. What length shock leader should I use?
3. What type of shock leader to use?
Many anglers use a shock leader that is either too long or too short, and this can cause issues when casting and fishing, so what are the main points to consider? Well firstly your leader strength MUST be determined by the weight of lead you will be using, as a general rule of thumb 1oz of lead equates to 10lb of shock leader. Therefore if you intend to be fishing with leads up to and including say 6oz then at a minimum you should be looking at a 60lb shock leader. Now on a personal note with this I would normally go a bit heavier than the standard 1oz to 10 lb rule and would add around 10lb to the final shock leader strength. By doing this if your casting isn't the greatest it gives you a bit more cushioning for a snatchy cast.
Now for the length of leader different people have different opinions as to how long or how short the leader should be. When I load my shock leader onto my reel I like to have between 8 and 15 turns on the spool of the reel, and then I measure the length of the rod plus 10 - 20 inch's from the rod tip. This gives you enough leader length to have a good size drop from the rod tip when casting. Now There are some exceptions to this rule and that is when you are fishing from a rock mark, a pier or breakwater scenario or if you are casting with a half or full pendulum cast. For the half or full pendulum cast anything up to a 8ft drop from the rod tip can be used, this would mean when you are measuring your leader length you would need to leave a minimum of 6 feet from the rod tip. When fishing from a rocky area or pier / breakwater you may need to be looking at around 30 - 40 feet of shock leader. This would give you enough length to get the fish right underneath yourself with the opportunity to hand line the fish up and onto the ledge where you are fishing.
Now one other point that I think needs to be brought up is that when determining your shock leader length, you need to be aware that if your leader is too long for your style of casting then the leader knot can get caught up in the rod's eyes when casting. To overcome this problem you need to make sure that when casting the leader knot has come off the spool and has passed through the rod eyes before the spool is spinning at it's maximum, if not then this can cause a crack off or even worse a damaged eye as the leader knot would snag up on the eye's.
You hear many anglers discussing the pro's and cons of tapered shock leaders, Some people don't like then and others do, and I think it's down to the individual to make his or her own mind up whether or not to use one. Now one of the main advantages of using a tapered shock leader is that the leader knot that joins your shock leader to your main line is a lot smaller. Therefore a problem with the leader knot catching as it passes through the rod eyes is greatly reduced.
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