Thread: Leaders for toothy fish

I've never really targeted Spanish or blues, but will be down on the east side of Perdido Pass in mid September. I will have plenty of spoons, jigs, and plugs to toss at them. Two questions:

I have a bunch of 50lb flouro. Should I use that for a leader or go straight to wire for the September fish?

Second, should I even waste time trying to catch Spanish/blues from the beach there?

I asked this question recently. I was advised to skip fluoro and wire, and use 20#-30# mono for my leader. This Oct. will be the first time for me to target Spanish in the surf, so I am excited about that.

I advise 50# mono for blues and Spanish. I've tried 30#, holds up for one or two fish, but not much longer.
I would head straight to the pier, much more likely to get into the fish than from the beach.

Do straws help in any way to protect the leader from a Spanish bite? This is new ground for me to plow, and wish to succeed as best I can.

I'm with CarlF on the 50# mono, both on my bubble rigs and lures. Pier#r says to sometimes use just a few inches of 10# or 15# Sevenstrand right at the lure.

You can cover a lot more water fishing from the pier than from shore for these species. They aren't always within casting distance from the beach.

50# is what I will purchase. I want to skip the swivel. My big rig is 10# mono. I have been using Uni knots, and Blood knots for this. They work fine for lines sharing similar diameters. I am not sure what knot would work for 10# main line to 50# mono leader, or if there is a good knot for this. Have a wide assortment of swivels in various sizes, just anal about wanting to tie direct. Is this something I need to get over, and just get with the program, or are there knots I could use? Bear in mind, with my skill set, I struggle with knots.

I carry heavier mono and wire. I've lost a lot of lures with mono but sometimes you can't buy a bite with wire. Sometimes they don't seem to mind the wire. I just use the lightest single strand I can get away with.

Originally Posted by bodebum

50# is what I will purchase. I want to skip the swivel. My big rig is 10# mono. I have been using Uni knots, and Blood knots for this. They work fine for lines sharing similar diameters. I am not sure what knot would work for 10# main line to 50# mono leader, or if there is a good knot for this. Have a wide assortment of swivels in various sizes, just anal about wanting to tie direct. Is this something I need to get over, and just get with the program, or are there knots I could use? Bear in mind, with my skill set, I struggle with knots.

I would suggest you try using Red Phillips Knot. When you use this, always use the overhand knot on the line with "bigger" diameter and the smaller line always do the uni tying.



- I have used this also to tie both main braid line to a AFW 7X1 Steel Leader wire.

While you can catch spanish and blues in the surf in Sept I would suggest that anyone that wants to catch a number of them in Sept to try the pier The problem you will have then is keeping them off your hook I'll be out there and I have every lure plug bubble rig spoon etc that a spanish has ever thought about biting and I'll be glad to assist anyone that wants to get I on the fun particularily you bodebum You re like a kid at Christmas Meet me on the Pier when you come and I'll make sure you have you have a spanish experience you'll never forget

I am grateful to you, DAN, for your generous offer. My sweet and lovely wife, Carolyn, has wanted to fish the pier again, after a long absence from it. I may not be a great student, but I have tried to remain teachable.