On Thu, 04 Mar 2004 20:37:57 -0500, John H
wrote:

Many of the folks who troll for striped bass (rockfish or stripers)
use a leader which totals about 30' in length. Is that much leader
necessary? I use braided line, so I need *some* leader to allow for
pulling a 40" fish from the water without cutting my fingers off. I'm
wondering why I couldn't get by with about 8' or so.

Ideas?

For stripers, I use the slip sinker rig (1 - 1 1/2 oz)

http://www.vaboatandbeach.com/images/tacksliprig6.jpg

with 18/20 inches of florocarbon leader (25 lb test) to a snelled
hook, usually a barbless circle hook. Sometimes I might use a 5 or
6/0 barbless O'Shaugnessy depending on which bait - live eels or Ledge
Runner eel imitations.

I don't like wire leaders for inshore work and prefer florocarbon up
to 30 lb. Having said that, I made up some blood red wire leaders
this winter - same configuration as above. In theory, the leaders are
supposed to disappear underwater. We'll see.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
-----------
"Do fishermen eat avocados? This is a question
that no one ever thinks to ask."

Russel Chatham, "Dark Waters" (1988)