On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 19:09:41 -0500, John H
wrote:

~~ snippity do da ~~

Two feet is too short. I use braided line which will cut right through
flesh. Therefore, I need a leader (heavy duty monofilament - 80lb test
is common) that I can grab and use to pull the fish into the net. To
do so, I must first put the rod down. That means I need about 8 feet
or so of leader. But I don't need 30 feet of leader to accomplish
that. Using that much leader just creates a hell of a mess to
straighten out once the fish is put in the cooler.

Use what you will - that's my point. Two feet works for me inshore
because my inshore boat has low freeboard and I almost never take a
fish out of the water once it get's to the boat. I measure and take
pictures while they are in the water, tag 'em and let 'em go.

Offshore is a whole different story.

What works for me might not work for you. That's the beauty of it
all.

This year I'm going with shorter leaders. If I catch nothing and
others are catching limits, then I'll switch. I haven't had a good
reason for the 30' leaders, other than "that's the traditional way."

Which is often the case. :)

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)