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?

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

John,

Here is a great web site for Popular lures and rigs used on the Chesapeake,
they not only discuss Rockfish, but all other popular fish in the
Chesapeake.

http://www.vaboatandbeach.com/tacktech.asp

Bottom Trolling Rig - Used primarily by Chesapeake Bay anglers targeting
rockfish during their fall migration. The rig is also effective for deep
running bluefish. Locals prefer a long monofilament, 25 foot leader that
can be utilized with or without a 12 inch wire leader. The leader and a 3
to 4 foot section of monofilament holding the sinker are attached to
separate rings of a 3 way swivel. When a fish is brought to the boat,
anglers must hand wind the leader to land the fish. This can be tough on
the fingers. Work gloves can help. The leader must be 60 to 75lb. test to
withstand the resistance of a heavy, thrashing fish and the resistance of
the heavy sinker. Let out a sufficient amount of line until you feel the
sinker hit the bottom. Sinkers should be 16 to 20oz. if you are using
monofilament line. Wire line can be an advantage with this rig as a lighter
sinker can be used to reach the bottom. Tie a loop knot or simple half
hitch to attach the sinker. This will allow you to change sinker sizes
quickly with a minimum of aggravation. Run the doubled line through the eye
of the ring at the top of the sinker, then pass the sinker through the loop
back to the ring and tighten the line. Reverse the process to change
sinkers. Anglers will need a revolving spool reel, minimum of 40lb. test
line and a stiff boat rod to handle this rig.



It seems like you are in good company using the long leader.








"John H" wrote in message
...
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?

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

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)

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 02:23:25 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

John,

Here is a great web site for Popular lures and rigs used on the Chesapeake,
they not only discuss Rockfish, but all other popular fish in the
Chesapeake.

http://www.vaboatandbeach.com/tacktech.asp

Bottom Trolling Rig - Used primarily by Chesapeake Bay anglers targeting
rockfish during their fall migration. The rig is also effective for deep
running bluefish. Locals prefer a long monofilament, 25 foot leader that
can be utilized with or without a 12 inch wire leader. The leader and a 3
to 4 foot section of monofilament holding the sinker are attached to
separate rings of a 3 way swivel. When a fish is brought to the boat,
anglers must hand wind the leader to land the fish. This can be tough on
the fingers. Work gloves can help. The leader must be 60 to 75lb. test to
withstand the resistance of a heavy, thrashing fish and the resistance of
the heavy sinker. Let out a sufficient amount of line until you feel the
sinker hit the bottom. Sinkers should be 16 to 20oz. if you are using
monofilament line. Wire line can be an advantage with this rig as a lighter
sinker can be used to reach the bottom. Tie a loop knot or simple half
hitch to attach the sinker. This will allow you to change sinker sizes
quickly with a minimum of aggravation. Run the doubled line through the eye
of the ring at the top of the sinker, then pass the sinker through the loop
back to the ring and tighten the line. Reverse the process to change
sinkers. Anglers will need a revolving spool reel, minimum of 40lb. test
line and a stiff boat rod to handle this rig.



It seems like you are in good company using the long leader.

Thanks for the site. That's going into my favorites. It is correct in
saying that locals prefer a long leader. I'm just wondering if the
fish have a big preference!

Thanks again.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:12:11 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

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)

I use a similar rig when bottom fishing, but I was asking about the
"requirement" for 30 feet of leader when trolling. That's the one I
can't understand.

Thanks for the reply.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:47:47 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:12:11 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

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.

I use a similar rig when bottom fishing, but I was asking about the
"requirement" for 30 feet of leader when trolling. That's the one I
can't understand.

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry John, I misunderstood. My bad. Then again, I couldn't half
see this morning. :)

That's a good question. Just a guess on my part, it probably has to
do with how the some think the bait is taken. That seems to come up a
lot at seminars and taking to various charter captains. Longer leader
means a better feel to the fish and more hook ups.

I'm not convinced of that.

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)

For some reason I thought it was because the leader was less visable to the
fish, so they are less likely to be spooked.


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:47:47 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:12:11 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

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.

I use a similar rig when bottom fishing, but I was asking about the
"requirement" for 30 feet of leader when trolling. That's the one I
can't understand.

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry John, I misunderstood. My bad. Then again, I couldn't half
see this morning. :)

That's a good question. Just a guess on my part, it probably has to
do with how the some think the bait is taken. That seems to come up a
lot at seminars and taking to various charter captains. Longer leader
means a better feel to the fish and more hook ups.

I'm not convinced of that.

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)

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 19:14:41 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

For some reason I thought it was because the leader was less visable to the
fish, so they are less likely to be spooked.

Oh oh - I feel a rant coming on. :)

I've always been interested in the whole "spook the fish" concept
because I believe it's a superstitution or rational for a poor day on
the water not catching fish.

The whole point of using a bait or attractor is to trigger a fish into
striking. It seems counter intuitive that the same bait would "spook"
a fish into not striking.

Fish don't take bait for any number of other reasons, but "spooking"
fish isn't one of them.

Whew - I got my point across with a rant - Dude!!!!

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)

SWF,
From you smile, I assume your rant was not an attack on anyone, but just to
a misconception that many people have. If the leader is not used to create
a more attractive "bait" for the fish to hit, what is the reason for the
leader? I understand that a metal leader is used to stop the fish from
cutting the line, but why use a 25 ft leader? In my ignorance, I have
always thought the long leader line was used because it was invisible in the
water, and would look more like a bait fish instead of bait being dragged
though the water.

Is your suggestion that John H. can just use a 2 ft. leader instead of his
30 ft. leader he has been using?


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 19:14:41 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

For some reason I thought it was because the leader was less visable to
the
fish, so they are less likely to be spooked.

Oh oh - I feel a rant coming on. :)

I've always been interested in the whole "spook the fish" concept
because I believe it's a superstitution or rational for a poor day on
the water not catching fish.

The whole point of using a bait or attractor is to trigger a fish into
striking. It seems counter intuitive that the same bait would "spook"
a fish into not striking.

Fish don't take bait for any number of other reasons, but "spooking"
fish isn't one of them.

Whew - I got my point across with a rant - Dude!!!!

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)

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 22:28:01 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

SWF,
From you smile, I assume your rant was not an attack on anyone, but just to
a misconception that many people have. If the leader is not used to create
a more attractive "bait" for the fish to hit, what is the reason for the
leader? I understand that a metal leader is used to stop the fish from
cutting the line, but why use a 25 ft leader? In my ignorance, I have
always thought the long leader line was used because it was invisible in the
water, and would look more like a bait fish instead of bait being dragged
though the water.

Is your suggestion that John H. can just use a 2 ft. leader instead of his
30 ft. leader he has been using?

Yes.

A lot of fishing is personal opinion, experience and ability to
translate experience into catching fish. In some things, assumptions
are made that may not be accurate or based on anything scientific. It
seems that most "opinion" is actually anecdotal and not studied with
any type of rigor.

If you read between the lines of the various studies on fish behavior,
it seems more related to time, place and weather than having the color
lure or leader du jour.

If you have ever been to one of those sporting shows where they have
the "hog" tank, you will see what I mean. These fish are transported
from a farm, put into the tank, they are "fished" all weekend in
demonstrations - they sure as hell aren't "spooked".

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)