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Hunting Tiger Musky's
#1
In regards to tiger musky's. I'm new and going to give it a go this year. I always thought steel leader was the way to go with these toothie creatures. As I research making some, I'm seeing people make it out of mono and fluro? Just caring for me, no trolling. What's your thoughts?
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#2
steel leader isn't a necessity.  good heavy mono will work -- I prefer it.  Except when it does break.  Then it sucks.


Keep an eye on your leader.  If you catch a couple musky, check it and consider re-tying if you notice any nicks in the line.  Just know that it is a risk not using a steel leader -- but that risk may pay off with a hook-up that you may not have gotten using a steel leader.

Good luck.
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#3
I have used a 3 inch or 6 inch black steel leader and always will.  I troll mostly and have no problem.
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#4
I catch tons of tiger muskies all year. I prefer 30 lb to 50 lb braided line. I tigh my line directly to a snap swivel. I mostly cast and due the occasional troll. Never have lost a lure to a fish using the braid. The only negative is when you make a bad cast or get snagged up. If it's a good snag your wont be breaking your line off you'll be cutting it, if you dont break a pole in the process of trying to get unsnagged.
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#5
First, Tiger Muskies, Pike, Muskies are NOT leader shy; they are not trout, steelhead or pressured bass.  Having a steel leader, or for that matter a hot orange leader, will not reduce your number of fish at all.

If all you do is troll, then a steel leader is excellent.  Stick with it.

If all you do is throw lures then straight and continuous retrieve them, like spinners and crankbaits, then steel leaders are excellent.  Stick with it.

If you toss large flies on fly rods for those wonderful MONSTERS, then the steel leader can impact the action and adds a lot of weight that you now must handle with the fly rod.  

If you toss glide baits for them, a very effective method, then the steel leader sinks in front of the bait and works like an anchor, reducing the glide.  For them, another leader is desirable.  Glide baits are designed to be thrown, set for a few seconds, then jerked.  When jerked, they usually dart to one side and then drift or glide a distance.  When jerked again, they dart to the other side and do it again.  For you Bass fishermen, think of a Zara Spook like bait, but when walking the dog think of the bait drifting a few inches up to 4' on each jerk.  Glide baits are common in Europe but and starting to show up in the US.  River2Sea sells some awesome new ones called ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic MINNOW).  Just, with the COVID-19 thing going on, they are shutdown, so if you don't have them by now, good luck finding them.

If you toss some jigs or other soft plastic jerk baits, again, the steel leader can work like an anchor, impacting the action.  Another option is desirable.

I have used Titanium leaders with great success, but they are expensive overkill.  I have used Steel Leaders with great success, and except for flies, glide bait and jerk bait style lures, they work very well.  Think about the fish of a lifetime, and ask if you would trust your leader (trophy fish) to anything less then steel.

IF you use jerk baits, flies, glide baits, then what are our other options?  How about braided superlines, like PowerPro, SpiderWire...... etc?  Afterall, we all know how hard they are to cut.  Well, if I could use Muskie teeth for scissors I would because they cut superlines very fast.

Larry Dahlberg, host of the former TV show HUNT FOR BIG FISH, has popularized the use of HARD mono.  A good hard fluorocarbon would work, but like he mentioned, this system was designed to overcome sinking leaders and fluorocarbon sinks, so it does not work better, and actually is less effective then steel leaders because it is not as strong.  In fact, it is not as strong as a good hard Mono.  People still buy into the idea that Fluorocarbon is stringer then "nylon" monofilament, but in fact, per diameter, is actually less strong and actually less abrasion resistant.  Go back to the fly fishing leader section of your favorite store and compare the fly leaders of the same diameter.  You will find that the flouro has a much lower poundage rating.

So, how large of a HARD mono do you use and what brands are hard mono?  Start off with a 120 pound mono.  Mason is known as a hard monofilament company so IF you can find that, this a great one.  Other companies make hard mono shock leaders for salt water fishing.  Please note that the nature of HARD mono is that it is as stiff as a tree limb, but it floats or has neutral buoyancy, and because it is made as a shock tippet for saltwater it can handle one or two Muskie.  Check your leader after each fish and change it if necessary.

Try tying 100+ mono and you will soon find out that it is not your daddy's fishing line.  None of our Utah fishing knots are going to work.  To tie your line to this monster thick leader you will do best with the FG or Seibel Knot IMHO.  Now, if you don't know what that knot is, don't be surprised.  YouTube has hundreds of videos on how to do them, and they even look easy to tie (they are not).  But, once mastered, this is the best knot for this application and will not slip or come undone on you.  Still, how do you tie the hard leader to the lure/fly?

Larry Dahlberg taught a knot he called the knotagain.  It is a version of the Bowline knot.  With his knot, you can untie it and retie it numerous times to change lures.  This is a great advantage with this type of leader.  Because I don't think he ever posted it on YouTube, and because I don't have a YouTube channel, I can't show you his version. But you can use the Bowline knot and if you can't get it undone, well I guess we are already use to clipping and retying.  Now it is true, the Bowline knot is only about 50% knot strength, but because we are using 120+ pound HARD mono, that is not a problem.

Note, the reason for the super thick Hard Mono is not for the Knot Strength, at least not entirely.  The reason is that the muskie teeth will cut it, but that thick line will protect long enough for one or two muskies before retying.  

I hope this helps some, but in summary:

1) Steel leader is preferable in most Muskie/Pike applications.
2) Fluorocarbon offers no advantage.
3) Superlines offer no advantage for a leader.
4) 120# plus hard Nylon Monofilaments can offer an alternative for some applications.

 

Good luck, and good fishing.
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#6
You can get clear leaders at Anglers den in Roy, they have a section of musky tackle & the leaders will he found there.
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