WANT TO BUILD
YOUR OWN LEADERS?
Building your own leaders is a very simple
way to create a fishing product
that is actually superior in quality, and
significantly more inexpensive than
many of the commercial offerings available.
It requires a minimum of
both tools and time, but leaves you with a
great feeling of having built
something that works, and works well!
I only use single strand stainless steel leaders.
They are dependable,
tough, and very resilient. They are
easy to work with, and are very
adaptable to a variety of construction designs.
For casting, I prefer a shorter leader
of 12 inches in length. This
makes performing L Turns and Figure 8's much
easier.
Construction Specifications:
1 12" piece
of .024 stainless steel wire
2 Size 0 Rosco Crane swivels
1 Size 5 Rosco Duolock snaps
This design will leave you with a 12" stainless
leader with a
breaking strength of about 90 pounds test.
For trolling, I prefer a longer leader
of 36 inches in length. This
longer leader helps to protect the line from
fish that often roll.
Construction Specifications:
1 36"
piece of .030 stainless steel wire
1 Size 0 Rosco Crane swivel
1 Size 2/0 light downrigger swivel
with coastlock snap
This design will leave you with a 36" stainless
leader with a
breaking strength of about 135 pounds test.
The Tools of The Trade:
1 pair
of 6" needle nosed Vise Grip pliers
1 pair of duck-billed welder's
Vise Grip pliers
1 tape measure
1 pair of wire cutters
1 wire forming tool
Bend the wire on wire former so that a 1 1/4"
tag end remains.
Grip the loop with the duck billed vise grips,
add swivel or snap.
Grip the tag end firmly with the needle nosed
vise grips, and
complete a minimum of 4 complete and tightly
grouped wraps.
Clip off the excess tag end. Optional:
shrink tube the wraps.
Time to go fishing!
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