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Posts: 80
| There I was on Saturday, having a great day on the water. My Black/Orange Magnum Bulldawg had already caught me 2 fish, as I go to make another cast, the lure goes flying through the air, and my line doesn't follow it....
This was a 7-strand terminator wire leader. My first thought was that the crimp had failed, as this has happened to me before - I had a terminator single strand wire leader where the crimp peeled like a banana.
But to my surprise it wasn't the crimp at all, the loop in the wire just broke. I suppose after a period of time, the weight of a cast lure causes enough stress that the loop finally gives way. Of course I could have never noticed this as the loop is covered with a piece of plastic tubing.
I guess I am lucky it happened on the cast, last weekend I caugt a 48, and this weekend a 43 and a 40, and the leader stayed together while I was playing those fish - or they would be swimming around with a mouthful of Bulldawg.
Just thought I would give everyone a heads up. The new titanium leaders seem like they will last forever, but it is definitely not the case.
Maybe I should just go back to steel, they get so bent up you finally just put on a new one - before the components can fail.
I will try to post a pic,
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 bad leader.JPG (17KB - 185 downloads)
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Could have been a flaw in the wire. Sometimes the swivel jams up and 'crimps' the wire in a twist, I've seen that a time or two using 60# to 100# regular seven strand wire. Every leader will eventually wear out, even my home made .051 cables! |
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| I had the same issue with two Titanium 7-strain leaders this year. I picked these leaders up last year, but really did not use them. I gave them a shot this year, and while I only used them with lighter bucktails and topwaters, I noticed by mid August, that the stains of the 7-strain were slowing snapping. With only 7-10 days on the water, it became apparant they were not going to make it more than half a season. Mine were not Terminator leaders either. The maker agreed to replace, but at this point, I have decided to hold off and go back to my traditional muti-strains.
Pal |
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| I doubt that you had a bad leader.
I think the real culprit was the constant flexing right in the center of the loop which occurs everytime you cast those big dawgs...or any large bait for that matter. You simply weaken the wire with each cast and each hard twitch. Flex any wire enough, including titanium, and eventually she'll weaken and break. Same thing happened to me with the mag dawg on some pretty thick single-strand which caused me to re-think my leader situation. Titanium was not the answer either, as I eventually found out.
Consider a very high lb. test Flourocarbon leader (180 lbs.+). Best leaders I've ever used, bar none...and I tried them all. No more lost lures. No more kinked leaders. Plus, the fish (alledgedly) don't see Flouro as easily as other material. Less visibility = more bites. Sorry, don't know where you can get them commercially in that lb. test. I make mine with leader material bought from Cabelas.
Can fish bite/cut through it? Yes, but not very probable on the heavy lb. test material of which I'm referring. Bite-off's can and do happen on the lower lb. test Flouro material, particularly in sizes less than 100 lb. test, so don't kid yourself if you decide to make the switch. Just remember what famous bassmaster Rick Clunn once said, "If you can get 10 bites per day with 10 lb. test, and 10 bites per day with 30 lb. test...then by all means go with the 30 lb. test!". Made sense to me.
Just another point of view.
BrianF.
Twin Cities |
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| Stupid emoticans.
BrianF.
Twin Cities |
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Posts: 80
| I wonder if I would have noticed it sooner if the loop wasn't covered with plastic tubing?
Or, I wonder if it would have broken sooner if it wasn't covered with plastic tubing?
I guess I will never know....
I do use flourocarbon leaders, but I am leery to use them with a lure that a musky can inhale, or eat head first.
I mainly use them on the trolling rods.
The last musky I caught before the leader broke inhaled the Bulldawg head first, the whole thing was in its mouth.
I was jigging the Bulldawg in a school of baitfish in 30+ feet of water. I don't know if the flourocarbon leaders I use would have survived.
Of course the flourocarban leaders I use are not 180lb, I think they are maybe 80 or 100lb.
Will definitly use a single strand leader, the next time I throw the Mag Bulldawg.
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| JWB
You can have confidence in the high lb. test Flouro, even if inhaled. Just not the smaller diameter stuff of less than 100 lb. (even then, you may not have a problem for a long time). There are many excellent musky fisherman using them who haven't had problems casting and having baits inhaled.
I've caught some nice fish this year on tiger tubes and jigs w/ 180 lb. Flouro. Talk about getting inhaled. No problems...and didn't even need to replace the leader due to nicks or anything.
I can't emphasis enough - the key to minimizing the bite-off issue is high diameter/high lb. test Flouro of greater than 150 lb. Check the leader material periodically for nicks though.
BrianF.
Twin Cities
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| Ever titanium leader I have had has worn out pretty quick -- My last failure looked just like the one pictured here , the loop broke , They do last longer than 7 strand but I'm not for sure if the cost is worth it. I've been ordering mine from stamina. about 6 -7 dollars apiece ManitouDan |
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Posts: 484
Location: St. Louis, MO., Marco Is., FL, Nestor Falls, ON | I fish pike and muskies about 200 days per year and use the Terminator Titanium leader exclusively. I have had two leaders fail in the past 5 years. One was nearly new and the other was at least 3 years old. I returned both and they sent me two new leaders for each one returned. I have been happy with these leaders. Nothing lasts forever, and I must remember to replace the leaders periodically BEFORE they fail. Look for a wearing thru on the plastic coating is an indicator. I have found their service department ready to help. I will continue using these leaders for most muskie fishing, using flurocarbon leaders for special applications. I do use the flurocarbon leaders regularly when saltwater fishing about 90 days per year and have been impressed with their performance also.
Edited by rpieske 11/7/2004 9:49 PM
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | I reccomend saving money and buying regular leaders rather then titanium ones like the terminators... |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | TI is very brittle when flexed at too tight an angle. IMOP TI should only be used in solid wire applications. I've had 7 strand leaders where I've seen a couple of the strands break so I threw them away. Never had a problem with the solid wire. If you look at the solid wire TI you'll see that it's a thicker gage of wire. I believe that's because that's the diameter you need to keep that from happening. |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | I have had them break the same way and do not use them any more.
The plastic tubing was supposed to make them last longer at the wear point. If you troll with them for any length of time they will break the same way.
I have gone to all 50 pound mono home made leaders that have never failed me. |
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Posts: 376
Location: Lake Vermilion Tower, MN | I have been using a titianium leader for years without any of the problems talked about here.
I always keep an eye on them, just as you would for any other type of material.
Nothing last forever especially if you do a lot of fishing. I
always inspect them before I go fishing. |
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| I bought a terminator stiff jerkbait leader 4 seasons ago and I get out 3-4 times a week sometimes,,never failed me once and "Finally" replaced the snap two weeks ago |
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