Leader recommendation for walleye and pike

[kschlosser]

On a fishing trip to Canada a few years ago, we observed that the walleye wouldn't hit if we had a steel leader on.. When we'd remove them the walleye would hit right away, but the pike would keep biting off our lures. We also tried using non-wire leaders from various materials but still were getting bit off by the pike. Has anyone else encountered this? and more importantly, what would be a good option for a leader material that would satisfy both species?

[Hal Standish]

Most of the SP brain trust is down south fishing at the annual outing,however I'l take a stab at it.
I too found the toothy variety a tough situation. Though i do not have a walleyes i do have Pike and Musky's. 50lb mono has been very effective, though it does nick on contact and abuse from weeds. So I do change leader often. 30lb mono also has some merit and maybe more applicable to walleye fishing. If walleye are that touchy to leader maybe Fluorocarbon might be a better solution say 20lb or 30lb FC seems to hold well to Pike attack

Hal

[clayrussell]

A few days ago, I spoke with Denny Coulardot on this very subject. Denny, as you probably know, catches tons of muskies and northern pike. He buys 50 pound mono from Wal-Mart (I believe he said it was OmniFlex) and uses it as his leader.

[Hal Standish]

A few days ago, I spoke with Denny Coulardot on this very subject. Denny, as you probably know, catches tons of muskies and northern pike. He buys 50 pound mono from Wal-Mart (I believe he said it was OmniFlex) and uses it as his leader.

Yup thats the stuff!

Hal

[Lip ripper]

On John bales advice I use bucks 17 or 20 pd wire 18 to 24 inches long . gets much better depth control and stands up better to zebra mussels etc. Better than mono. Has worked great for me . A no.10 high quality barrel swivel a good snap and a few hay wire twists good to go!

[John Bales]

Everyone has good points here. The 50 lb cheap mono works great till you want to get deeper and it will hold you back so when wanting to get the depth, I use the wire. Years ago Dan Luley's brother in law made some wire for a friend that didn't meet his needs and upon looking at it, it works perfect for leader material so I have had this 5 pound spool forever . On the bass lakes, I use no leader on no bo but have to when using braid or wire. The 50 lb mono have saved me a lot of chatterbaits on my lake including a 37 1/2 incher we ate for supper last night. Something for you to add to your list of jump type lures is a chatterbait. It rips through weeds good and some companies make them up to 2 1/2 ounces. I have the 1/2 to 1 1/2 and they are a really good tool. Been getting a lot of good bass as well as pike. A quick double uni knot works for me. John