No leash
This option deserves attention on pressed-in reservoirs when fishing with not too expensive baits: spinners and Chinese wobblers. The fact is that the fish here are intimidated, they take bait with great suspicion and very carefully. Moreover, the smaller the bait, the more accurately the pike grabs it. So sometimes, to get away from zero, you can take a risk and fish by tying a spinner to a fishing line, especially since the size of the fish will probably be larger than when fishing with a leash. I have been convinced of this many times. When fishing with a microjig, you can mount a bunch of two microfasteners with swivels - the chances of catching a trophy will increase significantly.
So with a leash or without a leash on an ultralight?
Let's start with the leash, which raises the most questions. On the one hand, fanatical fans of ultralight spinning rods do not accept the leash as a class: in their opinion, with it the harmony of ultralight tackle is grossly violated.
On the other hand, not everyone is ready to lose expensive bait for the sake of peace of mind. If the dear reader is interested in my personal opinion, I can say that I often use the leash in the ultralight. But not without looking back! When fishing is carried out in clear water, I put a leash only in cases where it is very possible to catch a pike, especially a small one that is always active. But often, alas, you have to do this after biting the bait...
Of course, using a leader negatively affects the number of fish caught. But its absence can affect the quality of the catch - the specimens will be significantly larger, and the species composition will seriously expand. Probably, someone will say that this is a matter of chance and the stars just coincided if the fisherman, removing the leash from the rig, immediately got a bite of the long-awaited trophy. I agree, but only when this case is an isolated one. But when this situation is repeated more than once or twice, and not only with you, it’s worth thinking about. This reminds me very much of almost mirror cases when replacing a thin braided cord with fluorocarbon the result does not take long to arrive.
Ultralight to the maximum
Thin leashes, not burdened with crimp tubes, are very good for fishing with surface or near-surface baits of a high price category, if there are a lot of pike in the reservoir or the object of the hunt is pike. The leash is very light and does not impair the performance of the baits. It is very simple to make: between the swivel and the clasp we tie the thinnest multi-strand steel cable possible. If we plan to fish with spinners, the swivel should be triple. The knot is an ordinary triple loop. By the way, such a knot can be used to tie not only flexible leader material, but also titanium strings of any thickness. The strength of the assembly is no different from conventional installation using a crimp tube.
Leashes for microjigging. Fluorocarbon
Date: March 3, 2015 | 787
A leash is an important element of spinning tackle. Microjig is no exception. In microjig, the issue of using leashes is also very acute. Perhaps the introduction of a leash specifically into elegant ultralight and microjig gear is the most acute and problematic. I want to talk about the functions that a leash performs in a microjig tackle and the features of using these leashes in this article.
Why a leash? You can take the bait and tie it directly to the spinning cord, or tie a fastener to the cord and hook the bait through it. Yes, you can! Moreover, quite often they do just that. What does direct connection to the cord do? Simplicity, exclusion of unnecessary elements that complicate and weaken the tackle. What are the disadvantages? The cord is visible in the water and can scare away fish. The cord is not very wear-resistant and can be damaged or cut off by snags or shell rock. And finally, there is still pike in our reservoirs - and its teeth are sharp, as always...
As you can see, there are reasons to think about introducing a leash into the microjigging tackle, and I have outlined them:
— Disguise of gear;
— Protection of gear from abrasive damage;
— Protection from pike teeth.
Let's start with the last one. The only thing that can protect the tackle from being cut by a pike is metal leashes. Yes, fluorocarbon can also be considered a conditional protection against teeth, but this only works with fluoro diameters of 0.4-0.5 mm and above. So this is clearly not a micro-jig story. What is the situation with installing a metal leash on microjig gear? Everything is bad. The cord is thin, the bait is small, elegant, with a light weight. And here comes a metal leash. So, if you are purposefully catching perch, pike perch or peaceful fish, but you don’t catch a pike or you rarely catch it, don’t turn to a metal leash. They just turn a blind eye to rare cuts. To reassure oneself, these losses of baits are equated to breaks on hooks. There are situations when the pike bites indecently often, or there is a methodical hunt for pike, when it prefers small and medium silicone to any other bait. And here you can’t do without a metal leash.
The leash, in any case, should be short and made of the thinnest material. Such leashes are made from steel, from the first string of a guitar, or from special elastic leash materials of small diameter.
The leash must be neat. You can use the smallest swivels, or you can do without them; You can attach the bait to the leash through a clasp, or you can make a twist on the leash and attach it through it, unraveling the connection.
You can make leashes from steel or string yourself, because... Finding normal, elegant leashes for ultralight is almost hopeless. We take suitable material, cut off a piece, about 15-20cm. Using pliers, we form a twist of 4-5 turns, and wrap the remaining end, turn by turn, around the leash - this way it will not unravel. If we want to make a fastening at the second end, we twist it by 6-8 turns, without securing it with turns.
The result is a leash about 10-15cm long. The diameter of the steel is usually 0.2-0.25mm, the first string is 0.23mm. Those. This is acceptable, fairly thin leashes. And such a leash is enough to prevent the pike from cutting off our bait.
But steel has a drawback - it is hard, which worsens the performance of the bait. In this case, you can use leashes connected with Rapala knots made of elastic leash materials that can be found on sale. We take the thinnest material we could find and make excellent elastic leashes.
So, we’ve sorted out the pike – now, what about camouflaging the gear and protecting it from shellfish? The general solution here is to use a leash made of 100% fluorocarbon in microjigging gear.
Fluorocarbon has a light refractive index close to that of water. Indeed, transparent fluorocarbon is very poorly visible against the background of a white sheet of paper, and in water it is not visible to the human eye at all. Most likely, for hiding gear from fish - this material is, today, the best. This means that the fluorocarbon leader camouflages our gear.
At the same time, 100% fluorocarbon has quite significant rigidity and surface hardness, which remarkably protects the tackle from shell rock, sharp stones and snags.
What diameter of fluorocarbon should I choose? If we catch medium-sized fish, peaceful ones, or perch using a microjig, then we take the thinnest diameters of 0.08-0.12mm.
If a large perch is caught, a solid peaceful fish is caught, a pike flies in - we increase the diameter to 0.14-0.18mm. If there is a really big one, or there is an evil shell rock on the edge that is being fished, then it is worth increasing the diameter of the flurry used to 0.2-0.23mm. Anything thicker is clearly beyond the concept of microjig.
What is a fluorocarbon leader? Some knit leashes from fluorocarbon, similar to the principle of metal leashes. But I believe that she and many fishermen will agree with me that this is not a very good practice. It is much more practical to take a piece of fluor, from 50-60cm to 1.5m long, and tie it directly to the cord. Knots such as “carrot” and “albright” are reliable and compact; they fly perfectly through the rings, without complicating fishing at all with a long leader spliced with a cord.
We directly tie the bait to the end of the fluorocarbon insert. If you need to change the rigs frequently and are too lazy to bandage them, you can attach a clasp to the leash. But, it’s better without additional elements - just knitting.
When asked whether it is possible to replace fluorocarbon with regular transparent fishing line - of course it is possible. Only the secrecy of the fishing line in the water is not at such a high level as that of flurry. Also, wear resistance is slightly worse. If possible, I still advise you to prefer fluorocarbon.
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Categories: Tackle · Tags: Microjig, Leashes, Tackle, Spinning, Fluorocarbon
Jig leash for fishing in snags
If the object of our hunt is pike perch, chub, asp, and not just pike and perch, such a leash is justified. It can be made from fluorocarbon for shock leaders with a diameter of 0.4 mm. The length can be up to half a meter. It must be tied to the main line with special knots: “Albright”, “carrot”, etc. I always use the “Albright” knot. Moreover, it can be used with both braided and monofilament fishing lines. When tying with braid, I make 14 turns and 2 locking knots; for monofilament fishing line, 7 turns and 1 locking knot are enough.
I tie the fittings with a rapala knot that I perfected.
I step back 10–15 cm and tie a simple knot without tightening it to the end, and then I thread the end through the swivel and, folding the line in half, rotate it with the fingers of both hands in one direction. It turns out to be a nice braid. Then everything is done according to the classics: I thread the end into the loop of the knot, wrap it around the main line 4 times and, threading the end into the same loop from the opposite side, finally tighten the knot. If you use the Rapala knot, tying its modernized version will be easy. When tightening, I pull the tail down so that during the fishing process it does not catch the grass.
Installation of a diverter leash on a perch under ultralight
A retractable leash is one of the types of sports equipment. As a rule, it is used for catching perch, but both pike perch and bersh readily bite on it. To fish with a retractable leash, you need to master different types of wiring. It can be both uniform and stepped. And now the actual installation of the outlet leash for catching perch. We will need a triple swivel, monofilament line for weight, weight and bait. The length of the fishing line for the load varies from 15 to 25 cm. If you have already mastered jig fishing, then it will be easy to determine the weight of the load for such equipment as a retractable leash: its weight should be a couple of grams more than the weight of the jig head .
For a retractable leash, you can use either monofilament line or fluorocarbon. The length of the outlet leash is at least 1 meter. The rule here is this: the more passive the perch, the longer the leash should be. Catching perch in early spring with ultralight requires just a long leash. In this case, the bait floats in the water column, and not at the very bottom as with a short leash, which provokes the perch to bite. To catch active perch, the leash can be made shorter, and the sensitivity of the tackle will be better.
A swivel must be attached to the main fishing line or cord. Sometimes they take two swivels, one of which slides freely along the main line above the swivel, to which leashes with a weight and bait are tied, but in this case, if the weight is seriously hooked, the entire tackle, including the bait, will break. To prevent this from happening, the installation of a diverter leash for catching perch is carried out using one regular or triple swivel.
If you take a regular swivel, then tie a fishing line with a load and a fishing line with a retractable leash to its lower loop. In the case of a triple swivel, everything is even simpler: a retractable leash is attached to the central loop, and a fishing line with a load is attached to the lower one. Installing a diverter leash on a perch under ultralight does not imply the use of a metal leash, since small silicone baits are used for fishing, which are unlikely to tempt pike.
String
The string leash has a very wide application, as it is light, cheap and reliable (photo 6). If we compare leashes made of steel string without fittings and titanium, where fittings are initially present, the first one, with equal strength, will be on average 25% lighter. The fluorocarbon leash, in turn, is heavier than the titanium one by the same 25% with the same length. However, due to the tendency of steel string to curl into a spiral when catching a fish or freeing it from a hook, I try to use the string as little as possible. For example, when catching pike with topwaters. If you still use the string as the main leader in your arsenal, I would pay attention to the fact that the string should in no case be shiny, since the pike will often attack the string, apparently trying to intercept prey from another small predator. And this leads to offensive cuts. You can make any string matte by immersing it in phosphoric acid for a couple of hours. At the same time, it will acquire anti-corrosion properties.
String leash for ultralight
And then homemade leashes made of steel mono strings (which are without winding) for musical instruments enter the arena. Why string? Yes, you can also use wire whose properties are similar. But finding such wire is a task, and string - here it is - is not in great short supply in specialized stores. No matter who gives what arguments, this is apparently the only material today that, with the right approach, can be turned into excellent leashes for ultralight baits.
Experienced fishermen have long adapted to making them at home. I myself have walked this whole path - and I can say with full responsibility that making a good ultralight leash is not an easy task. One of the advantages of making it yourself is the ability to make leashes of any size, even strictly tied to a specific size of ultralight bait.
The rule that the leash should be approximately the same length as the bait itself, although somewhat controversial, in principle reflects the general trend. However, with ultralight baits less than 30 mm in size, this postulate is unsuitable - it is advisable to increase the leash by one and a half times.
Here I would like to talk about the relationship between the size of the bait and the bites of pike of different sizes, which is directly related to the length of the leash. So, I think that the overwhelming majority of fans of ultralight fishing have noted in their practice such moments when a pike of about 3-4 kilograms, which had already seen enough in its lifetime, was not averse to trying a tiny bait. And, as a rule, she did this with the very edge of her mouth. It’s hard to say what motivates her at the moment; I think it’s not hunger, but most likely elementary curiosity. It is unlikely that the pike hopes to seriously fill its stomach with protein and certainly does not compensate with this small fry for the energy costs that went into pursuing, throwing and returning to the starting point of the ambush.
But if the ultralight bait passes in an area that is dangerous for any food item of the pike, it will not miss the opportunity to take an interest in the beautiful toy. How many times have I seen pike not react at all to a micro-bait passing literally thirty centimeters from the parking lot. But the shift of the wiring almost close to the ambush forced the pike to still take an interest in the annoying object - and bite the annoying little thing, so to speak, for testing. That is why, with skill and a cool head, it is possible to bring out these monsters using thin tackle and the smallest bait.
But how does everything change in the behavior of the pike when a bait appears, which in size corresponds to the size of the food object that is usual for it? That prey that will not only provide energy replenishment, but will also allow what is eaten to be converted into height and weight, and therefore such a moment must not be missed in any case - and the prey must be caught and eaten at all costs. That’s why there are such greedy bites on large baits, that’s why the bait is so deep in the pike’s mouth.
Now let’s imagine, instead of a seasoned pike, a small “lace” of about 200 - 300 grams. Our 3 cm wobbler is the long-awaited food item, after swallowing which the small predator will be completely satisfied! And as in the previous case, the prey should not be missed. And therefore, with all the “proletarian power” characteristic of him, he greedily attacks the object of his desire. And our miniwobbler is deep in the mouth (photo 4). And the absence of a leash in 99% of cases will lead to the loss of the bait and the death of the pike, because... she will no longer be able to get rid of the wobbler on her own, which means she will no longer be able to eat properly.
The second point is the “sight” of the little “crocodile”. It has not yet been adjusted, like its older brothers, and therefore it often misses, bumping into the fishing line. After all, the pike tries to strike with some anticipation at a moving target. It’s like with game hunters, when for a 100% hit you need to shoot several body lengths ahead of the flying bird. And the attacking little bee cuts any “vein” once or twice. It is especially dangerous if the bait does not go away from the ambush, but directly towards the pike.
Ask any angler, which pike is the most dangerous in terms of cutting line? I think most people will note pike in size up to a kilogram, and fans of ultralight fishing – generally up to half a kilogram.
So what's the conclusion? Well, pike are everywhere! Even if it is not there, it is still there! And speaking from the lips of the medical staff, the patient will live if modern treatment methods and medications are applied to him. This means that if there is even a small chance of getting sick, then timely vaccination can preserve health. It is clear that the bait plays the role of the patient, the leash takes on the role of vaccination, and the role of painful manifestations is assigned to the pike.
Quick fluorocarbon leader
This leash is of average reliability, but with a weak bite it can be very helpful. In addition, it prevents overlaps over the front tee of the wobbler. You can make it directly while fishing. Having folded half a meter of fluor with a diameter of 0.4 mm in half, we tie it to the swivel with a palomar knot. Then twist it into a pigtail, rotating the tails clockwise. We tie the other end with a “clinch” three turns to the fastener and melt the tails with a lighter (it is better to use the turbo mode). That's it - the leash is ready.
Basic fluorocarbon leader for twitching
Many fishermen use fluorocarbon fishing line as the main fishing line for twitching, which, in general, is correct. But, it seems to me, it would be a little illogical to tie an opaque leash to the end of the fluorocarbon, especially since you still have to put a swivel between the string and the fluorocarbon, since without it the string will simply cut through the fluorocarbon. As the main leash for catching pike with wobblers 130 mm long, I use homemade flur leashes with a diameter of 0.6 mm. They protect against shearing in 99% of cases, do not get caught behind the front tee, do not glare (like strings), and help guide the wobbler as deep as possible, which, as a rule, affects the size of the fish caught. The cost of the leash is low, however, it is not so easy to make.
We take a piece of fluor 25–30 cm long, melt the ends until balls form on them. Then, bending 1.5 cm and putting on the fastener, we make a bandage of 20–25 turns of braided braid with a diameter of 0.2 mm. Having tightened the bandage as tightly as possible, you need to tighten the flute itself so that the fastener does not dangle (this will limit the freedom of the leash and prevent overlaps over the tee of the wobbler). Now you should finally tighten the bandage and trim the ends. We repeat the same on the swivel side. Finally, we coat the bandage with a transparent protective varnish, or manicure varnish.
You can also use crimp tubes. Leaders made from fluorocarbon using crimp tubes are good because they have the maximum possible breaking load for a given fluorocarbon diameter. It is very beneficial to use such leashes for fishing in snags, since if for strings and cables 10 kg of breaking load is the limit, then with the help of thick flurry you can approach 20 kg.
Ultralight fasteners
At the moment, the problem of choice is no longer relevant, and the assortment in stores is more or less established. Ultralight uses many types of fasteners, but let’s not worry and focus on the main three. The first model (photo 10) is the most popular self-tightening fastener for ultralight. Under a powerful, destructive load, such a fastener, deformed, stretches, but does not unfasten - with very rare exceptions (apparently, the matter is both in the design itself and in the quality of the wire, more precisely, its springing properties). We will choose the smallest models. For example, Owner series 52818 or P-15, size 00 (photo 11). The wire here would also like to be spring-loaded, but, in any case, these are one of the smallest and more or less accessible fasteners.
The second model (photo 12) is the previously mentioned fly fastener. In addition to several sizes, I was able to try round and teardrop-shaped ones. If we are more or less familiar with the round shape: more than once (due to its unavailability in retail sales) we had to remove such fasteners from chains, which are widely used for pendants in winter lures, then my acquaintance with the teardrop-shaped one took place only three years ago. But first, about the round ones. Round ones (photo 13 a) are produced mainly by Mustad. The quality is very uneven. I have had several cases when such a fastener unbent on a fish. I would like to use wire that is more reliable, and that the batches would be of the same quality as predicted. The second model in the photo is in the form of a drop (photo 13 b). The manufacturer is a little-known North American company Kipper. This year we managed to get all 4 sizes (photo 14) - just in case. The quality is excellent.
Such fasteners and space on the equipment take up minimal space and look more than aesthetically pleasing. Especially the drop-shaped ones (photo 15). Another thing is that removing the bait from them is a real hassle; here it is better to use thin tweezers. Although, to be honest, I have gotten used to doing without auxiliary tools.
And the third option is a homemade clasp (photo 16). It is a greatly reduced length version of a string leash. And it is made from the same material. Occurs infrequently. Firstly, due to a certain complexity of manufacturing. And secondly, the base of such a fastener is slightly enlarged due to twisting. But this is a conscious price to pay for reliability.
I would like to note the homemade “self-tightening” of Andrei Akimov, who is well-known in narrow circles of fishermen. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of them left (photo 17). On the left, for comparison, is a clasp from Owner. We will have to insist on replenishing the supply.
Light titanium leashes
As you know, in the spring pike are very fond of wobblers that are small by pike standards, 70–90 mm long. And here, it seems to me, titanium leashes are quite appropriate. The fact is that flurry with a diameter of 0.6 mm is very heavy, and thinner ones do not hold pike teeth. At this time, the pike stands in shallow places, so it is important that the leash is light. A titanium leash with lightweight fittings is just what you need.
You can also use string, since in the absence of fittings on it it is even lighter than titanium, but its tendency to deform (for example, when you have to pull the bait through reeds) makes it less attractive than titanium. Good titanium leaders are expensive, but they are not difficult to make yourself (photo 10). In this case, I use titanium wire with a diameter of 0.35–0.37 mm. The outer diameter of the tube is 1.4 mm. The only advice: before you insert the titanium string into the tube, you need to make it oval, slightly squeezing it with pliers, then the ends before compression will lie exactly parallel, and not on top of each other.
Types of string leashes for ultralight
I have already said that I make leashes myself, two types are shown in photo 5. The main difference between them is in the design of the end loops. Such end loops are called the more than capacious word “twist”: it fully reflects the principle of creating a loop for attaching bait (photo 6, a and b).
Now - directly about the leashes for ultralight. The first leash (photo 5a) is a design with two “twists”. A very popular model. And now I’ll explain why. But first, pay attention to photo 5b. Do you see how one loop is “blind” and the second is “twisted”?
Looks much more aesthetically pleasing. But the problem lies precisely in the “deaf” loop. Making it is not as easy as it seems. If, after we have formed a loop, we bite off the excess tip with pliers, then there will still be a protruding fragment (photo 7), which not only can easily injure your fingers, it also clings to the “braid”, filamentous algae, etc. Here you need a certain skill and effort to fix this fragment flush with the main string. That’s why leashes with two “twists” have taken root so much – there’s an order of magnitude less hassle.
The third type of leash is two blind “twists”, on one of which a fastener is placed (photo 8). Widely used in fly fishing for attaching fairly large “nymphs”, streamers, etc., such fasteners are no less popular among anglers using ultralight spinning rods. But about the fasteners themselves a little later - in the appropriate section.
The option with two “blind” loops and a clasp is far from common. Again due to problems with the “blind” loop. And then - the twist is no less, if not more reliable, than, in fact, the fastener itself. Another question is how many turns to make for reliable fastening and what thickness of string to use for ultralight? For these introductory ones are inextricably linked.
Let’s discard the conversation about the notorious “first” and “second” strings right away; we will determine their diameter not in numbers, but as expected - in millimeters, because for different musical instruments the thickness of the strings is also different. Otherwise, it turns out that we take these very “first” and “second” strings with diameters of 0.3 and 0.4 mm, respectively, and this is insanely large for our ultralight baits and thin equipment. Plus serious unmasking. Pike, by and large, don’t care, but the rest of the fish don’t care at all. Because the thinner the leash, the better. However, we cannot reduce the cross section indefinitely.
To make ultralight leads, I use strings intended for acoustic guitar. The manufacturer is not important. For me personally, at first, the convenience was that the diameter on the packaging was indicated in both inches and millimeters (photo 9). I advise you not to use wire thinner than 0.008 inch (this is about 0.21 mm). Believe me, it is quite thin. I even conducted an experiment and showed it to some anglers asking them to determine the diameter without a measuring tool. Literally only a few were able to give an almost correct answer about the actual thickness. When the majority of colleagues settled on the value of 0.15 mm. And only after measuring it with a micrometer was I somewhat discouraged by the real cross-section.
For larger baits, for example, minnow-class wobblers measuring about 45 mm, you can use a string of 0.009 inch (0.24 mm) and occasionally - 0.010 inch (0.28 mm).
There is a little-known rule that the more obtuse angle we set for the “twist” during manufacturing, the fewer revolutions can be used. And vice versa. But still there should be at least five of them. But there is also a downside: unraveling the “dumb twist” to change the bait is much more difficult. If the angle is sharper, then there should be at least seven revolutions. Yes, it will be a couple of millimeters larger, but working with such a leash is much more comfortable. So the final choice, as always, is entirely yours.
Fluorocarbon or monofilament leaders
In addition to pike, our favorite baits are taken by zebra mussels, mussels, toothless shells and other shells, as well as simply sharp pebbles. They either immediately cut the braided cord or very quickly render it unusable. In fairness, it must be said that braid from #2 (0.28 mm) can withstand repeated attacks from shells and even a single attack from a pike. But for lines from #1.5 and below, the use of leaders (undergrowths) or, as they are commonly called among spinning players, shock leaders is very justified. However, their purpose is clearly different from those shock leaders that are used in carp fishing, i.e. in terms of breaking load they must correspond to the main fishing line, otherwise with each hook we will lose not only the bait, but also the leader. The table shows the optimal ratio of the diameter and breaking load of the cord to the diameter of mono (fluorocarbon). If all the knots are tied correctly, when the bait breaks, only the fastener tied with a “double clinch” knot always comes off. This table will also help you decide on the power of your rod to prevent breakage.
Typically, 100% fluorocarbon is used for leaders, preferably with increased anti-abrasion properties, but regular nylon, as well as fluorocarbon-coated nylon, can be used. The length can vary from 0.5 to 2.5 m, depending on the length of the rod and casting distance. The leader is tied to the main cord with an Albright or carrot knot. In turn, a thicker fluorocarbon leash can be tied to the leader using an Albright knot if we intend to catch pike. According to my observations, the Albright knot is even stronger than a fastening with a knotless fastener, which makes it possible to use a thinner cord for ultra-long casts.
A reliable gear arrangement will not only increase the comfort and efficiency of catching predators, but will also allow less injury to the fish. And this, I think, is always important and simply necessary if we release fish. Think about who our children will catch in our river.
