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Drum bite leader

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I notice from searching old threads that a lot of guys are using bite leaders on their drum rigs that are very heavy (80-120 lb). Is there a practical reason for this, I typically use 50 lb for my striper rigs.

 

Related to that it seems the length of those bite leaders are very short, 1-3" whereas again my striper rigs are usually 6-10". Are there no issues with the sinker riding up that close to the bait? I would assume that the short bite leader improves casting

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The heavy leader helps prevent bite offs from sharks. I typically use 120lb for drum.

 

I mainly use 3-4" leaders, just can't get myself to use the 1". Some do use the short rig and hookup fine. Whether it lessens your hookup ratio is a bit of an unknown to me which is why i stick to 3-4".

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The reason for the short leaders is to improve casting distance. Drum can be all about distance so you want to squeeze every last ounce out of your casts. Some folks use cannonball rigs with the weight right up against the hook.

I use 100lb leader material for all my leaders for the abrasion resistance.

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Snell my hooks by hand w/100# all the time. Use crimps for the swivel connections. This year I'm trying crimps at the hook eye to get a bit more "rotation" at the hook up than a snell will allow. My crimps have always held just fine, but a neatly tied snell `tis a thing of beauty. :)

An 8 oz sinker and a bunker head will only fly so far...
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Heavy stuff snells just fine. Plug (RIP) used to crow about knots. But, like Bill, I like to crimp the swivel end. Prolly don't matter but I like to think it makes it a bit easier for that big circle to slide around & hook up right where ya want it to. And, like Bill, I tried crimping at the hook as well. But it just don't look right without that purdy snell...

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AtTheBar and I gather before our trips and tie our rigs. He's been blessed with more nimble fingers than I and can snell 80-100# no problem. Generally though we crimp our rigs. He will snell some but mostly even the hooks are crimped. We have never had a crimp fail yet. We always make sure to pull test everything and if it doesn't look like a good connection from your man cave, cut it and retie/crimp it because it won't hold when it matters.

(*member formerly known as 'rookie surf')

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I crimp most of my hooks , I;m not a knot tier , at times I use a ball swivel with any where from a 1 to 3 " hook leader , 60 # , I know most of you use a lot higher # I also use 60" shock leader about 6' to 10 ', which I no most of you use , 20 or so yards of leader to get the leader on the reel, lol then you feel safe that your going to land it ,:rules::worms::D

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hook -> snell -> 130-150lb mono 1-3" -> crimp to swivel ====> uni knot -> coast lock and swivel with sinker attached ->80-100lb "rub leader" 4-5' -> albright with short tags ====> 50-60lb shock 20-25' ====> shock leader knot ->slim beauty with double running line or albright ====> 17 or 20lb running line.

 

Big fish goes on hook!

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