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Another blue fish leader question

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Will K

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What I use is 60# fluoro or hard mono. I use a loop to loop connection to attach a section to my leader. I usually cut it about 12" long. I tie up a bunch of them ahead of time, that way I can switch them out easily when they start to get chewed up. To keep the action of the fly and make tying them on easier, I use a no slip loop to attach the the fly to the 60#. I have taken bluefish up to 20# on this setup and I don't lose too many. I usually have to cut the leader back and retie the fly after every couple of fish (hence the 12" length).

 

I also carry Eagle Claw wire leaders with the snap swivel with me. I use this if I seem to be getting bitten off or if I am pretty sure there are no bass around. No problem with casting them, and if they foul up the action of the fly, I have no idea since the bluefish don't seem to care.

 

Some folks say that it is BS that wire will scare bass, while this is anecdotal evidence, one time I was out fishing with a buddy, I was using wire, he wasn't. He caught bass, I caught none.

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View Post..........And circles work wonders on bluefish. Blues usually turn away after the strike, and at that turn away, the circle slides into the corner of the mouth for a virtual automatic hook-up - free of teeth. Mustand's C71S/SS is what I usually use. Works fine.

 

SnookFly (and any others with circle hook experience).....do you ever try to set circle hooks or do you always wait for the fish to turn-set them?

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In my experience, at the strike, bluefish seem to make their turn away from the direction of the retrieve so quickly that the line naturally comes tight with the very next strip of the fly. Because the fish is turning away the hook slides into the jaw corner and the hook-up is virtually automatic. It's hard to resist going through the motrion of making a strip to set the hook, but the hook is actually set at the moment the line comes tight - with or without a strip strike. This technique has worked for me in Barnegat Bay with floating lines and in deeper inshore water with sinktips.

 

As an aside, striped bass are tougher. If the fish are aggressive they often turn away at the strike and the cirlce hooks work just great. other times they seem to strike, but continue moving in the same direction as the retrieve. Without the turn away, the cirlce hook won't grab anything. This can be very frustrating. I find summer stripoers harder to hook than fall stripoers, perhaps becasue of water temperature - cooler temps the fish are more aggressive? maybe it's bait size - not sure what causes it.

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