# Big Shark leader trace



## cat_king (Mar 30, 2013)

Have been searching the net looking for what Lb mono people are using for the trace part of the leader. Hoping someone here can give me some guidance in this area. And no I am not wanting to use weed eater line. I was thinking 600lb but wondering if that is too light. This set up is going to be for the big boys say 9 to 12 ft tigers and hammers. Thanks


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

I have caught a 9+ tiger on 700 lb mono upper trace, but would have felt a lot better with 1200# lol.....all my large leaders are now 1200 # and around 45 ft long for the big girls.


----------



## cat_king (Mar 30, 2013)

Thanks that was what I was thinking where did you get the line from


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

I bought it online, don't remember the supplier but its Lindgren-Pitman 1200# mono I tink I got a 15 lb spool.


----------



## TomCat (Jan 6, 2006)

Most of mine are a vinyl coated steel 7strand in the bite zone and 250# to 400# mono in the tail whip area. I've never caught a 9' shark from the beach so I've never been worried about that sort of thing.


----------



## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> I bought it online, don't remember the supplier but its Lindgren-Pitman 1200# mono I tink I got a 15 lb spool.


http://www.lindgren-pitman.com/p-37-lp-primeline-monofilament-5-pound-skein.aspx


----------



## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

Whoops..Hit the send button too quick.

You can get #700lb from LP at the link below:
http://www.lindgren-pitman.com/p-37-lp-primeline-monofilament-5-pound-skein.aspx

You can get #700 & #1200 from the link below but they are out of stock on 1200 right now.
http://catchsharks.com/

All my shark leaders are 30' #700 clear LP with an 8' 3/32 vinyl coated SS trace and 4' 3/32 vinyl coated SS drops with 14/0 J hooks or 20/0 Circles connected with 3/16' SS shackles.


----------



## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

Since I primarily just fish with my wife and kids (no crew) I don't fish for big sharks so I just use 400lb mono leaders and 14/0 circle hooks. Never had a problem with your run of the mill BT's and Bulls. My son did bring in a Hammerhead at 8'4" with that same setup though and it seems to have handled it well. The rod & reel combo he was using on the otherhand was so totally undersized it's not funny.


----------



## Agee008 (Feb 22, 2012)

Where are you catching tiger and hammers?


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Agee008 said:


> Where are you catching tiger and hammers?


My tiger and justletmeins hammer both came from pins.


----------



## cat_king (Mar 30, 2013)

Sounds good just got an Avet EXW80 to go big with it big baits hopefully big fish. Other than that will still be running the 6/0 wide and the 9/0


----------



## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

I used weed-eater line and caught a 7 and 10 foot hammers on the same leader. Why are you against weed-eater line?


----------



## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

I like to use 900-1200lb. Although 400lb mono will do the job, the bigger mono doesn't kink as easy.


----------



## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

Big Guns 1971 said:


> I used weed-eater line and caught a 7 and 10 foot hammers on the same leader. Why are you against weed-eater line?


You can catch a 30" trout on a snoopy rod & reel too, but you don't see people loading up on them heading down to Baffin to target big trout. Use gear that was designed for the job.


----------



## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

I use 8 ft 400# mono over 4 ft hvy cable with double drop 20/0 circles for large baits like pie plate rays or huge chunks of jack, usually I use about 4 ft 400# mono over 30 inches medium cable with single 16/0 circle or Owner 10/0 semi-circles heavy shank for using small ash tray size stingrays or 12 inch mullet. I have never caught a shark I needed the big rig before, in all my years I cant break the 8 ft barrier line, but I got spooled a couple times years ago. Ill keep trying. Sure caught a lot of 4 to 6 footers in my day though. Mostly bulls for some reason.


----------



## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

400# mono is plenty heavy for the main leader, just make it long enough , esp. if not casting.

big fish are going to rub or roll you off up to the mainline, so it really doesn't matter what you used.

bare cable is always better than coated for a solid crimp, use copper sleeves on SS cable , not aluminum, for the long haul


----------



## Greatwhite (Mar 28, 2011)

One of the bigger issues I'm seeing is guys going out and spending 1000 plus on a shiny new rod and two speed reel then spooling with high end line and THEN refusing to pay reasonable money for quality leader tackle/material/hooks 

Buy good leader materials and spend the time to build several quality leaders. Make the bite sections interchangeable.


----------



## Greatwhite (Mar 28, 2011)

WHAT said:


> I like to use 900-1200lb. Although 400lb mono will do the job, the bigger mono doesn't kink as easy.


Just remember to actually crimp your crimps once you put em on.......

Sorry, I had to tell nick and them about that one this weekend.


----------



## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

.105 copolymer weed eater line will out last any 600# mono on the market. Test it before you doubt it. Another added benefit is the lower cost. I have never heard or seen any fish lost to weed eater line failure and most don't use the better copolymer weed eater lines available today. I'm just trying to save you some money without sacrificing quality. Any copolymer line is the way to go.


----------



## cat_king (Mar 30, 2013)

Well should be all set now.Just need to order some more circle hooks. I got my 700lb mono the other day. Going to be using 3/16 stainless shackle's for connection from bite leader to trace. Cant wait to get to the sand in a few weeks.


----------



## cat_king (Mar 30, 2013)

Big Guns 1971 said:


> I used weed-eater line and caught a 7 and 10 foot hammers on the same leader. Why are you against weed-eater line?


Nothing really against it. Have been using it the last few years and it did great. But found a great deal on 700 lb lp mono and jumped on it.


----------



## DRILHER (Apr 4, 2010)

Use enough 800 cable as you think the shark can swallow +/- 5'. You can make the whole leader out of cable if you want but not needed. Run up to 25' of heavy mono like 600# for beach fishing(more than 30' total disqualifies record fish). I used to use 1200# out of the boat because I would cleat the leader off as soon as the shark got close enough. This was in the money shark tourney days. Now days it is politically incorrect to catch sharks so most tourneys have died out. 
Fishing from The gulf piers run at least 25'. It is 18' to the water and you want the leader at top of the pier with fish still in the water. Medium sharks like 8-10' you can use casting equipment with 12' leaders 400#.

If your are releasing all the fish then use 3' of cable a long mono leader, 20-24/0 circle hook. Then just cut it off at mono for the release. Leave him a little bling to show off to his buddies.


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Some y'all might wanna check your facts! I can buy 700# mono (600 yds) for 70 bucks....vs the same amount of WL, your not saving any money!

WL is not made perfectly round, but the crimps your going to use are!

WL is not tested as FISHING mono is!

WL has 10x more memory then heavy mono!....and that chit drives me nuts!

Bottom line...mono is made for fishing, WL is made for lawns!

I never understood the corner cutting when it comes to sharking gear. When it comes to my gear, it's all about eliminating all possibilities of failure.....if I ever lost a big fish due to failed mono, I could accept that....not so the other way around!....but with all that said, use what you have confidence in. I n the 10,000,000 posts I've seen on this comparison over the years, I have yet to hear someone come up with any facts, why WL is better then mono.....except the price theory, witch is false! Good luck on what ever you choose!


----------



## Blueshoes (Jan 24, 2013)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Some y'all might wanna check your facts! I can buy 700# mono (600 yds) for 70 bucks....vs the same amount of WL, your not saving any money!
> 
> WL is not made perfectly round, but the crimps your going to use are!
> 
> ...


easy on the exclamation points there buddy. We have used both, honestly I have no problem using the WL. Have yet to have it fail. On the other hand, yes the mono was designed for fishing, round, yada yada. When we are prepared yes the mono is probably the better decision but dont bust the WL just because you dont prefer it. Its all a matter of personal preference. If i need some rub line ASAP, I cant exactly run to my nearest academy and pick up my 1200 # mono, however I CAN run to wally world or home depot and grab some WL that will do just fine for all the 6' BT, sandbars, bulls... the typical species we have here on the upper coast.


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Maybe you should worry less about my punctuation and more about the name of the thread junior! The thread is called Big shark leader trace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was never any mention of 6 ft sharks or the upper coast by the poster. That's nothing more then the mindset of an unprepared, 5 ft catching, academy shark fishermen! Maybe you should stick to the pup shark threads BS!


----------



## jagarcia10 (Mar 10, 2011)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Some y'all might wanna check your facts! I can buy 700# mono (600 yds) for 70 bucks....vs the same amount of WL, your not saving any money!
> 
> WL is not made perfectly round, but the crimps your going to use are!
> 
> ...


:cheers:


----------



## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

JOHNNYREB said:


> Some y'all might wanna check your facts! I can buy 700# mono (600 yds) for 70 bucks....vs the same amount of WL, your not saving any money!
> 
> WL is not made perfectly round, but the crimps your going to use are!
> 
> ...


They don't care about roundness because they smash the crimps with a hammer like the handbook tells them to do. LOL keep on drinking that koolaide fellas. :dance:


----------



## Blueshoes (Jan 24, 2013)

bahaha think so huh? When im catching 10 ft tigers here in g-town on a weekly basis maybe ill rethink my leaders. I just do what works.


----------



## surfguy (May 17, 2011)

CoastalOutfitters said:


> bare cable is always better than coated for a solid crimp, use copper sleeves on SS cable , not aluminum, for the long haul


Sharks have an extra sense to detect metal, so I use only vinyl coated cable. Strip about 4-5" of vinyl off the ends and crimp the bare cable. That minimizes the amount of bare metal cable exposed. You can also coat the exposed cable with heat shrink tubing. Experienced shark fishermen coat their hooks with electrical tape. I've been using yellow plasti-dip I picked up at the hardware store with good success.


----------



## JOHNNYREB (Apr 20, 2006)

Blueshoes said:


> bahaha think so huh? When im catching 10 ft tigers here in g-town on a weekly basis maybe ill rethink my leaders. I just do what works.


Lol....ok, one more time....the name of this thread is BIG shark leader traces!!!....no one mentioned rethinking your SMALL shark leaders, or your geographical location. PINS is no different, our avg size sharks are 5-7 ft, but if we all had your mindset, no one would catch that 12 ftr! I'm not trying to be a dick, but sometimes when a pup messes on the floor... Ya gotta rub his nose in it! Small thinking = small results!


----------



## Greatwhite (Mar 28, 2011)

this thread has made my day.


----------



## Blueshoes (Jan 24, 2013)

haha well yeah im just being a realist. When i make a trip so south florida or wherever, im not going to use the WL. Its just almost a waste to use the really good stuff up here is what im saying. But yes, if I forsaw something over 8 foot in the trip, I would use the real deal.


----------

