# Tuna popper leader



## Luke435

I will be chuncking poppers for yft around the floaters and was wondering what kind of leader should I use: type, #,length, tie knots or crimp it


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## luna sea II

I'm sure somebody will say this isn't right but here's what I do. I tie 2-2.5ft of 60-80lb mono to a 90lb rosco black swivel and tie that to my braid.


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## marlin50lrs

I think flourocarbon is the best leader material. you can use a heavier pound test as it supposedly disappears. for length i would go as long as you can still comfortably cast


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## Swells

Clear Momoi mono of the best quality, maybe, and perhaps with a backing of braid in case the fish sounds deep and you don't want to be spooled. Or a 200 yard (600') topshot will work, at least in my mind. I do not like fluorocarbon leaders, but it will work in a pinch no problem. Tuna are line-shy and Momoi is rated well above it's test ratings.


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## oldtrackster

Many people, not the hobbiest, tie their main line direct if the main line is 60lb or 80lb mono or flouro. When I want a short leader I like Spro (smallest for size) swivels to tie main line to leader. Leave it as long as can be comfortably casted. If I want a long leader I purchase wind ons.


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## luna sea II

Ok I answered your question and I was correct about someone saying I wasn't right. someone who can count the tuna they have caught on thier setup on one hand if they have actually caught one.
like swells said momoi is good stuff. if your leader is out of the water like it is while retreiving a popper why fouro or a long leader?


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## Toledo

I go with about 12 ft of 80lb momoi hi-catch (not diamond- its stiff) tied to my 80lb braid with a PR knot. The terminal end is a 230lb SPRO swivel with a Uni knot. Go from the swivel to a split ring like you see foks doing for jigs and you dont have to retie to swap lures. The long leader is so your finger will be on mono when you cast and not braid.


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## luna sea II

Toledo said:


> I go with about 12 ft of 80lb momoi hi-catch (not diamond- its stiff) tied to my 80lb braid with a PR knot. The terminal end is a 230lb SPRO swivel with a Uni knot. Go from the swivel to a split ring like you see foks doing for jigs and you dont have to retie to swap lures. The long leader is so your finger will be on mono when you cast and not braid.


If you're fingers are that tender wrap tape around them. mine aren't.

just trying to keep it simple.


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## Bill Fisher

*nothing wrong w/that.......*



luna sea II said:


> I tie 2-2.5ft of 60-80lb mono to a 90lb rosco black swivel and tie that to my braid.


same here but i usually use a 150 black BB swivel and it's always 80# mono....... and that's only cuz i don't have any 60# clear mono on hand


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## Bill Fisher

careful w/SPRO swivels......... maybe i got a bad batch once but every one in a package of 90# SPRO swivels broke when i pulled my knots tight by hand using 50# mono

they didn't pull apart..... the rings were breaking......... 

basically, always test your gear


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## oldtrackster

Thank you for the heads up on the spros. Bill Fisher

Luna Sea II
Only reason I use a long leader sometimes is one notorious but cheep cattle boat company in Port A doesnt like braid, the long top shot keeps the peace with the deck hands. I dont recall saying you were wrong sir, my apologies if I offended you.


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## aggie82josh

I personally have been using a short (~4ft) fluro leader. Mainly because I dont like the slapping sound of knots going through the eyes of the rod. But a big advantage you get from using a long leader (8'-12') is you are less likely to break off if the fish starts tail whipping your line or if the fish gets wrapped up in the leader. It's all personal preference.


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## hog

Swells said:


> I do not like fluorocarbon leaders, .


Howdy Sami, 
just courious, why you dont like florocarbon leaders... I too was raised up on regular leaders mostly Andy 150-200 since thats what we had access to with out having to drive somewhere, but, in recent years I started using Floro for both off and inshore and like it except for one thing----- Sometimes when I tie a Albright or reverse albright type knot in 100 # or so floro, one brand I got that I cant remember was so slick that it would slip out (even a well spun reverse albright) unless I burned off the end to make a sorta stopper....

just courious about your dislike for floro.... Is that the same reason?

I agree with ya, Momoi is good stuff.

Hog


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## fathom lures

I always start with 10' of 80lb. floro with pr knot to braid. I tie the floro to spro swivel 230lb. then split ring to lure. even with split ring setup, check for chafe after every fish. you can retie several times with longer leader. the floro is necessary when you need to switch to sub surface lures. This being said my largest fish was caught on a 4' 65lb. floro leader after retieing quickly after cutoff.


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## pipelayer2

On my Popping set-up I use 65lb braid with a short section of double line (12" bimini twist for shock absorption) tied to a 230# Spro swivel and tipped with 2-3' of flourocarbon. I'll start at 100# and if they seem shy, I'll drop down to 60#.

Caught 5 yellowfin to 60# this weekend on the Big E on an incredible yellowfin bite that lasted 3 hours and 4 miles.

Haven't hit the triple digit mark with this set up, but the tackle held up well.


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## michaelp

For those with the long leaders, are yall able to cast the PR knot through the guides well with the poppers? Or is it mainly just used for jigging?


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## Bill Fisher

oldtrackster said:


> Thank you for the heads up on the spros. Bill Fisher


fwiw,.... i forgot to mention this was with the more expensive spro ball bearing swivels


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## Swells

> just curious about your dislike for floro.... Is that the same reason?


Yessir, it tends to be slick, stiff, and sometimes would blow up ... I mean fall apart at the knot. I haven't messed with using a swage tho', might work better.

I was casting some inshore poppers the other day and winged that popper about 80 feet befo' she came back to Earth, came unglued at the perfect moment - well I did use a wee bit of force, ya know, like a two-handed tuna cast.

Also, and I don't know why, if you feel the line after catching a fish, even fluoro will be abrasion, feels rough. And fluoro is supposedly the toughest stuff! Wahoo of course is worst because they're chewers. I guess that needs to be changed by cutting it back or re-rigging a leader ... which is why a long top-shot is nice because you can cut off 6 feet and have plenty more behind it for casting. That's why I think plenty of Momoi top-shot is such good stuff ... cut back and re-tie with your favorite terminal knot.

Trolling is completely different in my my mind ... a mainline, wind-on about 25 feet, and a pretty heavy lure leader attached to the lure, coiled and ready-to-rig.

sammmie


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## bluewateraggie

I have learned heck of a lot on this thread. Now if I can just get my knots perfected I should be able to catch more tuna. Andrew "en fuego" had a glow in the dark diamond jig tied directly to braid for my first tripple digit yft. Was on a spinning reel and a rod in the 20-50 class. I already snapped a lighter rod in half with a big aj jigging for bft. Ok now I'm twitching to catch another from talking about it. Thanks to all that have posted on here.


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## ksong

I don't use longer leader line for popping. If I touch mono instead of braid with my finger when casting, that is long enough.
But you need some extra as you might cut some damaged lines after fighting and you don't want to retie knots when tuna bites are hot.

Some suggest that clear mono leader lines is no good as it can reflect boat lights/oil rig lights easily, but I am not sure about it. 

I use fluorocarbon leader line for jigging exclusively and I use both fluoro and mono leader line for popping. I don't see any prolbem with fluoro.


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## BretABaker

like many things in fishing, theres rarely something that ALWAYS works, and rarely something that NEVER works. ive used most of the methods......long (12'+) leaders, short (2-3'), fluoro, mono, tying PRs, tying to swivel, casting leaders.....theyve all worked fine.

in my ideal world i do like a 10 foot casting leader which allows about 3-4 feet of line to the lure outside the rod tip and my finger is either the hollow braid or the mainline. i've had more problems with casting using long leaders as the bigger knot or heavier mono can wrap on the guides easier than the braid. this isnt to say this is the only way, its just my preference.


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## Bird

I like a 3-5' leader just to be different from Luna Sea (just kidding), almost always mono, to give me something easy and fast to re-tie. I have a lot of mono leader so I'm just not using fluoro, no issue with it, just haven't bought any in a while.

The deal with Spro ball bearing swivels has to do with the acid bath they put the swivels before they put the black coating on. Sometimes they don't get rinsed off completely and the acid eats away at the swivel. I too have had a number of them break before I read about it. If you use black swivels, check to see if there is any green looking corrosion. That is acid residue and that swivel is compromised, toss it. I've actually gone back to regular barrel swivels except for big trolling lures. I use a lot of silver ones on jigs.


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