Another reason having a shock leader is a good idea is when you go to land a fish. Try grabbing braid with wet hands and then flipping a short rock or bluefish in the boat. You will be lucky if the braid doesn’t cut your hands, and unless you have the grip of a steel bear trap, the braid will slip right through your fingers.
When I ran charters in Virginia Beach, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was at times covered up with two- to five-pound blues or 20- to 28-inch rockfish. Having a shock leader between the Rebel Windcheater and the running line made it much easier to swing the fish in the boat for a quick release or trip to the cooler.
Head boat fishing is another good place for a shock leader. Most head boat trips involve at least one mess of tangled lines that, no matter how good you are, will include your rig. It is so much easier to untangle mono than braid that having a shock leader will usually lead to your rig finding its way out first. Even if the mess is so bad you have to cut the line, you can quickly retie and be back fishing.
My personal choice to connect braid to mono is the Albright knot. I have been using this knot for many years and find it more than strong enough to hold under all conditions.
As a general rule I will be fishing with 30- to 50-pound braid on my bottom rigs. I use 50-pound Hi Seas mono fishing line as my shock leader. The Albright knot is tied by making a loop in the mono, passing the braid through the loop, wrapping it around the loop at least six times, then pulling it back through the loop. Wet both lines and pull tight.
My son Ric uses a slim beauty knot, and I have other friends that use a double Uni knot. Find all of these knots online with detailed instructions and video for tying them.
Once the shock leader is attached to the running line, wind enough of it on the reel to make four or five revolutions, and then cut the mono after it passes through the rod guides and hangs down to the reel. I usually tie on a snap swivel to the end of the shocker to make changing rigs and lures quicker.
by Eric Burnley
Friday, June 2, 2017 - 12:41
There are several reasons to use a shock leader when fishing in salt water. This is even more so when using the new braided lines. As good as the braids are, they simply don’t have the abrasion resistance of mono and can wear through when exposed to heavy structure. One of the big advantages of braid is that it is much thinner than mono of the same pound test. While this thinness is an advantage when casting, when fishing the bottom in deep water and when trolling, it is a bit of a disadvantage if the thin line comes in contact with the edge of a wreck or mussel growth on a rock or reef. In this situation having a thick, hard length of mono will keep the thin braid out of danger.
Another reason having a shock leader is a good idea is when you go to land a fish. Try grabbing braid with wet hands and then flipping a short rock or bluefish in the boat. You will be lucky if the braid doesn’t cut your hands, and unless you have the grip of a steel bear trap, the braid will slip right through your fingers.
When I ran charters in Virginia Beach, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was at times covered up with two- to five-pound blues or 20- to 28-inch rockfish. Having a shock leader between the Rebel Windcheater and the running line made it much easier to swing the fish in the boat for a quick release or trip to the cooler.
Head boat fishing is another good place for a shock leader. Most head boat trips involve at least one mess of tangled lines that, no matter how good you are, will include your rig. It is so much easier to untangle mono than braid that having a shock leader will usually lead to your rig finding its way out first. Even if the mess is so bad you have to cut the line, you can quickly retie and be back fishing.
My personal choice to connect braid to mono is the Albright knot. I have been using this knot for many years and find it more than strong enough to hold under all conditions.
As a general rule I will be fishing with 30- to 50-pound braid on my bottom rigs. I use 50-pound Hi Seas mono fishing line as my shock leader. The Albright knot is tied by making a loop in the mono, passing the braid through the loop, wrapping it around the loop at least six times, then pulling it back through the loop. Wet both lines and pull tight.
My son Ric uses a slim beauty knot, and I have other friends that use a double Uni knot. Find all of these knots online with detailed instructions and video for tying them.
Once the shock leader is attached to the running line, wind enough of it on the reel to make four or five revolutions, and then cut the mono after it passes through the rod guides and hangs down to the reel. I usually tie on a snap swivel to the end of the shocker to make changing rigs and lures quicker.
by Eric Burnley
Another reason having a shock leader is a good idea is when you go to land a fish. Try grabbing braid with wet hands and then flipping a short rock or bluefish in the boat. You will be lucky if the braid doesn’t cut your hands, and unless you have the grip of a steel bear trap, the braid will slip right through your fingers.
When I ran charters in Virginia Beach, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was at times covered up with two- to five-pound blues or 20- to 28-inch rockfish. Having a shock leader between the Rebel Windcheater and the running line made it much easier to swing the fish in the boat for a quick release or trip to the cooler.
Head boat fishing is another good place for a shock leader. Most head boat trips involve at least one mess of tangled lines that, no matter how good you are, will include your rig. It is so much easier to untangle mono than braid that having a shock leader will usually lead to your rig finding its way out first. Even if the mess is so bad you have to cut the line, you can quickly retie and be back fishing.
My personal choice to connect braid to mono is the Albright knot. I have been using this knot for many years and find it more than strong enough to hold under all conditions.
As a general rule I will be fishing with 30- to 50-pound braid on my bottom rigs. I use 50-pound Hi Seas mono fishing line as my shock leader. The Albright knot is tied by making a loop in the mono, passing the braid through the loop, wrapping it around the loop at least six times, then pulling it back through the loop. Wet both lines and pull tight.
My son Ric uses a slim beauty knot, and I have other friends that use a double Uni knot. Find all of these knots online with detailed instructions and video for tying them.
Once the shock leader is attached to the running line, wind enough of it on the reel to make four or five revolutions, and then cut the mono after it passes through the rod guides and hangs down to the reel. I usually tie on a snap swivel to the end of the shocker to make changing rigs and lures quicker.
by Eric Burnley