INDIANANGLER

hi guys . i fish normally barra and Mj but the other day i lost an expensive lure to a cuda .so my fathers forced me into using a metal trace for targetting jacks and barra .and i also fish at daytime not night.....so for Mj nd Barra will the metal trace lower the strike ratio? help please?

Just use what ever leader you are using as of now, but use bigger or longer lures, so that you won't lose the fish due to break offs. I have caught barracudas up to 7 KGs, but never used wire leader. That is just my opinion. I do catch plenty of MJs on bigger lures, but can't comment on the Barras though....

Maruthu

As far as I have seen, wire leaders get fewer bites. Switch to a heavier mono or fluorocarbon leader. And as said by Maruthu, long lures would help when there are cudas around.

Switch to wire when you are 100% sure that the toothy gang is around.

Regards,
Humaid

thanks guys ..i was using a sufix 19kg leader mono.

Hi Rfds,

Below was an extraction from my posting in "Share your trusted knots" which can be useful,

"When the target fish being the toothy fellows... I will use the FIGURE 8 to join the shock leader to a multi strand wire. Do not mistaken with the other FIGURE 8 you can find on the net... I can't find (yet) the one I am using from the net, maybe there is but I cant find it there... It a trick we learned from a season angler who is a sort of a legend for 'killing' the mighty King Mac and giant cudas... (live bait) when the fish being too sensitive to the environment, we change to a max of 30lb shock leader and 40lb(max) multi strand steel wire... and we need a SMALL and strong knot ... I find it difficult to draw it (a hopeless art student) ... but we got to meet-up to demonstrate... hehehe ... over a cuppa tea... "

It all depends on your target fish but we donot know if the toothy fellow is around ... I would second in using a long lures but still we would not know how big the bugger is ...
A simple rule i use to practice (am in semi retirement, from fishing.. hehehe)

1 - not to use an 'over size' shock leader or main line as it may affect the lure action. The smaller 'diameter' the better for not a more 'natural 'presentation.
2 - no single strand wire, as it is too stiff and also affect the lure action. My normal fix is 6 inch of multi strand wire + max of 1 meter of shock leader + main line (braid) OR multistrand wire + florocarbon for better effect for lure casting.
3 - Use plastic lure can be economical and effective too.

Regards,
Shah

Hi,

From my experience fishing in goa/maharashtra i would say it is definitely not worth switching to a wire trace. Firstly barracuda aren't encountered very often and secondly ones that are encountered are rather small and so usually won't bite through a flouro leader. Thirdly wire will reduce your strike rate thanks to it possibly affecting the lures action and also being more visible to the fish. I realised this pretty quickly and have never used wire unless trolling in snaggy rocky areas.

It makes more sense to use a good quality flourocarbon as a leader. You may lose the occasional barracuda (and lure) but in theory you will have twice as many jack and barra hookups compared to if you fished wire...no brainer really.

Flouro is undoubtedly less visible than wire which is particularly important when fishing for ambush predators, such as jacks and barra specially during the day. Flouro is also very hard and durable so can withstand a lot of abrasion, much more than normal mono leader.

Some anglers worry that barra will cut flouro with their mouths. This may happen very occasionally with a big barra and prolonged fight (30 minutes plus) so is not something to worry about (50lb flouro). see my site for some more info.

All the best and tightlines, Scott

Rfdes... 19kg mono (40lb) leader? What’s your tackle setup and lure size like?
My apology guys... when talking about lure casting for bara or MJ, my mind sets for a tackle of 17lb I am used to .
Still, if you think some 'protection' required, you can try AFW Surflon micro wire leader, a few inch of it won’t affect your lure action with this wire, its flexible, small diameter and come with colour suits the water ... after all you guys must be using popping rods with 50 odd lb leader.

Hey Shah.

The Indian coast is quite varied in types of fishing so it pays to be prepared for any eventuality....

If there are snags around I will choose to use tackle on the fairly heavy side...40 or 50 lb braid and a leader of equal strength. This is purely to stand some chance of quickly gaining control over the fish before it cuts the line. Generally jacks and groupers will be the culprits for cutting the line while Barra will fight cleaner. When fishing from the rocks you never know what will bite next, so I stick with heavier tackle even when specifically targeting barra.

If i'm in less snaggy areas i will drop tackle strength accordingly. When fishing over sand I will drop mainline to as low as 8lb with a 15lb flouro leader. If big fish are expected (7kg plus) I will make sure my leader is 30lb minimum to ensure mouth rub doesn't cut it.

Rods vary from a 5lb test curve catfish rod for heavy work, to various middle weight spinning rods of varying lengths that cast from 20-80 grams and then some light and ultralight rods for the smaller fish in small estuaries.

Hope this helps, All the best, Scott

@Rusell

i use 20lb wire trace with black coating along with 20lb braid, its has not failed me yet, caught a few jacks and barra on it, no problem. with medium action 8 feet uglystick.
i had a cut off on live prawn, using 0.80mm mono leader as the fish had already dragged my line in the rocks, i suspect it to be a decent size trevally.
if you want to use fluoro leader, than i would recommend DAM leader of 37kg its only 0.70mm its very strong, and good quality leader, i have had a jack drag it below the jetty and there was no abrasion on the leader.