# stiff mono leader



## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

How do you soften leaders, when they are just to stiff, and coiling....i got some really heavy stuff from a friend, and it must have been kept in a coil for awhile......i know we have talk about this before, but i cant find the thread. Thanks for any info....


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## seajay (Dec 18, 2005)

I soak all of my new cast nets in Fabric Softner works great on mono also rinse with fresh water and good to go.Makes them super limber. Do the same with fresh spools that only get light use. :fishing: :beer: :beer:


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*I have heard*

soak it in warm water, but have never tried it.


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## barty b (Dec 31, 2004)

Hot water with fabric softener works, but the line will get stiff again after a few days and being fished with. The salt in the water does this.


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## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*Okay*

after searching and doing some mid nite projects Almost all "Heavy leaders" will stay coil, and this coiling of the mono in water will be visible to gamefish, and will hurt the action of a lure also......What you do is "boil" some water (You want it HOT) then dump the amount of mono leader you want to use, in the HOT Water.....(let it sit for alittle bit) 
Now you can do two things.....One is to cut a Board the length you want the leaders to be, cutting notch on the each end of the board....tie a knot on each end of the leader and place them in the board....pour "Cold" water over the board and let them set overnite.....now get a PVC pipe (small dia) also caps......get all the leaders from the board and some twist-ties, and wrap them on each end of the leaders and in the middle......store them in the PVC pipe (mark the pipe with the lb test of the line) Now seeing that some of us like "Long" Leaders or are going to use "Weed line" for leader (Sharks)
You will do the same thing thing, except no cold water......dump the "weed" line in boiling water (let it sit) go to your carport or Garage (even a Tree) stretch it "Tight" around anything that will hold the line in place....tie it off and let them sit till they get cool or overnite......This also can be done with a whole spool of line, again just dump the spool in boiling water.....(put it out without burning yourselve) and go wrap the whole spool around two trees or post......Don't forget you want these long. If you want, do it around some trees in your backyard......Now after you take this down and cut the lengths you want.....Store them in large loose coils, put them in Large zipper-sealed bags....and also get twisters and tie the leader at three points. I did this with .95 weed line.....and they have stay loose......Even dump them in "Saltwater" and they stay straight.....:fishing:


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## HellRhaY (Jul 6, 2007)

soak them in saltwater.

using boiling water changes the properties of the line. in engineering it is called "thermal deformation", your line loses strength and stretches it.


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## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

HellRhaY said:


> soak them in saltwater.


Soak in saltwater with bait on one end and the other attached to you line of choice... get a bite... Leader will get straight.


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## Sea Level (Nov 20, 2005)

I have a 1"x6"x4' board that has a notch on one end to receive the bitter end of the line off the spool of line / leader material. I then wind the line from the manufacturer's spool onto the board's 4 foot dimension; under hand tension sufficient to keep the line tight. After I have wound on say 30 wraps, I pull the mono I have in hand back into a notch in one end, cut it, secure the mono on the board with some heavy rubber bands. Store in garage. Every few months when I build new rigs I remove the 60# pink Ande loops from the board, cutting it every 4 feet where it has a kink from tension over the board edge. With my original 30 wraps, I get 60 four foot lengths of perfectly straight leader.

This leader stretching is the same principal as employed by Keys Tarpon guides when stretching their pre tied heavy shock tippets with their favorite fly at the end. They want the fly to strip in a straight line. We want to take the coil out of our rig bodies so they lay out better.


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## F I LetsGoFishin (Apr 24, 2007)

*Pre-Stress*

I have always pre-stressed my leader lines as I make them and again after they are tied. While some may say that this can weaken the line, I have never had one fail that way. it also will thighten up your knots and if there is a flaw you would rather have it give at this stage rather than when fishing.


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## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*Hellrhay*

Doing this isnt some thing that i thought up, I heard about from fishing guides and offshore fisherman. And it has work for these people for years. And some "Sharker" have been doing with "Weedline"....And the swivel and hook failed before the line did.......I was worry about the boiling part also......and in one of my "Projects" i tested the Mono and weedline.....and both lines held up pretty good......You arent cooking the line.....and one thing i forget to add. I boil the water, then i dump the water into a 5gallon bucket. I do it this way so the line doesnt touch the Hot pot........and it doesnt really take long, once you drop line in......the line will start uncoiling pretty fast, wait till it become a big coil in the bottom of the bucket....Then take it out.........I was also told that "Florida Sportman" also wrote a story on how to do it.....If it works Big-game trolling angers and fishing guides....I should think that it will work for us also.......And if you arent sure about it.....At least do one lenght of leader, then rig the leader up....And test it yourselves......Thats what i did, and it work out pretty good......remember this is for mono of at least 30lb test and up......and weedlines...........try it what can it hurt:fishing:


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## outerbanker1 (Nov 24, 2003)

STRAIGHTEN HEAVY MONO
To straighten heavy monofilament for tarpon leaders, cut a 25 inch piece of 1/4 inch PVC pipe and install a cap on both ends. Cut the mono to length and put as many pieces as you can in the tube. Over the sink, pour boiling hot water into the tube with a cap on one end. The mono will straighten immediately. Allow to cool and cap the other end. 
Ease your work load and use Rio 60 pound Fluorocarbon. This material is easily stretched on the boat and has a greater abrasion resistance.


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## chilehead2 (Jun 20, 2006)

*stretched*

even if you loose 50% of the leader's test, youre still tying to less test runnung line, aren't you?


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## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*Outerbank*

that way they told me to do it, when you are doing short leaders that are heavy test. But with "long" leader (like for a pulley rig) or a long weed line for sharks.....you run long length, then cut it, the length you want......another thing that i notice over the years, with all my short leaders (1ft to 3ft) Once you tie the swivel and hook on it and throw them in your baggie or whatever you use to store it.....The cheap mono/fluor line, will stay with a few coils or even have a few bents in the line.....But the better brand fluo (seaguar) will straighten up back up pretty fast.....What i do when i am going to put on a "short leader", I take the leader, and hook it to something and then pull on it with hard pressure, and take my hand and run it, up and down the line.....The little heat that you add with just your hand....will straighten the leader.....Seaguar works the best......


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## jettypark28 (Jun 23, 2006)

*If somebody*

can add pictures on how to do this, it will help the new guys out.....i try to add them, but couldnt get the picture loaded......


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## derekxec (Apr 26, 2006)

get triple fish leader....its not stiff at all "out of the box"


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