# Shock Leader



## FISHING MEDIC (Oct 9, 2008)

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site. I am heading to Portsmouth Island in a few weeks, and have a question. I am new to surf fishing, and have been reading about shock leaders. I was on the island back in may, and used 20Lb test main line, carolina rigged to a 50 lb. leader, and had no problems, untill the blues showed up. My question is this, what is the purpose of the shock leader? i have moved up to 25 lb. test main line for this trip, with 50 lb. leader. Back in may, we did have a strong wind, and I was throwing 8 0z. at times just to stay in the water. Does the shock leader help with handeling, and throwing the weight? Seems the whole set up would be only as strong as the main line, when fighting a fish. If someone could explain the purpose i would greatly appreciate. Thanks, and tight lines!


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## justinfisch01 (Feb 19, 2006)

I will try and explain this to you. A shock leader is more for protection of your self and others around you. Most of my surf fishing apllications I use 17 lb main line and then a section of " shock leader is tied directly to that running line. This section of shock leader needs to be two lengths of your rod and then about five wraps around the spool of your reel. This is extra protection from breakoffs. The general rule is that you use 10lb of shock leader per ounce your are throwing, for instance if I am using a 5 oz wieght I will us 50 lb shock leader and 10 lbs an ounce. %0 lb shockleader is about about as high as I go even with throwing 8 oz


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## emjay (Aug 11, 2004)

I'll give it a shot:
For casting, the main purpose of a "shock" leader is to provide safety from breakoffs when casting your weight+bait. For this purpose, the shock leader must be long enough to wrap around your reel a few times when your casting (3-5 wraps around your reel + the length of your rod + the length of your drop). the rule of thumb is the shock leader should be 10# per ounce of weight+bait you are throwing. So for 2oz weight and chunk of bait, about 30#. There's some room for variation here, depending upon your casting technique and power.
For other purposes, any length of heavy leader can help in landing fish, or taking the extra abrasion the end of the line might be exposed to in rock environments, etc.
Also, depending on how people rig their pole, they might use a heavy bite leader, to help with "toothy" fish like blues.
I hope this helps. I'm sure others can give you more or better information.


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## FISHING MEDIC (Oct 9, 2008)

Thanks for the info. That was what i was thinking, but wanted to make sure.


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## gillmen (Sep 21, 2008)

is this only for conventional set ups? and if so is there other rules for shock leader for a spinning set up.


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## Entropy (Mar 9, 2008)

i dont see why a shock leader cant be usd on a spinning setup. same concepts should apply. couple wraps around the spool, the length of the rod, and the length of your drop.

i like the shock for landing fish. get a couple wraps around your reel and its tug of war time. and the shock is a nice thick leader to grab hold of. for this purpose braid is not recommended. but it does tie a super small knot.  pick your poison.


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Shockleaders*

I use flourocarbon for a shock leader. It will definitely make your hand smart if handled without a glove. It does tie smaller knots.

BTW: a shockleader will work on a spinner as well as conventional. 

I did use Pliobond to make tapered ends to my uni-to-uni tied shockleader knots. A friend told me about a product called Knot Sense which dries faster and penetrates the knot better. JMHO C2


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

I use a shockleader on a spinning setup all the time. Learning a good shock knot should be a number one priority. Once you learn how to use shockleader, your catch to breakoff ratio should increase exponentially. It is absolutely one of the pillars of surf fishing.


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## Bubba Feesh (Dec 29, 2007)

*Look at the fishing bible forum*

on the bottom of the main forum page.

There are 3 posts on this subject. Drum Fishing 101. Shock Knot tests. Albright and Spider Hitch. Also look for the knots mentioned on other sights such as animated knots etc. There is a tremendous amount of info in the fishing bible though. 

I'm using 20# Big Game and Suffix Tritanium. 25# is just going to shorten your cast distance and a little overboard once you start using shock leader. 

I'm also using 50# Big Game or Ande for shock leader. Spider Hitch to no name knot on leader. Simple and fast to tie. 

Also using shock leader on spinners as well as conventionals. Really helps holding on spinners and reducing the cut fingers on the casts. 

Flourocarbon shock leader is overboard and an expensive endevour. 

I like shock leader even bottom fishing...especially if the blues are biting...and yes it will reduce the bite offs.

Bubba Feesh

Stephen


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## Bubba Feesh (Dec 29, 2007)

*Portsmouth*

Take bottles of bug spray. Bathe in it several times a day. Just a warning. Nice fishing spot- just a lot of skeeters that are immune to a little bug spray.


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## Bubba Feesh (Dec 29, 2007)

*Oh!*

Stop by Lexington BBQ (Monks) and bring me a few pounds! Lived there 8 years selling food to all of restaurants. What an experience. Good folks.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

I don't use a shock until I move over 5oz...just mho and I don't kapoooow


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## hamlet (Sep 4, 2007)

You will learn these things with trial and error... 

here are two notes about shocks...

on conventional, feel for the albright knot (or whatever knot you use to join shock to running line) to hit the rod tip and then move the line to the far right side of the spool (if you are right handed). This will put the knot against the spool and away from your thumb.

on spinner, you might have trouble with the albright knot "grabbing" the line or the line catching in the tiny tag end of the knot. This will cause a cast to abort, fall short, or in the worst case, breakoff. To avoid this, you have to make sure the knot winds onto the spool at the absolute bottom of the spool... right against the spool base so all the shock coils are above the knot on the spool. There may be ways to do this other than what I do, but what I do is reel the line in and when the knot is near the spool I look to see how the line is laying.... if the knot clearly is not going to hit in the right place I tug a foot or so out against the drag and keep reeling... sooner or later you get it placed right.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

You can also search "shock leader" on the site or scroll to the bottom of this thread and look over suggested topics that are similar.


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