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FLY-FISHING
FOR PIKE by Paul Le Gall,
translated by Claude BELLOIR
THE LEADER
( 2 )
Making leaders. The materials.
This leader is extremely easy to
make: one material, and only one length without any other knot but a small loop at each
end. These must be made ensuring that after tightening them, they do extend in a
straight line. There are several possibilities: the two-turn and very reliable
loop known as the 'Florence knot', the classic loop-to-loop, or the Perfection
loop.
As for the usable material, a wire trace is the
only one that is impervious to a pike's pin sharp teeth. The same cannot be said
of thick nylon or braided monofilament, which also loses its strength with time,
or even kevlar and the new braids although the opposite may have been claimed
here and there. The latter's total lack of stiffness also makes them utterly
unsuitable for making fly-fishing leaders as there's a loss of casting power
between the line and the lure.
 If the wire trace is suitable,
all the available brands are not. Whether they are plastic coated or not, they
almost all have a diameter close to 0.3 to 0.45 mm, i.e. fine enough to act as a
weed-cutting wire if necessary. But that’s about their only common point. The
number of strands, the nylon coating or its
absence, the breaking strain and price make all the difference.
To make a
choice, the most
important consideration is the number of strands in these traces: from 49 for
the best to only 2 for the cheapest. The price varies according to their number,
but the most expensive solution here is in fact the most economical although the
cost remains modest (about £1.5 to the metre). The more strands it has, the
more limp the trace will be and the less it will tend to kink up. A too stiff
six-strand is not convenient to tie and requires a special knot. What's more, it
has to be discarded after the first snag, or a few catches only. Choosing a
nylon-coated trace isn't to be wished for because it can't be straightened out
when it gets wrinkled after the damage done by a 'waltzing' pike or after
twisting round a snag. Furthermore, it's almost always a cheap trace.
 The second consideration is the breaking strain of the trace. According
to brands and qualities, it's claimed to stand between 4 and 15 kg, irrespective
of the number of strands. By the way, it must be noted that the number of
strands is mentioned only for the best-quality brands. In my opinion, a relevant
choice combining limpness and strength shouldn't be made with fewer than 19
strands and 8kg b.s. As for me, I generally use 49 strands/12kg b.s. ,
exceptionally and for lack of anything better, 19 strands/8kg b.s. With a
diameter of 0.45 mm, these traces, more limp than a monofilament of the same
diameter, are memory-less and have about the same stiffness ( or limpness, if
you like!) as the 1 mm tip of the lines to which they're attached.
A
leader associating nylon monofilament and wire trace joined together thanks to
an Albright knot is only a stopgap solution in my view; as to obtain a b.s.
similar to that of a 49-strand trace, the monofilament should be chosen in such
a diameter (0.5 mm or even more) that it's a
bit too thick to act as an efficient weed-cutting wire. Also, it weakens as it
gets frayed, or simply with the time spent in the sun or stowed away, which
isn't the case of a wire trace. Furthermore, it is much stiffer than the tip of
the line and produces a break in transmitting casting power.
To
summarise, a metre of wire trace of 49 strands for a 12kg breaking strain and a
loop at either end (with a # 3 swivel link at the business end) represents a
reliable and multi-purpose leader for
pike, easy to make and to cast, if one uses the knot which I’ll explain
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