I'll be trolling 6 1/4 inch Rapala Husky Magnum and 9 inch Rapala Countdown Magnum.

I hope to catch pike over three feet long. What leader is good? I plan to build my own and thinking of 7 strand 40 lb test from American Fishing Wire. What are the pros and cons of using nylon coated wire vs bare wire?

I also made my own leaders from the wire you posted. Tie them with a ball bearing on one end and a clip on the other. It has worked great for me. I also have a few ball bearing Titanium leaders that I also use.

Thanks, any advice for nylon coated or uncoated wire?

I like the coated wire for leaders. Not sure why, maybe because it’s slides over rocks. You can’t even see the coating on the wire unless you melt it with a lighter.

I don't have any tips on the leaders, but wanted to thank you for posting the links to those magnum lures. Always looking for new deep divers without the need for added weight. The 7" X-Rap magnum will get to 40 feet on its own?!?! At $23 bucks a pop I'll have to start saving my nickels though.

That stuff I use is the AFW 7*7 coated as it is the most flexible and easy to tie using standard knots (no need for sleeves), although I catch more fish with the 20# than the 40# and the 20# ties easier.

thegildedgopher: "I don't have any tips on the leaders, but wanted to thank you for posting the links to those magnum lures. Always looking for new deep divers without the need for added weight. The 7" X-Rap magnum will get to 40 feet on its own?!?! At $23 bucks a pop I'll have to start saving my nickels though."

Another really good ultra deep diver is the #13 Deep Tail Dancer. It has a 40 ft diving depth and has been a great laker lure for us. Rapala does not distribute them in the US, but Ebay has sellers that carry them for around 20.00. You can find them listed on Rapala's International website but not on the US site.

I switched my leader material to knot2kinky titanium a few years ago and will not go back to braided. Amazon sells it.

You could just run a 25-40lb mono/fluoro leader. Unless the fish swallows the lure and thrashes around like crazy and essentially saws the line, it's gonna be pretty tough to break off. With mono/fluoro you may get fish that are line shy. Not guaranteed but I had a laker choke down a jig on 10lb fluoro last year and I didn't break off during the fight. Can't remember if I re-tied after, I probably did, but likely out of principle rather than having any real concerning nicks in the line.

Wables: "I switched my leader material to knot2kinky titanium a few years ago and will not go back to braided. Amazon sells it. "

+1

mgraber: "

thegildedgopher: "I don't have any tips on the leaders, but wanted to thank you for posting the links to those magnum lures. Always looking for new deep divers without the need for added weight. The 7" X-Rap magnum will get to 40 feet on its own?!?! At $23 bucks a pop I'll have to start saving my nickels though."

Another really good ultra deep diver is the #13 Deep Tail Dancer. It has a 40 ft diving depth and has been a great laker lure for us. Rapala does not distribute them in the US, but Ebay has sellers that carry them for around 20.00. You can find them listed on Rapala's International website but not on the US site."

Thanks! Was aware of the DTD 13's but didn't think I could get them that easily in the states.

This FishUSA is where I bought my Magnum Rapalas. I thought about the deep husky jerk and deep tail dancer, but was concerned they might not be strong enough, and I like the size of these magnums. This turned out to be a good online store, I bought over $60 of stuff so I got free shipping, and the lures look great.

The Husky Magnum Rapalas are marketed as high speed salt water trolling lures, I don't know how they will act at canoe speed. It seems that they are good for high speed because they won't go sideways and come up to the surface at those speeds. They also have a much greater girth than typical Rapalas and very strong hooks.

The first photo is a size comparison of a 14 cm Husky Jerk, 18 cm Floating, 16 cm Husky Magnum, 22 cm Magnum Countdown, and 12 inch ruler. Lure lengths don't include the diving lip. The second photo shows how translucent the Silver Husky Magnum is with a bright background it can look purple, otherwise it looks like a gray silver or blueish silver depending on how it's held. I removed the hooks because I plan to replace the trebles with singles to make unhooking fish easier and safer.

I use either titanium leaders (look on YouTube for a bunch of videos on how to do it if you aren't already familiar) or heavy-duty flouro ones (for big pike, I usually use 100 lb. test, just because it's what I've got on hand). You might get away with less, but I wouldn't go *too* light. Just my .02.

+1 on heavy flouro.

I landed my third last year. I use an albright or similar splice knot to tie my 20 lb super-slick to my 30 lb flouro carbon and then I tie right on the the lure. Last year I had a 3/8 oz booyah spinner bait. No significant damage to leader.
OR
I make a leader with a good swivel on one end and snap on the other. I caught two on this, one aggressive strike one a #5 mepps inline. It actually rammed the canoe on a short strike, then took the lure when I tripped bail and dropped it on the other side. Another hit an HJ10 on top water from camp.

The reason I prefer this is because I have never used wire that didn't get kinked fighting fish. I am sure such a quality product exists, but why pay for it? Flouro is much cheaper. If you get teeth damage next to snap, shorten leader, retie and get back to it.

moosedoggie: "

Wables: "I switched my leader material to knot2kinky titanium a few years ago and will not go back to braided. Amazon sells it. "

+1"

+1 on knot2kinky titanium (small diameter, tough, extremely kink resistant)

zski: "

moosedoggie: "

Wables: "I switched my leader material to knot2kinky titanium a few years ago and will not go back to braided. Amazon sells it. "

+1"

+1 on knot2kinky titanium (small diameter, tough, extremely kink resistant)

"

I used the Knot2kinky single strand for a long time before discovering the braided titanium leader material. The braided titanium(also sold by Knot2kinky as well as AWF) is actually pretty amazing stuff. It costs more, but is more flexible and definitely holds up better than the single strand titanium and is easier to tie and the nearly same diameter. If you moved on from the standard stainless braided, than I could see never going back, but the titanium braided is like fishing with ultra strong thread. If you haven't tried it you should.

jdoutdoors: "You could just run a 25-40lb mono/fluoro leader. Unless the fish swallows the lure and thrashes around like crazy and essentially saws the line, it's gonna be pretty tough to break off. With mono/fluoro you may get fish that are line shy. Not guaranteed but I had a laker choke down a jig on 10lb fluoro last year and I didn't break off during the fight. Can't remember if I re-tied after, I probably did, but likely out of principle rather than having any real concerning nicks in the line."

My preference also and I look for the hard surfaced mono. 12 -18 inches tied with a loop to the lure, I keep lure and leader together, with a ring or loop attachment to the main line. I'm not big into fishing but do enjoy catching large pike on med heavy bait-casting or heavy fly fishing gear and use the same leader setups for both.

butthead

I used the Knot2kinky single strand for a long time before discovering the braided titanium leader material. The braided titanium(also sold by Knot2kinky as well as AWF) is actually pretty amazing stuff. It costs more, but is more flexible and definitely holds up better than the single strand titanium and is easier to tie and the nearly same diameter. If you moved on from the standard stainless braided, than I could see never going back, but the titanium braided is like fishing with ultra strong thread. If you haven't tried it you should."

Thanks for pointing this out. I have used the single strand Knot2kinky wire before, but did not know about the 7 strand version. I may have to check that out.