Late May fishing for lake trout and pike. Targeting lakers, but in shallow-ish water some pike are also generally in the mix.

Do you use a leader on your spoons/crankbaits to keep the occasional pike from potentially breaking you off? If so, have you found one that doesn't seem to deter lakers? Thanks!

Sometimes I use a 10 foot section of 25 lb fluorocarbon leader line when fishing Lakers in the Spring. I've caught a few lakers that way fishing with a deep diver or spoon... as well as a floating rapala with a couple split shot on the line. Mostly trolling but some cast and retrieve.

I troll for lakers with a spoon that is 3" to 4" long with a snap swivel. A northern bite-off is very rare. In the cold water, they don't seem as aggressive on the spoon and the rare or occasional pike I do catch seems to be a lip hook. So no leader.

plander: "Sometimes I use a 10 foot section of 25 lb fluorocarbon leader line when fishing Lakers in the Spring. I've caught a few lakers that way fishing with a deep diver or spoon... as well as a floating rapala with a couple split shot on the line. Mostly trolling but some cast and retrieve."

+1.

I don't think anything will deter the LT but I use a 40lb fluorocarbon leader (3-4') to get my crankbaits back from the pike.

AmarilloJim: "I don't think anything will deter the LT but I use a 40lb fluorocarbon leader (3-4') to get my crankbaits back from the pike."

Yes, Lake Trout are aggressive eaters, but you don't want the weight of a leader affecting the action of a flutter spoon.

Switched over from steel leaders to Flouro leaders a few years ago and never looked back. I'd recommend investing in some Seaguar 25lbs abrasion-resistant flourocarbon...super expensive, but worth every penny. The line is nearly invisible in the water. I tie 4-6' leaders that last forever so a 25yds spool lasts a long time. I haven't been broken off by any species of fish since I made the switch. The extra strength in the 25lbs means less lost baits to snag breakoffs, too. For my jigging rod, I will size down to either 14 or 17lbs.