Tapered Shockleader

Tapered Shockleader i have been using is Daiwa tournament clear and recently not making the standard as it breaks about a foot above the knot when put under pressure, never used to happen before. Any other quality lines out there boys, much appreciated.

when using any tapered shock i normally cut a few feet off so it starts in the thicker stronger line, otherwise i use standard shock leader, using suffix at the minute, it does the job

[scannerman]

never had any confidence in daiwa shock leaders much less tapered types

the narrowness at the thin end too much an inbuilt weakness, they are'nt permitted in tournament casting anyhow

ultima powertex is a great leader

penn tuff stuff another

sakuma standard shock is also pretty ok and very subtle, although not as hard wearing as the above

ultima powertex also comes in a tapered range from 50-70lbs so if your dead set on tapered it would probably be a good choice

varivas also do a tapered shock which comes highly recommended although i recon you'd be hard pressed to find in a tackle shop, its available online however at veals

Last edited by scannerman on Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I've been using both the Daiwa tapered and the Ultima tapered and find them both grand
I normally cut of the first few feet as has been said.
I find the Ultima in yellow good to spot when night fishing

without doubh the varivas taipered leader is miles ahead of the rest & as posted above,i think veals are the only gang that have it....

tapered leaders are to short for low reel casting so far to dangerous , you have to tie a knot anyway so just use proper laeader material , ultima powerflex , penn tuff stuff etc . trilene gold is very good but very rare ,

Tapered Shockleader i have been using is Daiwa tournament clear and recently not making the standard as it breaks about a foot above the knot when put under pressure, never used to happen before. Any other quality lines out there boys, much appreciated.

I don't know anything about the tournament casting and all that. But if your using it for fishing like me, to keep the knots and line as weed free as possible then i find bullet tapered shock leader to be good and not too expensive. Also i've found the daiwa to be ok with first few feet trimmed off.

if im using tapered leader i get the varivas 18 to 70lbs, their 13metres so plenty long enough. lost the last leader last night to a snag, the 15lb mainline snapped so at least i know they knot pretty well. just need to get more now

Tapered Shockleader i have been using is Daiwa tournament clear and recently not making the standard as it breaks about a foot above the knot when put under pressure, never used to happen before. Any other quality lines out there boys, much appreciated.

What strenght mainline are you using? if it is stronger than lighter end of the tapered shockleader then the leader should break first (at the knot), make sure than you lube the line well when tieing on the leader.

What knot do you use to tie on the leader? I always use the blood knot when using tapered shock leader.

Cheers for all the replies guys, looks like ill be using up what i have of the daiwa tournament by by cutting off a few feet first before testing out the tapered vavarias or ultima powertex, then ill see how my knots hold up. Thanks again.

I know from a thread on another forum that tapered shockleaders are banned on any casting tounament and you must also have 8 turns on the reel with to drop set to max, for me if it aint safe on the field its not safe on the beach, a trick Dave Docwra taught me, t he picked up in the far east from people who make up rigs all day every day, was to use a drop of cooking oil to lubricate the knots, (they used pal oil but any ve oil will do) and really tighten them down with pliers on the tag end and then, as the knot is so tight and small you can blob the tails right up to the knot, the blob helps stop and slip and keeps you free of weed... stronger, safer, and shed loads cheaper than buying leaders and with practice, no worse than the knot you have to tie anyway with a tapered one. Expensive to crack off and loose a tapered leader plus line, plus all your terminal tackle...why risk it?

Cheers

Jon

I know from a thread on another forum that tapered shockleaders are banned on any casting tounament and you must also have 8 turns on the reel with to drop set to max, for me if it aint safe on the field its not safe on the beach, a trick Dave Docwra taught me, t he picked up in the far east from people who make up rigs all day every day, was to use a drop of cooking oil to lubricate the knots, (they used pal oil but any ve oil will do) and really tighten them down with pliers on the tag end and then, as the knot is so tight and small you can blob the tails right up to the knot, the blob helps stop and slip and keeps you free of weed... stronger, safer, and shed loads cheaper than buying leaders and with practice, no worse than the knot you have to tie anyway with a tapered one. Expensive to crack off and loose a tapered leader plus line, plus all your terminal tackle...why risk it?

Cheers

Jon

spot on advice

The blob knot gives a nice compact little knot, I use it with 70lb powerflex and its both safe and not a weed magnet. Ive had a few bad experiences with tapered shock and wont use it anymore.

Another thing on the safety front is I know Dave Docwra is big on is not using swivels for the load bearing links to the rig and lead, as he says you the only way you know how stong a swivel actually is would be to test is to destruction, so always use oval rings and a Uni link clip, great for quick changing traces, stops sand abraiding the knot to the lead on retrieve and is far safer.