From SIngapore

Hi guys, Im new to this great forum. Im a surf caster....as a matter of fact, Im just a newbie. Using a Penn 525 match with a 10ft L&F Big Game rod. Im having a problem with shock leader. Tried attaching a 30lb shock to my 15lb mono mainline, seems like it always snap when casting. Breakoff at the knot. Why is this so? Some say due to the difference in thickness of the 2 lines, some say the main line is too soft for the main. Can some one give advice? Can I attach a shockleader to a bimini or a spider hitch? Thanks

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the forum.

What length of shock leader are you using....sounds to me like your leader is to short. This would put far to much strain on the main line at the start of the cast.

It is better to attach the shock leader to a double main line....like with the Bimini or the Spider Hitch....the latter being the easiest and fastest to tie.

Tom.

Hi Mike,

You want to aim to have at least 6 turns of the shock leader round the spool before casting and allow 10lb b.s. per ounce you intend to cast. eg 3 oz casting use 30lb leader 5oz casting use 50lb etc etc. This way the leader will be strong enough to handle the shock load of the weight during casting making things alot safer and costing you alot less in lost gear.

Knot wise there are a few you can use to join the two lines efficiently, bimini and spiderhitch methods are better for fishing as they give a higher knot strength when tied correctly.

Marty

Don't bother with hitch knots for shore casting, they're too strong, if you pull for a break there's a danger the lead will dislodge and fly back and hit you in the head or worse, they're designed as big game knots for sea-fishing and take a while to master.
Use a Tournament leader knot http://www.worldseafishing.com/rigsknot ... ment.shtml

Or an even better one as the knot profile is not so large and doesn't pick up so much weed is an Albright knot.
http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/i ... dknots.com

Hope that helps.

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum.What part of Singapore you in?,was there a few weeks ago,fishing east coast,no luck there but picked up loads of fishing gear at Changi Village which was very cheap compared to what we pay over here!.Rapalajoe from this forum might be able to help you out with advice for Singapore and Malaysia if you need it.

I have been using the hitch knots for a while now and have never had a weight fly towards me and if this was happening I dont think any of many rods would be worth a ???? with the amount of stress put on them. I find that most of the other knots will slip alot more compared to the hitch knots.
As mentioned before give a good 8 turns of the line on the reel and snip at the desired leader drop. But I also find if you wet the knot it will not burn the line and hence making it alot stronger.
learn the hitch knots and you will find that you will loose alot less gear. good luck

I have been using the hitch knots for a while now and have never had a weight fly towards me and if this was happening I dont think any of many rods would be worth a ???? with the amount of stress put on them. I find that most of the other knots will slip alot more compared to the hitch knots.
As mentioned before give a good 8 turns of the line on the reel and snip at the desired leader drop. But I also find if you wet the knot it will not burn the line and hence making it alot stronger.
learn the hitch knots and you will find that you will loose alot less gear. good luck

I'll admit that I'm going on collective knowledge and not first hand experience, but when most of the discussions on leader knots say that the bimini is overkill for shore fishing I think I'll go with the accumulated knowledge of lots of people. Too much stretch and too strong when pulling for a break is the general opinion on the Bimini twist. Also I'd rather tie an Albright at 4 in the morning in the dark than a bimini twist needing the dexterity of an octopus.

as stated i did not mention the bimini but hitch knots in general. the spider hitch in my opinion is alot easy to tie than the albright in the dark. I suppose different stroke for different folks.
but why not practise these knot in the day time that enables you tie them with ease at night.

http://www.sea-fishing.org/fishing-spider-knot.html

good luck :D

HI folks,

why not use a tapered shock leader,. Is a 525 not too big for a 10 ft rod, I would have a thought a 7ht would have been more suitable.

Or have I got the wrong end of the stick completely.

cheers,
macker.

Hi mike,welcome to the forum,maybe you can provides us with a little bit more of info on your set up.For now most of us only can assume that the problem is in the knot.Maybe the problem is not the knots.What knot that u used to joint the line??How long is your shock leader??Is ur shock leader sufficient enuff so that u can put it a few turn on the spool before u cast??What type of cast did u use??I dont think u have the prob with the diff of diameter of line since the 15 and 30 is not too much.All the knot that being suggested can be used,its the matter of which one that u prefer most.

Knots to one side is a 10ft rod not to small? I would go with at least 12ft or 13ft unless your useing very light weights. I would only use a 10ft beach rod for spinnig or light near surf work.

Good day to all. Thanks for the generous reply. As for my set up, I match my Penn 525 to a 10ft L&F Big game load with 15lb mono. The shock leader is apprx 10 ft long. Joining the leader to the main, Im using Uni-knot. Sometimes even when I give the leader a sudden jerk or pull, it'll snap at the knot. The mainline is soft jap line. Don't have this problem after I change to berkley trilene. The other set up I have is a Abu 6000 Big game + 10 ft L&F. Abu I remove the levelwind n block. Only problem with the Big Game is it engage into gear auto when I give the rod a hard swing. Weight use is 4oz or size 4 as what we call them here.

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum.What part of Singapore you in?,was there a few weeks ago,fishing east coast,no luck there but picked up loads of fishing gear at Changi Village which was very cheap compared to what we pay over here!.Rapalajoe from this forum might be able to help you out with advice for Singapore and Malaysia if you need it.

Hi buddy, were u here for holiday? When you're down here again, do email me so I can show you some great places for casting. My email is: mikeshc@hotmail.com

Hi mike,welcome to the forum,maybe you can provides us with a little bit more of info on your set up.For now most of us only can assume that the problem is in the knot.Maybe the problem is not the knots.What knot that u used to joint the line??How long is your shock leader??Is ur shock leader sufficient enuff so that u can put it a few turn on the spool before u cast??What type of cast did u use??I dont think u have the prob with the diff of diameter of line since the 15 and 30 is not too much.All the knot that being suggested can be used,its the matter of which one that u prefer most.

Hi Joe, u r from Singapore? I only uses overhead casting. Have yet master pendulum coz Im very new to surfcast. In fact Im looking for a 12ft rod. Any recommendation? At least something I can get from singapore. Haha. Cheers

Hi mike,i am from malaysia but used to be a tackle junkie and spend a lots of time in beach roads.Find somebody near you that can show you the right way.I know theres a lots of surfcaster there in singapore.Try to look for them in fishing kaki .com.A few of them come to malaysia recently for a casting tournement.I dont think its hards to look for a decent rods in singapore compare to malaysia.most of the surfcaster in malaysia also source the rods from singapore.u still can get rods like zziplex and century in singapore,but it will be expensive.

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum.What part of Singapore you in?,was there a few weeks ago,fishing east coast,no luck there but picked up loads of fishing gear at Changi Village which was very cheap compared to what we pay over here!.Rapalajoe from this forum might be able to help you out with advice for Singapore and Malaysia if you need it.

Hi buddy, were u here for holiday? When you're down here again, do email me so I can show you some great places for casting. My email is: mikeshc@hotmail.com

No worries,will be there again in 2 years time,I'll give you a shout if you're still around or if I win the lottery I might be there sooner :lol: