I as wondering what are your favourite types of leader. I use to be when allowed, a leadcore user and that was that. But I am now thinking have I been looking at it wrong, I am thinking of going back to my sea angling roots and using clear 30lb mono as a leader.I have also thought about tubing but am unsure which one to use, any advice chaps.
I don't like leaders, I don't think they do the job the designed to do and are another risk for the carp. A pointless waste of money IMO.
Ask yourself why are you using a leader? The two common answers are to hide end tackle and to protect the carp.
Bare mono will not lift scales or damage carp, people claim that it does but IMO it's a complete myth designed to sell leaders. People happily surface fish or zig rig without tubing/leader and not worry about lifting scales why is it any different when fishing on the bottom? I think adding another knot above the hooklink will increase the risk for a carp as if that knot breaks it's left towing a 3ft leader. I've used bare mono for close on 10 years and it honestly hasn't ever cut into a carp and I can't remember it lifting a scale.
Leaders are often sold to help disguise end tackle so it blends in with the bottom. That makes no sense to me, why cover something thin and clear that blends in to almost everything with something thick and coloured? Drop in bare mono into a lake next to a leader and see which is harder to spot.
Tubing came about as people where using braid hooklinks and having something behind that braid that was thicker than the braid reduced tangles. When people moved over to stiff links and combi links the problem of tangles disappeared, so did the need for tubing. The carp market machine got behind it and an obsolete product got rebranded as a safety measure/camouflage.
IMO you simply can't beat fluorocarbon fished straight through, sinks well follows the bottom contours and is almost invisible, really the ultimate camouflage. If more range is needed then it's a sinking mono, just give it time to sink before clipping on a bobbin. Safer rig for the carp, stronger for the angler as there is one knot less, harder for the carp to spot and saves £'s on pointless products.
