What is the best leader size for snook and redfish?
The answer is 25 pound leader. That is the best all around leader size for catching snook and redfish around docks, oyster bars, grass flats, mangroves and just about any other inshore fishing scenarios. Your leader will be light enough not to spook the fish and heavy enough for slot sized fish.
That is the best leader strength for normal sized snook and redfish. If you are searching for monster snook and redfish around structures then you might need to beef up your leader to 30 pound, 40 pound or even 50 pounds.
For most circumstances, you will be able to land the snook and redfish that you are likely to be targeting with 25 pound mono filament or fluorocarbon leaders.
I like to use just enough leader to land the fish species that I am targeting because you will get more bites with lighter leaders. I prefer to get the bites and lose one or two fish versus not getting any bites at all.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the tidal creeks, beaches and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years.
The article below will be the complete guide covering the best leader strengths for many inshore fishing applications. The first step is tying the right knot to connect your leaders to your main line.
Watch the video below to learn how to tie a leader to your main line.
The answer is 25 pound leader. That is the best all around leader size for catching snook and redfish around docks, oyster bars, grass flats, mangroves and just about any other inshore fishing scenarios. Your leader will be light enough not to spook the fish and heavy enough for slot sized fish.
That is the best leader strength for normal sized snook and redfish. If you are searching for monster snook and redfish around structures then you might need to beef up your leader to 30 pound, 40 pound or even 50 pounds.
For most circumstances, you will be able to land the snook and redfish that you are likely to be targeting with 25 pound mono filament or fluorocarbon leaders.
I like to use just enough leader to land the fish species that I am targeting because you will get more bites with lighter leaders. I prefer to get the bites and lose one or two fish versus not getting any bites at all.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the tidal creeks, beaches and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years.
The article below will be the complete guide covering the best leader strengths for many inshore fishing applications. The first step is tying the right knot to connect your leaders to your main line.
Watch the video below to learn how to tie a leader to your main line.
What leader size is best for snook?
The best leader size for snook is 25 pound test for 95% of the fishing scenarios that you will encounter. Snook will wear through a leader that is less than 25 pounds if you have to fight them for a long period of time or have to bully them out of some structure like a dock or mangrove roots.
When you are fishing off of the beach for snook you can often get away with a 20 pound leader when the water is clear and the snook are finicky. Yes, you might lose one but you will get a lot more bites in this scenario.
Surf fishing for snook usually means that there is not a lot of underwater structure for the snook to cut you off so you can fight them with less pressure. This will often save your leader from breaking.
When you are fishing for big snook around docks and bridges you will need to upgrade your fishing leaders to 40 or even 50 pounds. Those large female snook are experts at cutting lines with the structure that is nearby.
You will have to muscle those snook out by putting a lot of pressure on your line and leader. There is usually a deep water and a strong current factor that you will also have to think about when choosing your leader strength.
The deeper the water and the greater the current is puts more pressure on your line and leader than shallow water with very little current will. You have to take those factors into account as well when choosing your leader size.
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You also have to take into account that some snook lures and baits will create more drag when you fish with them. A lipped plug will obviously create more drag than a more stream lined lure will.
A live mullet will create more drag than a live shrimp will. These are more factors to incorporate into your choice of leader size.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail all of the best baits and lures for catching snook. You can read that article by clicking right here.
When you are catching snook on the grass flats you can often downsize your leader size too. There is just nowhere for the snook to run to and cut the line.
This means that you can fight them with less drag and therefore much less pressure on your main line and leader. I will often target snook on the flats with only a 20 pound leader size when the water is gin clear or the fish are not aggressively feeding.
Watch the video below to see some kayak snook fishing action on the grass flats.
What size leader is best for redfish?
The answer is 25 pound leader size. That is the best all around leader size for catching redfish in most inshore fishing scenarios that you will encounter. Redfish rarely leader shy so you can get away with a larger leader size even when the water is crystal clear.
A 25 pound leader size will be your best bet for nearly 95% of all the redfish fishing scenarios that you will encounter. That size will allow you to pull just about every slot sized redfish away from structure.
You may have to go to a 40 pound leader size if you are targeting over slot redfish around docks or bridge pilings. Sometimes you will be targeting redfish down deep around a wreck of some sort. That will require you to use 40 or even 50 pound test leader strengths.
Most of the time you will be targeting redfish around oyster bars, tidal creeks or on the grass flats. Those fish will find it hard to cut you off on some sort of structure so you can downsize to 20 pound leader size or even 15 pound if you are targeting speckled trout in the area too.
One of my favorite ways to fish for redfish is with a 3 inch paddle tail with a 1/8 ounce jig head in tidal creeks. I only use a 15 pound leader strength for this type of fishing because there are usually lots of speckled trout around too.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in extreme detail the best baits and lures for catching redfish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
There are some monster sized redfish that I target sometimes using dead bait around deep channels. This type of fishing requires a 40 to 50 pound leader size. You will often have to muscle these fish away from channel markers and other underwater structures so the extra leader strength is a good thing to have.
You will want to have a similar rig when you are targeting big redfish around the inlets. The inlets have a lot of water flow and are usually at least 30 feet deep.
That is extra stress on your line when you are fighting a large redfish so you will want the 40 to 50 pound leader size for this fishing scenario too. You also have to factor in the weights that you are using to pin your live or dead bait offering to the bottom.
The redfish will be close to the bottom so your bait needs to be where the fish are.
Think of it like this. Current + Depth + Sinker Weight = larger leader size.
Watch the video below to see a dead bait redfish tutorial plus live action.
What size leader is best for mangrove snapper and sheepshead?
The best size leader for mangrove snapper is 15 pound. Mangrove snapper are very leader shy and have excellent eyesight. This means that you have to go with as small of a leader size as you can when fishing for mangrove snapper around inshore structure like docks, bridges and mangrove roots.
Mangrove snappers are very leader shy so if you plan on catching them in clear water you will have to downsize your leader strengths to maximize your catch. This is true for just about every inshore fishing application that I can think of.
However, if you are targeting mangrove snappers offshore around reefs and wrecks, then you will need to increase your leader size to 20 or even 30 pounds for those deep water scenarios.
Those offshore fish can get pretty large, 10 or 15 pounds, so they will fight very hard to wrap you up in the deep water structures that they are near.
The mangrove snapper that I like to target on my kayak fishing charters or when I am just fishing for fun are usually a pound or two in size. That is why I can get away with a 15 pound size leader even though I am fishing around underwater structures.
I created another article on this website that covers in great detail how to catch a mangrove snapper in Florida. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Sheepshead and mangrove snapper are almost always around each other inshore. They like the same environments like dock and bridge pilings. They also like inlets and mangrove roots so that is why I put them both together.
Your set up, tackle and leader size will be the same for both species of fish. You will want to go with a 15 pound leader size for sheepshead or no leader at all if you are fishing with an 8 to 10 pound mono filament fishing line.
These two species are excellent bait stealers because they both have excellent eyesight. You want to downsize your leader as small as you can go without losing every fish that you hook.
What is the best size leader for pompano and whiting?
The best leader size for pompano is 15 pound. Pompano have very good eyesight and can be very leader shy so the smaller the leader size the better. Most of the pompano that are caught inshore and off of the beach will be between one and 3 pounds so 15 pound test is all that you will ever need for pompano fishing.
Pompano are in the jack family and are excellent fighters but they do not have sharp teeth or rough skin to wear through you fishing line or leaders. They also like very clear and clean water so a light leader or no leader at all is your best bet if you are fishing with mono filament line.
Most of the pompano that I target are off of the beach with banana jigs or inshore around sand bars and spoil island beaches. In those scenarios you can get away with tying the jigs straight to your mono filament fishing line that is 8 to 10 pound test. You don't really need a leader for that scenario.
I wrote another article on this website all about how to catch a pompano in Florida. It covers the best baits, lures, tackle and more. You can read that article by clicking right here.
When you are fishing off of the beach around rocks or a reef then you might want to use a 20 pound leader to help keep you from getting cut off all of the time but 15 works that best for me.
I included whiting with pompano because they are often caught together. They like the same environments and the same types of food. It is rare for me to catch pompano without catching a whiting or two as well.
You will want to use the exact same set up, baits, lures, tackle and techniques that you used for pompano for whiting when you target them.
The best leader size for whiting is 15 pound. They are less leader shy than a pompano but they do not grow as big as a pompano so you can keep the small leader size when you target whiting.
Watch the video below to see kayak fishing for pompano tips and tricks.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fishing Leaders
Can you use normal fishing line as leader?
Yes. You can use normal mono filament fishing line as leader material. Mono filament fishing line works very well as a leader material in most fishing scenarios. It is abrasion resistant and has very low memory qualities so it will cast very well too.
What is the best knot to join two lines together?
The best and most user friendly knot to tie a mono filament line to another mono filament line or a fluorocarbon line is the triple surgeon's knot. That knot is very strong, simple to tie and will work in just about every fishing scenario.
The best and most user friendly knot to tie a braided line to a mono filament or fluorocarbon line is the double uni knot. That knot is extremely strong and is easy to tie when you are out in the wind and waves fishing inshore or offshore.
Can you tie a lure directly to braided line without using a leader?
Yes. When you are fishing with reaction baits that are rapidly and are usually hit from behind do not require a leader to create a more natural presentation to the target species of fish. The fish don't usually get a look at the front of the lure much less the line that it is attached to so a leader is not necessary.
What size leader is best for 10 pound braid?
The best leader size for 10 pound braid is 20 pound for most inshore fishing scenarios. A 20 pound leader coupled with a 10 pound braid will catch everything from big bass to snook, tarpon, speckled trout and redfish inshore.
What is the best color leader to use?
The best color leader to use is clear. That is the color leader that works the best in every water color and clarity scenario in both freshwater and saltwater. Clear colored leaders regardless of whether it is fluorocarbon or mono filament leader material works the best in clear, stained and dirty water scenarios.
Conclusion:
Choosing the proper leader size is an important consideration when you are fishing for your favorite species of fish. This is true whether you are fishing offshore, inshore, freshwater or saltwater.
You have to consider many factors;
- Is my target species near structure that can cut my line?
- Does my target species have sharp teeth or rough skin?
- Does my target species have good eyesight?
- Am I fishing with lures or natural baits?
- Is the water dirty or clear?
- Am I fishing down deep and is there a lot of current?
Hopefully this article has helped you figure out the answers to most of these questions.
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