Most of the cat guides on Santee Cooper Lake in South Carolina use mono leaders when drifting or trolling for cats. I’ve picked up a couple of good videos that demonstrate their equipment and techniques and plan on applying those tactics to the St Croix this next cat season. I’ve had good success drifting and with my I-Pilot Terrova trolling motor I’ve got the right equipment to apply some of the South Carolina trolling techniques to Minnesota catfish.
It is the middle of winter so it is time to start prepping for next spring’s cat season. I’ve decided that I want to try out some fluorocarbon leaders for trolling for cats so this is a good time to get that project done and over with. I’ve never claimed to be an expert with knots but I cannot tie any type of good knot with that fluorocarbon leader material and I am only using 40# test fluorocarbon. I plan on tying up 40 lb and 60 lb fluorocarbon leaders so the knot situation had me stymied on how to proceed. I had no confidence in the few knots I tried and it took me forever to tie them.
I decided to look into making leaders using crimping materials and see how that would work using fluorocarbon. I did your normal google searches for connection sleeves and crimping tools to see if that would be cost effective and to find out how the actual line connections are done.
I found a good website that described the basic techniques and equipment – here is the link: http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/crimp_techniques.html Here is the link to the Bass Pro Shops catalog page that I purchased my leaders sleeves from: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_22758_151005009_151000000_151005000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT
I bought the Malin single leader sleeves in the 30-40 lb mono size and the 40-60 lb mono size and the Offshore Angler Mini Double Sleeves in the 60 lb test mono size. The single leader sleeves come 50 to the pack and the double sleeves come 100 to the pack.
You can find connection sleeves at most of the big outdoor stores by searching on-line. You may have to look in the Saltwater equipment departments as this technique is fairly common in saltwater fishing. I ordered some connection sleeves from Bass Pro Shops because their information generally matched up the sleeves to the size mono you want to use. Cabela’s also offers sleeves in their Saltwater catalog. I also bought one of the better, more expensive crimping tools (cost about $28) to insure that I would get good crimps at all my connections.
I’ve made up about a ½ dozen leaders so far and it has been easy and quick. I tested them for breaking strength and all the connections held up with no problem. I’m much more confident in those connections than I am with the knots I tried to make. One of the websites I was on recommended doing two crimps per connection to insure a strong connection. They also recommended melting the end of the mono or fluorocarbon at the last connection just enough so that it fits snug right against the leader sleeve. I’ll give these leaders a good test this next season.