I’ve been obsessed with saltwater leaders for a few years now. Casting to spooky reds showed me how important it is to not just get the fly where you want it in a stiff wind, but to have as little slack as possible when the line hits the water. Nothing does that job as well as Hard Mono. The problem is that the material holds memory like CRAZY. I’m specifically talking about the Rio and SA brands.
For the past few days, I’ve been experimenting with different methods of straightening these leaders. I tied a 9’ leader with Rio Hard 25lb and 16lb. I knew it had to be done under tension, so I hung the leader from a nail on the wall and attached a 10lb C-clamp to stretch it out. After 24 hours hanging in my shop, the leader still had a bad curl to it. That’s when I began to experiment with heat.
Rubbing through my hands like a normal mono leader did almost nothing. So I then tried a curling iron set to low and slowly ran it over the length. This deformed the plastic too much and it stretched. I then went to a heat gun passed slowly over it. This also deformed the plastic and ruined the leader. At last I went with a cheap hairdryer set to high, and passed it slowly down the length of the leader. Took about 60 seconds. This removed the memory almost completely and has given me a very stiff, fishable leader.
I’ll continue to experiment with heavier hard mono, and I’ll do the SA brand next to see if it works just as well.
Posted by Due-Forever5638
4 Comments
How does it do after putting it on a spool or something to get to the water or after being in your pack for a little while? Also what’s your leader formula? I get to go inshore/flats saltwater about once a year and I like the process of making up leaders for the trip!
You can also try hot water
Stretching it repeatedly instead of one prolonged stretch should generate heat through internal friction and wont pose a risk of melting or only heating the outer skin. Food for thought
Mono absorbs water, it straightens better when wet, I would suggest soaking in hot water before stretching. Have you proof tested your line befor and after hitting it with the hair dryer? I would be worried about it losing strength after that kind of heat.