Using a fishing leader for carp – everything you need to know

There are a number of reasons who you might want to incorporate some sort of leader, consisting of a length of a different breaking strain or type of material to that being used as your main line, into your carp fishing set-up.

Depending on exactly what it is being used for, a leader could be anything from just a few feet right the way up to tens of yards of it attached to the end of your line.

The main reasons for using a leader include reducing the chances of crack-offs when casting, especially at long range; trying to prevent cut off from snags whilst playing a fish; and pinning down your line close to your rig to reduce the chances of it being spotted or picked up by a carp feeding on your baited area.

Shock leaders for casting

The whole purpose of a shock leader is to be able to withstand the force of casting your chosen size of weight, without the line snapping.

A shock leader consists of a fairly short, heavier section of line, which takes all of the force during the cast and is of a sufficient breaking strain to be able to withstand that.

This means that you are able to use a lower diameter and breaking strain main line than you would otherwise need to avoid crack-offs, and therefore will be able to cast a lot further than if you were using a heavier line all the way through to your lead.

Using a shock leader usually involves joining your main line to a couple of rod lengths of the heavier material, and for it to work, you need several turns of the leader material on the spool of your reel when your rig is in position ready to cast – anything less than that and you will still get crack-offs, and if you go longer than you need to, then that will cut down on distance as more of the heavier line has to travel through the air.

When it comes to materials for shock leaders, these can be either mono or braid – depending on personal preference and the rules of the venue (many ban braided leaders).

Arguably, braid is the better choice as it has no stretch, and therefore all of the force that you put into compressing the rod gets transferred to the lead, plus it makes it easier to fully compress the rod in the first place. Plus, braid tends to be very thin for its breaking strain and very light – meaning less drag on the lead during the cast - and this makes things such as 30lb Korda Arma-Kord a popular shock leader material, as well as being highly abrasion resistant.

This type of leader is the go-to shock leader choice for many people as well when it comes to their spod rod set-up and when using very fine diameter braided main lines which would easily snap on the cast if used without one.

Monofilament leaders, although arguably less efficient than braided ones, are still a very popular choice as they tend to be allowed on far more waters, and are also a bit more forgiving than braid, if something does go wrong during the cast, due to the stretch that they have.

What leader knot to use to attach it to your reel line

One area where many anglers struggle and aren’t confident is when it comes to joining a shock leader to their main line, and it is of course critical to get this right, as the last thing you want is a knot to fail whilst playing a carp.

There are countless different leader knots out there, and new variations coming along all the time, but all you need to do is find one that has a good knot strength, that you’re able to tie easily, and which you have confidence in. Which knot you choose will also depend on the leader material that you’re using, as whilst some knots are great for joining mono to mono, mono to braid, or braid to braid, many aren’t suitable for everything.

You can’t get much simpler than a back-to-back grinner knot, which works with most types of leader material, both mono and braid, is simple to tie, and whilst not leaving the smallest possible knot, it will still easily pass through your rod rings without any issues.

The size of the leader knot is of course important, as not only does it need to pass smoothly through the rod rings during the cast in order to maximise distance, but it also needs to be able to easily be wound back through the tip ring. Leader knots tend to collect weed, so if you are fishing on a weedy lake, the smaller and neater a leader knot you can tie, the less chance of it becoming clogged with weed and jamming in the rod tip ring during the fight.

There are of course other knots which are popular amongst carp anglers, including the carrot knot – it is also known as a Mahin knot - which is used to attach braid to mono and gives a nice tapered shape to the knot. You will also see some of our Team Korda and Mindset anglers using other knots as well – Danny Fairbrass himself is a fan of a four turn water knot.

You also have to bear in mind that a lot of crack-offs are caused by frap ups around the rod rings – where the line loops around the ring during the cast and snaps – and this is often as a result of joining two materials that are very different in both diameter and stiffness, and so will behave differently as they pass through the rings.

A good example of this is using 50lb Arma-Kord for spodding in combination with our 20lb Spod Braid or SLR Braid, which are incredibly thin. You might think that using this heavier version of Arma-Kord, rather than the 30lb that we recommend, will save you losing your expensive spombs, but it will actually cause more frap ups and crack-offs as there is such a contrast in diameter and suppleness between the two different braids.

Tapered leaders are a good option

A good option for a mono leader is the use of some sort of tapered leader, which features a long enough thick section that you will avoid crack offs, but which then tapers down to a diameter that will be almost identical to your main line.

This means that you end up with a very small and neat knot, plus don’t have to worry so much about the risk of frap ups or crack-offs.

The Korda range includes two different types of tapered leader, with the SUBline version being 40lb breaking strain at the end  which takes the brunt of the cast, before tapering down to 8lb, 10lb, or 12lb. This type of leader is often longer than you actually need – 12m in this case – and the thinner diameter section can be cut back to whatever your desired length is.

The more recently released LongChuck Tapered Leaders are slightly different, with 8m of 30lb leader material and only tapering over the last two metres (they’re 10m long overall), making them a great choice where you need a bit more abrasion resistance over a longer length of line coming back from your rig, such as when fishing over gravel bars. So these are really a crossover between a shock leader and a snag leader.

Snag leaders for preventing cut-offs and lost carp

A snag leader is different, with its whole purpose being to try and avoids your main line getting cut off during the fight – whether that be on sharp gravel bars, zebra mussels, or submerged woodwork such as tree stumps.

Its sole purpose is to provide a level of abrasion resistance that your main line doesn’t have – obviously it isn’t practical to fish with 50lb or heavier line all the way through, for instance, and hence using a suitable length that takes all of the damage during the fight and is the section which will come into contact with any snags.

This means that snag leaders are made from very tough materials, either heavy mono such as the Korda XT Snag Leader, which comes in 50lb or 60lb versions, or some sort of very abrasion resistant braided line like 50lb Arma-Kord - less of an issue with crack-offs when using it joined to the sort of breaking strain mono line you’d be using for this sort of fishing – or even the 85lb XT version.

For some fishing, especially on big public lakes in Europe which are often full of snags such as tree stumps, and where rigs are being taken out by boat, a combination of leaders might even be used – something like 50lb Arma-Kord with a few metres of either Dura-Kord or Kable XT leadcore being used by the rig, which not only are very abrasion resistant but also sink incredibly well and pin your line down near your rig.

You also have to consider the types of snags that you will encounter as that will affect the type of leader you use.

Any sort of wood work in the water tends to mean that a heavy mono or fluorocarbon leader is the best option, as braid tends to cut into wood and gets stuck, as compared to mono which slides around the outside of it and gives a better chance of landing the fish.

Although if the lake bed is littered with tree stumps, then you may actually want a buoyant leader which is less likely to get caught under a root or similar, such as the floating version of Arma-Kord used in conjunction with a floating braided line like Apex, and just the last few yards pinned down to the lake bed.

For lakes in the UK where you are casting to your spots and likely the biggest issues you face are sharp gravel bars or zebra mussels in the weed, then either Snag Leader XT or Arma-Kord will do the job well, depending on personal preference and the exact fishing situation, plus of course the venue rules.

Fluorocarbon is a popular leader choice in some situations

Fluorocarbon also makes a good leader material, and whilst it can be used in snaggy situations due to how tough it is, a lot of its uses as a carp fishing leader are based around how well it sinks, and the fact that it is almost invisible in water, so is a good option for a short leader behind your rig to make everything as unobtrusive as possible on the lake bed.

Fluorocarbon tends to be quite stiff and noisy through the rod rings, so isn’t really used much as a shockleader for casting, as other materials perform better for this purpose.

A few metres of a fluorocarbon line such as IQ2 is a popular choice when fishing braided main lines, and where you want something next to the body of the carp that is less likely to lift scales or split fins, like braid can do.

A short fluorocarbon leader is also favoured by some anglers when fishing chods, and especially where leadcore isn’t allowed, as it still provides enough weight to pin the rig down and also provide resistance when a carp pricks itself, plus helps to make your rig less obvious in the first place.

Leadcore leader material to pin your line to the lakebed

A leader can also be used to help pin everything to the lake bed near to your rig, and one of the most popular types for many years has been leadcore – although these days the core of some of them is no longer made from lead wire.

Typically, 1m to 3m of it is used behind your rig and attached to your main line – a spliced loop in the end of the leadcore is the simplest way to attach it – or in some cases, such as solid bag fishing or where fishery rules dictate, even shorter (the Korda range includes 50cm long ready-tied Kable leadcore leaders).

A leadcore leader is heavy enough to pin everything to the lakebed – especially as the woven braided outer also tends to take on water once submerged – and is supple enough that it follows the contours of the bottom.

There is a full range of ready-tied Kable leadcore leaders available from Korda, incorporating any type of lead set-up that you would want to use, including Hybrid lead clips and HeliSafe Systems, if you don’t fancy splicing your own. Plus versions that are suitable for use with chod rigs, which is a very popular use for leadcore leaders.

Fused leaders are very versatile and easy to use

The purpose of a fused leader is also to pin everything to the bottom next to your rig, as well as helping to eliminate tangles during casting, and it acts in pretty much the same way as leadcore does.

It really all comes down to personal preference, plus lake rules as often leadcore is banned but fused leaders are still allowed, and if you are suing this type of material, it will come in the form of a leader that has been fused together at both ends – simply attach your main line to the loop in the end of the leader.

The Korda Dark Matter range of leaders are made from a very abrasion resistant material, which comes in a variety of colour options so you can match it to the lake bed you’re fishing over, and is supple enough that it will follow the contours.

It is pinned to the bottom via strategically places tungsten collars which are impregnated into it.

Due to the fact that these leaders come ready constructed – due to the process needed to fuse it – you don’t have the versatility that leadcore offers in terms of leader length (these are a maximum of 1m), but in most situations you don’t need longer than that anyway, and the Dark Matter range offers all the different types of lead set up that you could need.

These leaders are also very good for solid PVA bag fishing, as are some of the ones in the Kable range as well, and you can tie your bags up in advance and simply attach a new leader when you wan to recast, and then tie up a new bag on the leader you've just removed.