Audio Masterclass: Advances In Leaders With Scotto James

Masterclass Overview

Scotto James is a thinking angler who is definitely not constrained by conventional wisdoms, nor is he afraid to form theories and test them. And that's great news for all anglers, because it's how we learn and move forwards, create exciting new techniques and start developing new products.

I've been interested in better understanding the properties, values and applications of different leader materials for a little while now, so when I saw Scotto posting on social media about some experiments he'd been doing in this area I was very curious.

The techniques Scotto has been developing and the products he's been testing are as unconventional as the man himself and during the course of the conversation I started seeing potential for the new leader materials for completely different applications to solve a completely different set of challenges. But that's another story!

I hope you get value from this conversation with Scotto and that it gets your brain ticking about ways you might try to push your own fishing envelope.

An overview of the conversation in this Masterclass

Quick Overview Of The Fishing Forecast For Tasmania In November

Unfortunately the Tasmanian East Coast bream fishery has been hit hard by floods over the past couple of years after some years of drought. The result has been catastrophic failure of bream spawning and recruitment for the past couple of years and a high probability of the 2021 spawning season also being a failure.
Juvenile bream require plankton to sustain growth and survival and the fresh flushes push the plankton from the system
The trout fishing in Scottos area (Lake Leake, Eastern Highlands) has been tough for the start of the season, but has been fishing better in the lowland areas.

Why Do People Gravitate To Fluorocarbon And Why Is Copolymer Useful?

The use of fluorocarbon seems to have become something of a belief system for many angler - they believe it's a "must-have" and don't give it another thought
Scotto spent some time testing the alleged invisibility of fluorocarbon and found that in his checking it didn't seem to be any less visible that mono.
Copolymer is stronger than mono or fluorocarbon leaders, which means anglers can use a smaller diameter line that is stronger than fluorocarbon.

What's Appealing About Braided Leaders?

A some point braided lines must become so fine that they are almost impossible for fish to see, plus the finer diameter means it casts less of a shadow than fluoro or mono.
Scotto theorised that using super thin PE 0.3 (9 one hundredths of a mm thick) as leader might give the advantage of strength but might be thin enough that fish were not put off by the leader.
Recent advances in braided lines include products that are clear and that Scotto suspects are leading us towards straight through braid with no leader.
Some of the new PE 0.2 lines have a breaking strain of around 15lb yet are so thin that they seem to throw very little shadow and don't spook bream like fluorocarbon of equivalent strength would.

How Does The Fishing Differ?

When fishing 3lb fluorocabon the angler must play bream and needs the abrasion resistance for protection from being cut off by oysters or other sharp structure.
Very fine braided leaders are less abrasion resistant than fluorocarbon, but their immense strength allows the angler to lock drag and muscle the fish from cover, never giving them the opportunity to turn and get back into cover.
Scotto notes that this approach might seem brutal but actually results in fish being released faster and in better condition than through a more protracted fight.
Once a bream has been brought to the surface it is rarely lost, so locking drag and getting them to the surface fast is a good strategy on braided leader.

Are There Other Applications Other Than Bream And Trout?

Scotto has been experimenting on bream and trout because these species are hyper-vigilant and leader shy.
Can heavier braided leaders be used up north (for example) to target species like barramundi, mangrove jack or coral trout? We don't know and it's beyond Scotto's experience, but there may be applications where it allows a lure to be worked deeper or with increased action. Abrasion resistance may be an issue, but again being able to muscle fish may overcome this.

What About The Connections?

Forget about the FG knot for braid to braid line/leader connections as the braid can't bed into braid. Geoff Wilson's twisted leader knot is about the best connection for joining braid to braid, Scotto uses 8 turns per pass.
For attaching terminals, Scotto prefers to use a decoy clip so that he doesn't need a loop knot. He ties the braided leader to the clip using a bastardised catspaw knot and up to 12 turns. Braid doesn't get friction burned, so this knot can be easily cinched down nice and snug.

Where Can We Get Braided Leaders?

Gosen, Varivas, YGK and Toray have suitable products and the Daiwa Emeraldas 8 strand isn't too bad either. You're looking for super thin braid for it's strength - Daiwa Emeraldas is a fairly visible line, but at the miniscule thickness makes it hard so see, minimises shadow, and reduces the vibration that might affect lure action or alert fish.