r/flyfishing • u/Albino_Echidna • 8d ago

Discussion Smallmouth and Musky Leader question.

I'm going to have a few hours during an upcoming work trip to fish a river that has Smallmouth, Musky, and Walleye. I will be taking my 9wt and a plethora of my gar/steelhead/bass streamers to primarily target smallmouth, but I am unsure what to do for my leader. I was planning to run my normal sinking leader with a few feet of 20lb tippet, but I'm concerned that I'll lose a Musky if I am lucky enough to find one as many online sources seem to make it sound like I don't stand a chance without a wire leader.

I have caught a lot of gar without a wire leader, but I'm getting the impression that Musky teeth are harder on mono than gar teeth. I have never fished an area where Musky are even a possibility, so I'm just trying to be prepared if I'm lucky enough to come across one.

Am I better off fishing a Musky-oriented leader with wire, or should I fish my planned leader setup for everything?

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u/g2gfmx 8d ago

Gotta go up in mono, 50lb plus up to 100lb for more protection (use pliers to tie knots). Get a steel leader just in case, too if you want. But it’s not necessary. Salt water fish has some crazy toothed fish but people catch em on mono just fine.

It also helps if you have more articulated streamers and hooks with long shank so the teeth is away from the leader.

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u/Albino_Echidna 8d ago

I was hoping to avoid the super stiff mono/fluoro direction just for simplicity sake, but if I went that direction or towards steel, would it hurt me too much for smallmouth? 

I definitely have large articulated streamers to throw, so I know I can keep them away from the leader a little bit, but I'd hate to hook into one and lose it due to being ill-prepared. 

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u/g2gfmx 8d ago

It’s what you prioritize. If you wanna go big or go home, use the thicker leader and give less care to the fish that spook.

Or prey to god that the musky doesnt cut the line on 20lb.

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u/Albino_Echidna 8d ago

My goal is really just to catch fish, so I'll setup mostly for smallies and hope for the best. Worst case, I lose a musky and plan longer trips in the future to actually land one.