by dahlberg » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:38 am
Hi T
Are you really as absolutely positive about this as you appear to sound? I thought this through for a sec, and tried to visualize it and here's what I was pondering.
Have you considered the radius arm of the stiff leader and the number of degrees it can be angled and does in fact angle as the lure zig zags and considered that distance (where slack must occur until it is entirely straight and on the same axis as the lure) against any potential slack that might occur in a steel or even fluorocarbon leader that's connected to a line that's much more flexible than said leader?
Also the possibility that a small amount of slack might actually generate a steeper increase in applied pressure on impact and thus better break the grip of teeth on the surface of a lure.
An interesting experiment is to place a heavy (2 oz plus) glide bait even surface lure in the water with big, live, sharp hooks on it then, with your hand just underwater strike and grab it and fast and violently as you can.
Quite honestly, I have not tried it, and I'm not about to because I suspect I would be badly hooked. I guess I am not quite as sure as you are about the slack thing. I suspect there has to be some kind on inertial component to the equation but, like I said, I'm not entirely sure.
Depending upon what you are trying to achieve, changing the weight of the leader can either affect balance or sink rate.
The stiff steel is best for preventing tail hook ups, but has the most weight and because it falls quickly at rest reduces glide.
A knot to knot fluoro or lighter wire doesn't drop and create drag or cause as much "nose dip" at the end of the glide.
Just thought I'd toss in a few variables you may not have considered.
Thanks for the post!
best
L
Larry Dahlberg
The Hunt For Big Fish