Better Leader Storage

A great day on the water begins with careful preparation at home.  Snags and break-offs are a part of fishing our rivers, but with a supply of leaders tied in advance, this inconvenience does not have to cost you much of your precious fishing time.  With a batch of pre-tied leaders, you can be back in the water in moments. 

There are dozens of ways to store pre-tied leaders.  When I was younger I cut piece of cardboard with notches on each side, wound leaders on and put the cardboard in a plastic bag.  It works, but it’s not great.  Over the years I’ve found three methods for keeping leaders quickly at hand that I believe are the best for bank fishing, drift boat fishing and jet boat fishing. 

On the Bank

When bank fishing, you have to have a compact system for storing leaders.  Everything you need for the day you have to carry in.  This is where the PIPS Leader Holders are great.  They’re small, compact and rigid, not allowing any wayward hooks to find a home in your vest.  If they have a drawback, it’s that they don’t do well with long, light leaders.  That isn’t much of a problem as the longest drift fishing or float-fishing leader you’ll need is only in the 30- to 36-inch range.  At that length, the PIPS holders do very well.

In the Drift Boat

Fishing on the North Umpqua, Brian Brush, the owner of North River Boats, pulled from the storage compartment of his drift boat the most simple, ingenious leader holders I have ever seen.  Simple pipe insulation available at any home improvement store for little more than spare change. 

To load them up, simply push the hook into the end, and with your index finger, run the leader into the center of the pipe insulation.  The leaders stay straight, protected, and easily accessible by just grabbing a hook and pulling the leader free. 

The pipe insulation can be cut to any desired length.  Not great for bank anglers because of their overall size and not ideal for jet boats because they’re so light (they may fly out at speed), these pipe insulation leader holders are perfect in the drift boat.

In the Jet Boat

When on the river things in a jet boat not nailed down move around.  North River leader holders keep your leaders where you want them.  Affixing with thumbscrews to the side trays of any jet boat, North River leader holders feature a drop-in roller that can hold dozens of pre-tied leaders.  Load numerous rollers at home by simply winding the leaders over themselves and affixing the hooks to secure.  Drop a roller into the holder and leaders are quickly retrieved by pulling the hooks.  The free spinning roller simply allows the leader to unwind as you pull.  Store your extra rollers out of the sun and you will always have a batch ready to go.    

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