Can a Gill Plate Cut Your Leader ?

The whole leader thing is a good subject and is important to releasing fish alive. Nothing worse than watching a Googan throw a 52M mirrolure on 20 or 25 leader just to get the bite, and get it throat hooked in a 40 inch fish. It's all over for that fish.

I think anglers should use leaders heavy enough to NOT get frayed off. If I use big live baits like sand perch or large mullet, I'll commonly use 130-150 leader, especially if it's mono. Better fluorocarbon allows a diameter drop. Not the cheesy Seaguar or Yozuri pink or Ande - but the better stuff like Diamond presentation or Hi Seas.

With jigs, I think the leader should be substantial if you use mono and heavy braid. At least 80 in my opinion. A lot of guys use 100 and one of the best, Dale Link, uses wire. I feel like a weighted jig left in a fish's throat does a lot more damage than just a single hook.

With Spoolteks I've gone back to using mono in some cases over fluoro because the fluoro is too stiff for the fish to not detect, while the mono folds over easy when a snook thumps it. I missed 3 or 4 in a row in December up on a 40 foot bridge when using 80 fluoro. They ate the XH Spoolteks and instantly spit them before I could react. I switched to 80 mono and went 3 for 3.

Mono frays easier than fluoro because it isn't as dense as the fluorocarbon. So it's important to step up the leader size with the mono vs fluoro.

99.9999% mouth induced "fray offs". I've had only one snook in over 40 years gill cut a 100 mono leader, but I have had 2 or 3 in a night fray through 80 with their lips. I rately use less than 80 leader anymore if I have to pull really hard. I'll drop to 60 or even 50 in the daytime on Spoolteks if the fish are fussy. Depends on water clarity there. .

We've all had the gill taker puncture wounds and slices. Flats fishing is a different game, and it's evolving to the fish's favor in many cases. I designed a lure that conceals a leader to allow for lighter leader presentations in flats fishing. Other lures such as Rapala X raps are going to single hooks for the fish's sake. It's just the bass mentality of three sets of trebles, coupled with a light leader and a throat hooked fish, and you've got a dead fish.

I agree Joseph. A gill plate/ eye protector on a snook can cut your hand and it can cut your line. If it does cut your line it is a clean cut and has to be wedged in that spot. Like I said it happened to me one time on 100 leader On a WPB bridge when I was walking a fish to the sea wall on 100 leader. I noticed the leader was pinched in that spot, which is forward of the actual gill cover/plate, and the fish was coming through the water in an unusual fashion. Then it popped off when I got more aggressive with the leader and it was a clean cut.

I can remember cleaning a snook or two years ago and trying to show my son how hard it was to cut a line on those plates.

On the other hand, I ran across a Googan years ago using 60 mono leader with a live sand perch lmao. So this guy gets bit hard and swings and misses. I showed him his wuss pink Ande 60 leader and popped it off with my thumb with 2-3 lbs of force. The snook ate his perch so hard it chewed through the 60 on impact. I've had them flatten 80 mono like a sheet of paper on the thump impact.

Snook mouths have that 120 grit sandpaper texture and it wears mono or PVDF (fluoro)leaders out; its that simple.

Just the impact of them thumping a bait is underestimated. How many guys on here have heard the thump in 10-15 feet of water on the bottom from on top of a bridge? I got bit on a 9" Spooltek on a PB county draw span a couple of years ago on a calm night and we heard the "whump" clearly from the top of the bridge. Point is, that type of impact on your leader causes the damage.

Nothing wrong with 12# mono; all of us old timers grew up on it. What leader size though? I fished a lot of spillways with 10 and 12 lb mono and 50-60 leader when I was a kid. I got a 34 pounder on 12 with 50 leader and a Sea Bee lure. You can put a lot of heat on a fish with 12.

But the subject is leader material and caring enough about the fish's survival by using a heavy enough leader to not get frayed off by their mouth (not gills lmao) Again a gill cut leader is like a winning lotto ticket.

When I used to work for Stren Fishing line, we were involved in a snook tournament out of Naples........ Until I went to the captains meeting and discovered the tournament had a rule of 40 maximum leader allowed. Now what kind of baloney is that? I understood the 20 pound, manufacturers stated labeled line as a max..... because the guys could use 20 lb Fireline that really tests at 50 plus lol....... But the 40 Lb leader max?? Wtf? So when I asked the brilliant tournament guy about it they said it was for sporting reasons lmao. Sporting? So someone could throat hook a fish on a plug and get frayed off on 40 instead of using appropriate leader (60 plus), and removing the hook? Needless to say we never supported that tournament any longer. Who makes these stupid things up?

Jay, Thank you for the comments. But if you care about keeping the under slot or any snook in good shape, it's best to use a leader to prevent them from leaving with a hook or lure in their face.

Here's the thing about snook. The harder you pull on them, the harder they pull back.

Also if you release a snook caught on light tackle it is far more fatigued than if you got him in quickly on heavier tackle.

A snook fight on heavier tackle is more exciting to me, and is way different than light tackle. I've done all of it but I like heavier tackle. Fishing 8-20 lb line straight to the hook or lure is a disservice to the fishery. It's really FWC who should monitor things like that. Heck they made it unlawful to use a treble to live bait fish for snook. A single treble fished in 100 plus leader is 1000 times more fish friendly than a Googan fishing straight 10 with a 52M Mirrolure.

In the laboring, "over discussion" on a line or leader getting gill cut, it's a better chance of you getting struck by lightning than it ever happening to you. I've fished for snook over 45 years and it's happened once. But I've been frayed off over 1000 times by their lips. They can shake and rattle all they want and they still won't gill cut you. They will gouge the heck out of your hands though, with those little spikes.

Point is they rarely gill cut you. Has it happened? Yes....but once in thousands and thousands of hooked fish.

#GillPlate #Snook #DaveJustice #leader #Cut