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Patudo · 12-03-2004, 06:47 AM

First of all let me say how much I enjoyed this one.

windons vs traditional leaders: I've used both, and find each has its own advantages. Some situations one may be preferred over the other. I have to say that windons are very useful for a number of reasons. There are plenty of ways to lose a fish on 30 ft. traditional leader. by no means when you have leader in hand are you guaranteed to put fish in boat. Especially on smaller fish, its often a lot less drama to have the angler simply wind the fish to the boat rather than take wraps. unless you're very smooth and sometimes even if you are, the different pressure can spook the fish and make them do squirrelly things. If its a tough one and you gotta take wraps to move him then you gotta, but imagine wiring and gaffing a 35 lbs. mahi single handed on a 30 ft. long leader from a drifting boat at night, it's not a lot of fun. Always you got to be aware of where you are dumping leader, where is the loose leader and what will happen on a big fish if you need to dump wraps.

as for the windon itself yes there are more connections and yes there are plenty of horror stories out there but lots of people bust line, knots rods, etc. I believe its a matter of finding a good system that you trust , just like your line, knots whatever, and proving it yourself before you put gear in water. When I made windons I would loop the dacron loop end to a cleat , take wraps on the mono section and pull till I was blue in the face, never had one let go. Actually the connection between double and windon should never take such a load... it's gonna be not more than line break strain. Now, as for crimps, if you get the chance to test them, that's great, and will let you tune your crimper to get perfect connections. Even if you don't, with the right crimps and crimper, with heavy leaders say 300 lb. plus and up, even if you lose a 25% of leader break strain how many guys are realy going to be able to break that leader. sure there are some animals (professional crew) who can/have break 400 lb. plus mono but most of us are not like that. I guess if you were using a lot of lighter leader maybe 150 lb. 200 maybe 250 lb. you would want to have your crimp connections tested to be perfect. Snaps and swivels must be stronger on a windon than on standard tied to double line and clipped to leader setup , because if the wireman has to take wraps the snap/swivel needs to take some real pressure. so choose your swivels accordingly. In stead of the pig tail you could use a small shackle, or crimp direct to swivel. Both methods done right are very reliable, plus you don't have the large pig tail near your bait to cause commotion when trolling.

I think if you are a professional operation with two good crew - wireman who can really pull hard, and gaffman - in the cockpit, traditional leader works pretty good ... Otherwise, windon has some real advantages. Less leader laying in the pit, faster to clear lines on a big fish bite, angler can wind smaller fish straight to the boat to be gaffed from the rod tip. Not to drop names or anything, but yes some top big blue marlin crews do use them, with great success. The main thing with taking leader on a windon is the angler should have the reel drag set light , and only gather in line. Tough job trying to leader a fish if your angler has got the reel in full drag and trying to crank your hand through the roller tip at the same time. Aloha and thanks for listening to my rant. :twisted:

12-03-2004, 06:47 AM	#42 (permalink)
Patudo Grunt Join Date: Aug 2004 Occupation: fishin' Posts: 5	First of all let me say how much I enjoyed this one. windons vs traditional leaders: I've used both, and find each has its own advantages. Some situations one may be preferred over the other. I have to say that windons are very useful for a number of reasons. There are plenty of ways to lose a fish on 30 ft. traditional leader. by no means when you have leader in hand are you guaranteed to put fish in boat. Especially on smaller fish, its often a lot less drama to have the angler simply wind the fish to the boat rather than take wraps. unless you're very smooth and sometimes even if you are, the different pressure can spook the fish and make them do squirrelly things. If its a tough one and you gotta take wraps to move him then you gotta, but imagine wiring and gaffing a 35 lbs. mahi single handed on a 30 ft. long leader from a drifting boat at night, it's not a lot of fun. Always you got to be aware of where you are dumping leader, where is the loose leader and what will happen on a big fish if you need to dump wraps. as for the windon itself yes there are more connections and yes there are plenty of horror stories out there but lots of people bust line, knots rods, etc. I believe its a matter of finding a good system that you trust , just like your line, knots whatever, and proving it yourself before you put gear in water. When I made windons I would loop the dacron loop end to a cleat , take wraps on the mono section and pull till I was blue in the face, never had one let go. Actually the connection between double and windon should never take such a load... it's gonna be not more than line break strain. Now, as for crimps, if you get the chance to test them, that's great, and will let you tune your crimper to get perfect connections. Even if you don't, with the right crimps and crimper, with heavy leaders say 300 lb. plus and up, even if you lose a 25% of leader break strain how many guys are realy going to be able to break that leader. sure there are some animals (professional crew) who can/have break 400 lb. plus mono but most of us are not like that. I guess if you were using a lot of lighter leader maybe 150 lb. 200 maybe 250 lb. you would want to have your crimp connections tested to be perfect. Snaps and swivels must be stronger on a windon than on standard tied to double line and clipped to leader setup , because if the wireman has to take wraps the snap/swivel needs to take some real pressure. so choose your swivels accordingly. In stead of the pig tail you could use a small shackle, or crimp direct to swivel. Both methods done right are very reliable, plus you don't have the large pig tail near your bait to cause commotion when trolling. I think if you are a professional operation with two good crew - wireman who can really pull hard, and gaffman - in the cockpit, traditional leader works pretty good ... Otherwise, windon has some real advantages. Less leader laying in the pit, faster to clear lines on a big fish bite, angler can wind smaller fish straight to the boat to be gaffed from the rod tip. Not to drop names or anything, but yes some top big blue marlin crews do use them, with great success. The main thing with taking leader on a windon is the angler should have the reel drag set light , and only gather in line. Tough job trying to leader a fish if your angler has got the reel in full drag and trying to crank your hand through the roller tip at the same time. Aloha and thanks for listening to my rant. :twisted: