Leaders are commonly used in carp fishing as a way to pin the line down and to conceal the line with the lake bed. You can buy leaders pre spliced or you can buy the materials and splice them yourself. Here is a guide on how to splice leaders.

Step 1

Firstly you want to get your materials out. The leader I am using is the Fox Edges Submerge Fleck Camo Lead Free Leader in 50lb. The splicing needle I am using is a Fox Easy-Splice Needle, out of all the needles I've used for splicing, personally I find this needle the easiest to splice with and it's a lot less fragile than other needles on the market. Some needles can be fairly easy to break when splicing.

If you're using a leadcore leader, you need to remove 3 - 4 inches of the lead from the tag end.

Step 2

Put the needle through your leader, travelling down the leader to the tag end. do this about 3 inches from the tag end and travel up the leader for approximately an inch before pushing the needle out through the leader.

Step 3

Once you have pushed the needle through the leader, slide your swivel on from the tag end. You want your swivel to be in between the tag end and the needle point so that you splice your swivel to the leader. In this case I am using a Korda-Heli safe so I am splicing the swivel of the heli safe to the leader to attach the heli-safe. But you want to do the same to your standard or QC swivel if you're fishing an inline set up or lead clip set up. Never loop to loop a swivel with the leader. This will turn your rig into a death rig!

Step 4

Once you have done this, attach the tag end of the leader to your needle and pull the needle back through the leader so the tag end comes out of where the needle is in the leader. This may be a bit fiddly so the best way is to ease it through with your fingers. Ensure you twist the needle a couple of times as you go through to create a strong splice. Pull the tag end so the loop isn't too big and then the tag end.

Once you have done this, trim the tag end and if you're splicing a heli safe, add the heli safe and it should look like this.

Step 5

Remove the leader from the spool and cut at the desired length. I usually take about 70cm of leader. Splice the other end of the leader with the same process but without the swivel. This end is the end which will attach your leader to your mainline. If using leadcore, ensure that you remove some of the lead again.

Step 6

Thread on your leadclip/ lead/ tailrubber or beads and swivel with a latched needle from the tag end of the leader. This will complete your leader! Give it a good tug to ensure that the splice is strong. After this all you have to do is attach it to your rod. This can be done with a loop to loop not or any other not like a grinner knot.

Written By Rob Taylor