Before we start casting into the far horizon, dropping our bait into the path of record breaking Blues, Stripers and Drum, we need to make sure that our rod-reel-line setup can handle the additional forces we are going to put on it without breaking. There’s nothing worse during surf fishing than losing your fishing rig(the part with the hooks bait and weight) during the cast. The sound of the line snapping and watching your rig fly out into the ocean is a depressing experience (not to mention environmentally unsound). To keep this from happening we are going to add a heavier line to the end of our running line called a shock leader. When we talk about the fishing line on the reel, two terms are pretty common:
Running Line or Main Line – The predominant line loaded on your reel. This line is selected based on the fishing conditions and size of fish being targeted. I generally use a thirty pound test braided or twenty pound test monofilament running line. See the Surf Fishing Line post for background on line selection.
Shock Leader-The line attached to the end of the running line to absorb the forces applied during the cast. We want the shock leader to have low stretch and I like it to be clear so fish will not see it. I prefer either monofilament line designed for leaders or fluorocarbon leader lines.
I have found that the common wisdom for selecting the pound test for a shock leader is to use the ten pound to one ounce rule. So, if your fishing environment requires a five ounce sinker plus one ounce of bait, you would want to use a sixty pound shock leader.
The shock leader is attached to the running line using one of many knots designed for line-to-line connections. This was a real challenge for me and I performed a good deal of research on knots that work well for shock leader attachment with a focus on ease of tying. The idea of a shock leader was not new to me, my buddy Mike and I experimented with it many years ago and had a terrible experience. The knot would come undone every five or six casts and we were using a Bimini Twist knot that we found difficult to tie. In short, it was so frustrating that we gave up. I have settled in on three knots for my shock leaders and focused on strength, ease of passing through the rod guides and ease of tying.
| Line Types | Knot | Comments | Knot Post Link |
| Monofilament or Fluorocarbon Shock Leader to Braided running line | FG Knot | I was a little doubtful about being able to use this knot until I saw professional fisher Adrian Gray’s video. He uses a tension trick that makes tying the knot a breeze and I’ve been using it ever since. |  |
| Monofilament or Fluorocarbon Shock Leader to Monofilament or Braid running line | Albright Special knot | Holds and passes through the guides well. I found it easy to remember how to tie this knot. | |
| Monofilament or Fluorocarbon Shock Leader to Monofilament running line | Improved Blood Knot | Holds and passes through the guides well. I found it easy to remember how to tie this knot. | |
I use glue on my shock leaders to make sure they stay secure as long as possible. It took me a while to settle in on the right glue to use. I saw recommendations for Super Glue, which I’m not crazy about fooling around with when tying knots and it dries a little stiff for me. After long searching, I found UV Knot Sense that provides a glue that is specifically designed for fishing knots, it dries to a supple state which is just what I was looking for.
The shock leader should wrap around your reel spool three to five times, go all the way through the guides to the top of the rod and back down to your reel.
Check your shock leader and knot regularly while your fishing to make sure it is not coming undone and cut it out and re-tie it if it begins to look worn or weak. I re-tie my shock leaders on each trip and change them out entirely each year.
Product Recommendations – Here are links to the products I use for shock leaders.
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| Vendor | Model | Line Type | Line Materials | Use | Amazon Link |
| Berkley | Trilene Big Game Mono | Monofilament | Nylon | Shock Leader |   |
| Berkley | Vanish Fluorocarbon Leader | Fluorocarbon | Extruded polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) | Shock Leader |   |
| Boomerang Tool Company | Line Cutting Tool | All | All | All |   |
| Loon | UV Knot Sense | All | All | All |   |
