What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Steelhead?

As a steelhead guide and steelhead angler for over 37 years, I’ve been testing leaders and working with other guides to determine proper and effective leader sizing for steelhead fishing in all situations.

I’m talking about the bottom part of the line where the bait, fly, or lure attaches. This article is also relevant to fly fishing tippet since tippet is the same as a leader and need to be the same pound and diameter.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one size of leader that is perfect for all conditions and all steelhead. I will tell you from expereince that there are major downsides to leaders that are too heavy or too light.

When it comes to what pound test leader is best for steelhead, there are a few very important things I’ve learned over the years. Every steelhead angler should know this.

1. Leader Brands: Many brands do not rate their leaders properly! This can result in either fewer bites or breaking off fish. Some brands also use high-quality leader material, while others suck.
2. Diameter: The diameter of the leader is critical to getting more steelhead to bite.
3. Leader Strength: I use a leader that is so strong the steelhead won’t break, but thin enough that the steelhead won’t see it and refuse to bite the bait.
4. Method: I use different leader strengths for casting or trolling lures versus baits.
5. Type Of Water: I might need a heavier leader in very fast currents, but I need a lighter and thinner leader in slow, clear water.
6. West Coast Vs. Great Lakes: My experience fishing both Great Lakes steelhead and West Coast steelhead is that West Coast steelhead are stronger fish so I upsize two to four pounds when fishing for West Coast Steelhead.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Steelhead?

The best pound test leader for steelhead is 8 pounds for most Great Lakes steelhead rivers, and 12 pounds for most West Coast steelhead rivers. But these sizes only work if the diameter is correct so see my diameter to pounds charts below.

I will change leader sizes based on river conditions and the fishing method I’m using, and you should too.

Using the wrong pound test steelhead leader under certain conditions will mean the steelhead will see the thick and heavy line and not eat my bait. On the other hand, if the steelhead leader is very thin, I’ll probably get a lot of bites, except I will break a lot of steelhead off.

It’s important to find a middle-ground size, which means that I want a steelhead leader line that is not too light, and not too heavy.

It’s equally important to have my reels drag set properly and have a good leader setup suitable for steelhead.

Use my leader sizing chart as a guideline.

Downsides To Heavy Steelhead Leaders

I have proven this over and over again. If the steelhead leader is too thick, the fish will see it and won’t bite it!

A very heavy leader might also be too stiff and prevent the bait from drifting naturally.

The thicker the leader the more the current will push or pull it, moving the bait unnaturally.

A thicker leader also sinks slower, which means it takes longer to get the bait into the strike zone.

Buy Your Leader Lines By Diameter Rating, Not By The Pound Rating

I tell my clients to ignore the pound test rating on the label and buy leader lines by the diameter rating instead.

The diameter rating is usually a more accurate indication of the true-breaking strength of the leader, and it’s the thickness of the leader line that the steelhead see.

Based on my tests:

• Great Lakes Steelhead: 0.20mm (0.008 inches), is ideal for most small to medium steelhead rivers. Ranges – (0.18mm – 0.19mm for very clear small rivers or 0.22mm – 0.23mm for larger faster rivers)
• West Coast Steelhead: 0.24mm (0.010 inches) is ideal for most small to medium steelhead rivers. Ranges – (0.22mm – 0.23mm for small clear rivers or 0.25mm – 0.26mm for large fast rivers)

Unfortunetly, there are no standardized regulations that say that a company is required to label its leaders accurately, which can be a problem.

The first chart below shows popular leaders all around 8 pounds, but it also shows a significant difference in diameter. My expereince has proven that steelhead can be very line shy, so anglers buying and using some thick 8-pound leaders won’t catch very many steelhead becuase the leaders are too thich.

This is why I tell anglers to buy leaders based on diameter size, not the leader pound rating.

Steelhead Fishing Leaders Comparison of 8-Pound Lines

Brand	Diameter (mm)	Labeled Strength (pounds)	Thickness Assessment
Drennan	0.28	8	Way too thick
Frog Hair 100% Fluorocarbon Tippet	0.20	8	Perfect
Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout Fluorocarbon Tippet	0.20	8.4	Perfect
Seaguar STS Trout/Steelhead Fluorocarbon Leader	0.235	8	Too thick
Blood Run Tackle Fluorocarbon Leader	0.25	8	Too thick
Redwing Tackle Phantom Fluorocarbon Leader	0.234	8.8	Too thick
P-Line Shinsei Fluorocarbon Leader	0.26	8	Way too thick

0.20mm Diameter Comparison To Pound Test Ratings

In this chart, all leaders are in the 0.20mm range (perfect for Great Lakes steelhead) but they all have different pound test rating (some are double). My expereince is that despite the pound test each claim, they all break around the same.

Brand	Diameter (mm)	Labeled Strength (lbs)
Drennan	0.20	4
Blood Run Tackle Fluorocarbon Leader	0.21	4
Maxima Ultragreen Monofilament Leader	0.20	5
Seaguar	0.20	6
Rio Fluoroflex	0.203	6
Seaguar STS Trout/Steelhead	0.205	6
Redwing Tackle Phantom Fluorocarbon Leader Material	0.20	6.6
Frog Hair 100% Fluorocarbon Tippet	0.20	8
Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout Fluorocarbon Tippet	0.20	8.4

These inaccuracies occure with lighter and stronger sizes as well.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Steelhead By Methods

I use many different methods for steelhead fishing which all require leaders and might require different leader strengths or diameters. These methods include:

Leader Diameter for Steelhead Fishing Methods

Method	Location	Condition	Leader Diameter
Float Fishing
	Great Lakes Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.20mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.18mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.22mm – 0.23mm
	West Coast Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.22mm – 0.24mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.20mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.25mm – 0.26mm
Fly Fishing (Nymphing)
	Great Lakes Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.20mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.18mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.22mm – 0.23mm
	West Coast Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.22mm – 0.24mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.20mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.25mm – 0.26mm
Fly Fishing (Streamers and Swinging)
	Great Lakes Steelhead		0.24mm – 0.26mm
	West Coast Steelhead		0.25mm – 0.27mm
Drift Fishing And Bottom Bouncing
	Great Lakes Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.20mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.18mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.22mm – 0.23mm
	West Coast Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.22mm – 0.24mm
		Extra Clear Water	0.20mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.25mm – 0.26mm
Back Bouncing	Great Lakes Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.20mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.22mm – 0.23mm
	West Coast Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.22mm – 0.24mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.24mm – 0.26mm
Side Drifting	Great Lakes Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.20mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.22mm – 0.23mm
	West Coast Steelhead	Small To Medium Rivers	0.22mm – 0.24mm
		Big Rivers/Fast Water	0.25mm – 0.26mm
Back Trolling	West Coast Steelhead		0.28mm – 0.36mm
Casting Lures	Great Lakes Steelhead		0.26mm – 0.32mm
	West Coast Steelhead		0.28mm – 0.34mm

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Clear Water?

Clear water can mean the steelhead will be able to see the leader line easier so I use the thinnest leader possible.

See Low Clear Water Steelhead Fishing Tips and Tactics.

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Slow Water?

In slow water, the steelhead has plenty of time to see the bait coming and to inspect it and if I am using a leader that is too thick they might not eat the bait.

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Fast Water?

In faster water, the bait is moving past the fish quickly and they have little time to inspect the bait and must react quickly.

If the section of the river that I’m fishing is all fast water, the fish will use that fast water to their advantage so upsizing my leader might be required to help turn that fish and get it in the net.

Because of this, I will upsize two to four pounds. But, remember, the thicker the leader, the more it gets pushed by the current and the slower it sinks.

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Normal Clarity Conditions?

For a general-purpose leader line, I will use a 0.20mm or 0.008″ leader line for Great Lakes Steelhead, and 0.23 – 0.24mm for West Coast steelhead.

This works great in most medium clear water rivers that are open and where I am able to walk down the river with a bigger fish if I need to.

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Dirty Water?

If the water is dirty I will often upsize my leader by one or two pounds because the fish can’t see it and that will allow me to hook the fish and get it in quickly.

What Pound Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Heavy Wooded Rivers?

This is a tough one because sometimes the wooded water is also very clear. If I use to light of a steelhead leader I will have a tough time steering and turning the fish when they run for the wood. Too heavy of a leader and they won’t touch it. Usually, wooded water is also slower water which also requires a lighter leader.

My suggestion is to start with a slightly heavier than normal sized leader and if they won’t eat the bait, go lighter. If I start hooking fish but keep losing them in the wood go up a size or 2.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Small Rivers?

Small rivers are often clear rivers and I can walk up and down the river to chase fish if needed. Therefore I usually go with the lightest leader possible.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Steelhead In Large Rivers?

Sometimes very large rivers like the Niagara, Skeena, or Columbia have a lot of fast currents and they are also hard or impossible to walk far along the banks to chase a fish.

This is when I will use slightly heavier leaders to help land the fish.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For West Coast Steelhead?

When I fished the west coast rivers I realized that those steelhead were stronger and they used the current of the bigger rivers to their advantage and this meant that I need to go with a 10-pound leader under clear conditions and upsize to a 12-pound test if and when I could.

What Pound Test Leader Is Best For Great Lakes Steelhead?

In my opinion, the best pound test leader for great lakes steelhead under most normal river conditions is 8-pound, 0.20mm leader. 90 percent of the sometimes 500 steelhead that myself and my clients land in a year are using 0.20mm steelhead leaders and we rarely ever break off. Then change either up or down based on the conditions I see.

Breaking Steelhead Off Is The Anglers Fault

Ok, I will be straight up with you, 80 percent of the time if an angler breaks off when using 8 pound or 10-pound test line it is angler error. You may not like to hear that but it’s true and I say this because as a guide, I have watched hundreds of guys break fish off that they shouldn’t have.

The other 20 percent of the time the line breaks it’s due to damage to the line from rocks or fish teeth.

Mechanical errors, meaning ones the angler is not responsible for might even be related to a bad drag system or even an old line, however, those are rare, and both can be fixed by the angler, in other words, purchase some new line and buy a better reel with a better drag system.

The exception to this is if I am fishing around a lot of wood in which case I will always lock up my drag just before the steelhead goes into the wood. The choice is to lock the drag and maybe turn the fish or break it off before it goes into the wood, or let him go into the wood and then break it off and possibly lose my whole float and leader setup.

The Best Leader Brands

My three favorite steelhead leader brands are:

• Drennan  (buy this brand by the diameter only) – I use 4 pounds and 5 pounds for Great Lakes steelhead, and 5 pounds and 6 pounds for large rivers and for West Coast steelhead.
• Redwing Tackle Phantom Fluorocarbon Leader – I use 6.6 pounds and 7.6 pounds for Great Lakes steelhead, and 8.8 pounds for large rivers and for West Coast steelhead.
• Seaguar STS Trout/ Steelhead Fluorocarbon Leader Material I use mostly 6-pound, which is 0.20mm or 8-pound for bigger Great Lakes rivers. For west coast steelhead consider 10 and 12 pounds for bigger water.

For these leader brands, check for the best prices in the USA at FishUSA.com or in Canada at FishheadsCanada.net.

Use the Right Leader Setup

Now that you know what pound leader to use, now you need to set it up properly and I will show you how to do that with the same leader setup that I use when I guide. Check it out on my page 2 Float Fishing Leader Setups From A Pro River Guide

Tight Lines,

Graham