Tooth Proof Tippet for GT Leaders?

[Bosbok]

Hi Guys

Bit of an obscure question, hope you can help me.

Fishing top water for GT’s I normally use a standard setup with mono leaders (170 to 200 lbs.) tied with an FG to braid (PE8) mainline, with a swivel / split ring to the lure. There are a couple of fishing areas where the couta (Spanish mack) often bites the lures off on attack. Once bitten off you can try and retrieve floating poppers, but sinking lures are lost at great cost.

Some guys use heavy Kevlar assist cord as bite tippets between the leader and lure to avoid this. Kevlar tends to be fairly thick, and my concern is that the couta may even target the Kevlar. But it is possible to tie knots in it.

Tooth proof wire (stainless or titanium) in single or multistrand may be an alternative. Titanium wire seems easier to work with but only goes up to 100 lbs. Old school single strand stainless goes up to much higher breaking strains (240 lbs.) but is fairly hard to bend at those breaking strains.

So, my question is how would you go about tying a tooth proof tippet into your leader setup to be strong enough to handle a GT and resist being bitten off? Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[DJP]

No expert but here are few things to consider.
If you looking for something that will be very similar to a 200lb mono leader in diameter and feel try Berkley Sevalon. It's a seven strand wire with thick mono covering making it fairly inconspicuous and relatively easy to tie.
In term is multistrand wires, you get them well beyond 200lb rated so if that's the issue, it's available.
For multistrand you need to consider the coating nylon, carbon or no coating. For couta etc the nylon coating may be an issue with hookups, here the no coating may be an option.
PE8 is 80-110lb. The reason for using 170-200lb leaders is abrasion resistance and I don't think you have to match that lb breaking strain with the multistrand wire to get the same abrasion resistance. 120-150lb would probably suffice just replace it after each fishing trip because it may rust. The other option is using metal core assist cord which you also get +200lb, but it's highly visible.