We Tested Mr. Sweeney’s Leader to the Breaking Point - Here’s What Happened
- alexosen
- 33 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By Catch Happy
The Goal: Find the Leader’s True Limit
At Sweeney’s Sports and Catch Happy, we build leaders to handle real striper fights - sudden surges, boat-side chaos, abrasion, structure, weeds. But we’ve never pushed one to total failure.
So today, Axel Tackle and I decided to test how much weight Mr. Sweeney’s Leader could actually withstand in a controlled (but pretty wild) setup.
🎥 Watch the video:
From Five Pounds to Thirty-Five
Each crab pot weighs exactly five pounds.
We started with one - Axel set the hook hard, dragged it toward him, and the leader barely noticed.
Five pounds became fifteen, then twenty-five, then thirty-five.
Each test got a little crazier.
Still no failure.
Real Pressure: Dragging 45 and 60 Pounds
Dragging crab pots across the ground adds friction — which means 45 lbs on paper behaves more like 60–70 lbs in real force.
Axel was basically “fighting” a monster striper buried in weeds… and the leader kept holding.
Even at 60 lbs, the rod bent, the drag loaded up, and the leader stretched beautifully without failing.
The Breaking Point: 80 Pounds
We stacked sixteen crab pots - 80 total pounds - and tried one last pull.
Axel felt the “bite,” set the hook, and pulled with everything he had.
Then: SNAP.
But here’s the important detail:
👉 The knot did NOT fail.
👉 The barrel swivel held.
👉 The hook stayed rigged.
👉 The 25 lbs leader mono itself broke cleanly under extreme load.
That’s exactly what you want to see in a max-load scenario: the hardware and connections held perfectly.
What This Test Proves
This wasn’t a scientific measurement - it was a real-world torture test meant to simulate extreme pressure, friction, and shock load.
The results?
Mr. Sweeney’s Leader is far stronger than anything you’ll face in normal striper fishing conditions.
It withstood well over its rated load before the line finally gave out after sustained 80-lb drag across friction.
That gives you confidence when you're fighting fish in current, weeds, rocks, or a chaotic boat deck.
Want to Try It Yourself?
See you on the water. Catch Happy.
🎣 Got a question or photo of your best catch? Tag us @CatchHappy - we love seeing and sharing your success stories.
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