Leader problems

I started fishing for Musky this year. I'm working with a local guide on the Allegheny River who wants to learn fly fishing so he can expand his guide business for fly fishers. The other night we were out and I had a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to catch a very large Musky (4 foot give or take & 30 - 35#s)! I was fishing a foam head diver (PSP Diver) and this large Musky just inhaled the fly ... in the process of setting the hook the line went limp. After inspection I found the fish had severed the 30 # Tyger wire clean,as if cut with wire cutters. I'm trying to decide what to do next? Of course, I want as much flexibility in the bite tippet as I can get to maintain the action of the fly and for "castability" but I don't want this to happen again. On his casting gear the guide uses 80# Flouro. and he also has some 60 or 65 # uncoated 7 strand. I thought I would try those but I'm looking for any sugggestions the group may have.

I'm using a short 4 foot leader tapered to 30# with a perfection loop .... then I tie the bite tippet to flies using a non slip loop and add 30# mono with an Albright and a Perfection Loop.... this way changing flies I just slip the loops. I'm considering a Bimini but not sure I need it--- any thoughts??

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We have had 30# Tyger wire break (or cut) this way when fishing for sharks and barracuda. I my own experiance, it usually gave way where the wire exited the knot... though not always, especially with, "spinner sharks" which are black tip sharks and mackerel sharks which spin wildly as they leap. I've checked carefully for wire defects in new material and never found any. I've had these sharks go through absolutely any wire shock tippet I've ever used. This is why it is so rare to actually land one of them.

Years ago, my father got a club record spinner shark by using 12" of nylon covered 40# Sevenstrand cable. To avoid a knot (which can act as a stress riser) he made a loop in either end of it after passing one end through the hook eye, folding it over and fusing it with the heat from a flame cigar lighter. The nylon melts and fuses well. It is surprising how seldom the fish scrapes the nylon, "weld" enough to have it come apart. This is a trick he learned from Bill Barnes in Costa Rica

I use a long shank hook with the fly tied way back toward the bight of the hook and a short (6") bite tippet of #2 or #4 stainless steel mono wire. I marry this by means of an Albright Special to 6" of 50# nylon monofilament which is fastened to my class tippet with a modified Huffnagle knot. I make my decision as to whether or not to use a Bimini Twist system on the strength of my class tippet. If I elect a class tippet of 20# test, I don't use the Bimini. I do with anything less.

Obviously, leader flexibility is somewhat sacrificed with this arrangement. Because of that, I fasten my fly to the mono wire with a haywire twist loop so it can swing well.

There are days when the toothy critters (especially Spanish and King mackerel) won't touch a fly if wire of any kind is used. In that event, I simply use the long shank hook with the class tippet attached directly too it. I lose flies, but at least have a chance to land these fish. I would not do that when attempting to catch a, "once-in-a-lifetime" fish such as yours.