Do I Need Leader?

[toddwchandler]

I was at Dick's Sporting Goods today and found a spool of Power Pro 15lb braid on the clearance rack for $5. Needless to say, I bought it. I have actually never used braid before but decided to give it a try and spooled up one of my spinning reels with it. Now the question I have since I have no experience with braid is:

Do I need a mono or flouro leader tied on or is straight braid fine. Just for my knowledge, could those of you who answer please explain why you are choosing the answer that you are?

Thanks in advance!

[Cgrinder]

No, it's crap. Mail it to me, I'll dispose of it for you. Thanks.

 

Now for serious answer!

 

Straight braid is fine. I fish leaderless green Power Pro in sort of clear water and it works out.

 

If you start with straight braid and you don't feel confident, try it with a leader. The leader/no leader might matter more to anglers than fish.

[SirSnookalot]

People do it both ways and it works.  I would never fish without a leader, ever!  If for no other reason untangling braid from a treble hook can be a nightmare and lost fishing time .

[BassinLou]

Awesome find for $5. PP, I consider is a great braid. To answer your question ToddWChandler, it all depends on what type fishing you are going to do. IMHO, straight braid excels in many applications, however, in other applications using a leader will give you an advantage. For example, I have a spinning rig that has 20lb pp, and if I go to one of my spots that is a limestone lake with water as clear as a swimming pool, straight braid will not be my choice. In this case I would use a long FC leader. Another situation for me that I would use a mono leader for instance would be, when using a fluke or fluke type bait. I find mono gives these baits the fluidity it needs to move freely in the water. Tied on straight braid the lure moves to stiff for me. If your frogging, for example, straight braid is a must. Hope that info helps.

[BobP]

Most will say it depends first on water clarity.  If you fish heavily stained water, a leader probably isn't necessary.  If you fish water with clarity better than 2', a leader will probably get you more bites.  Also, you don't want a leader if you are fishing heavy grass since braid blends in with grass and helps cut through grass when fighting a fish.  If you are fishing unweighted plastics like a Senko or trick worm, braid without a leader tends to float and can cause excessive bow in your line that can make feeling a bite difficult.  A fluorocarbon leader can help in that situation.

 

Learn to tie an Alberto knot.  It's the smallest braid to fluoro/copoly knot and makes fishing a leader less problematic.

[gallowaypt]

[quote name="BassinLou" post="1357316" timestamp=". Another situation for me that I would use a mono leader for instance would be, when using a fluke or fluke type bait. I find mono gives these baits the fluidity it needs to move freely in the water. Tied on straight braid the lure moves to stiff for me.

I agree 100% when using flukes.

[toddwchandler]

Thank you for the replies so far. How do I know how long to make the leader?

[BassinLou]

Give yourself, a few feet. At would say 5 to 6 ft or longer, its really up to you. You have to take into account the amount of time you will be changing of lures.

[loudcherokee]

Learn to tie an Alberto knot. It's the smallest braid to fluoro/copoly knot and makes fishing a leader less problematic.

x2. LOVE the alberto knot. was wrestling with the uni-uni and found the alberto, havent looked back.

LC

[toddwchandler]

Ok, just as an update, I tied on about a 12-15 foot flouro leader. Casted just fine. Sensitivity is good and combo of lines is good and strong. I'll go with it. I appreciate all the advice.

[Darren.]

Ok, just as an update, I tied on about a 12-15 foot flouro leader. Casted just fine. Sensitivity is good and combo of lines is good and strong. I'll go with it. I appreciate all the advice.

 

Leader length can vary on what you want. Gary Yamamoto uses 15 or 20 foot lengths. I use 1, 2, or 3 arm length stretches (line from hand to hand, arms stretched out), 2 and 3 if I know I'm going to be retying often. Sometimes I'll go all the way down to 12" of a leader, but I usually retie at maybe 18-24" or when I feel kinks and such in the line.

 

Another way to tie a leader length is tie the line-to-leader knot first, then reel it in but leave the knot about 1" in front of the top guide (in other words, don't reel it past the first guide).

 

Next, cut the length down to about where your hook keeper is - or a few inches past because you'll be tying on a hook here.

 

Now your leader won't come through your guides and get "bent" when storing the rod, hook in hook keeper.

 

And that's another reason to use a leader. Braid is phenomenal as a mainline, but expensive to replace if you go through it rather quickly (constantly tying new lures on, etc.)

 

With a leader, you only cut a short section of braid when you need to retie a new leader. Otherwise, you're only cutting your leader...

 

The albright, modified albright/alberto are some of the best. Uni-to-uni is solid, and pretty easy to tie as well, although the Albright is stronger in my experience.

[eagon06]

Doesn't using a mono leader eliminate one of the main reasons for fishing braided line, strength? I'm just worried I would be breaking off on the few feet of mono.

[rockchalk06]

Doesn't using a mono leader eliminate one of the main reasons for fishing braided line, strength? I'm just worried I would be breaking off on the few feet of mono.

You will. The knot will be your weakest point.

 

But, when you use a leader, you have to sacrifice the strength for the abrasion resistance and stealth that a leader provides. I seldom use braid for just the strength. I prefer it for the line management, longevity and NO LINE MEMORY lol

[eagon06]

I fish the good ol' muddy mississippi mainly so I don't need to worry about stealth so much, however, the comment about using mono with flukes has made me consider using a leader for that. Shoot lol. I've also fished strictly powerpro for the past 8 years or so, kind of want to try something new...

[rockchalk06]

I fish the good ol' muddy mississippi mainly so I don't need to worry about stealth so much, however, the comment about using mono with flukes has made me consider using a leader for that. Shoot lol. I've also fished strictly powerpro for the past 8 years or so, kind of want to try something new...

Line twist is not the biggest problem with braid, but I use a swivel with a fluoro leader when I fish a weightless fluke or jerk bait just incase. I usually run 40 pound PP slick in Timber brown with a 12# flouro leader. I have yet to break a fish off with it.

[SirSnookalot]

Your leader knot should be your last concern, tie it right and it shouldn't fail.  I use a leader length of no more than 24", I do not like my knot coming thru the guides, I put a fresh one on for each outing.  Most of the time I use just a few lures, but if I need more leader it only takes a little time to tie a new one on.

[Diggy]

If I fish straight braid on certain plastics, they are done with one fish if it slides up the line... I added some yozuri as leader material and I can get way more use out of the same bait(flukes). Ill add fluoro to my wacky stick baits. Straight braid for certain lures and frogs. It's trial, error and preference.

[Darren.]

Your leader knot should be your last concern, tie it right and it shouldn't fail.  I use a leader length of no more than 24", I do not like my knot coming thru the guides, I put a fresh one on for each outing.  Most of the time I use just a few lures, but if I need more leader it only takes a little time to tie a new one on.

 

Agree with you on the leader knot. I never worry about my leader knot anymore -- unless I tied it in a hurry (rare) and didn't give it a pull test first (a MUST!).

 

If I break off, 99.7% of the time it is somewhere in the leader. LOL, I can't really put a percentage on it, suffice it to say, if it breaks at the knot, it is extremely rare.