when to use a fluoro leader

[kiteman]

i use a low-vis gray 30lb braid on my rods, and i fish in somewhat clear (not stained) but green water.  sometimes i use snaps on the ends of my line if i want to toggle between a crank, jerk, spinner, or buzz bait because it's easy to switch them out.  i read a lot of people say when you do something like a carolina or drop shot rig you should use a fluoro or mono leader to minimize the visibility of the line, but in a way i don't understand why it's any different on those presentations then say a crankbait...line is line no matter which bait it's tied to.  right?  anyway if you have any insight i would like to learn your techniques.  thanks.

[Rich in Co]

I only use floro leaders on my spinning rods when drop shoting or shakey heads, the only time I use brain on a BC is when I'm fogging or flipping vegetation, when flipping wood, bushes I use floro, braid cuts into the branches. all other times its floro or mono for top water.

 

you will get lot's of tips' and opinions, but it comes down to trial and error for what fits you best

[NHBull]

Leaders for anything that touches the bottom.

Strait braid for everything else

 

All line is not created equal

[detroit1]

c-rig and drop shotting are (usually) slower presentations than  crank/spin/buzz baiting...

[Further North]

1 hour ago, NHBull said:

Leaders for anything that touches the bottom.

Strait braid for everything else

 

All line is not created equal

 

I'd add leaders for any time you're interacting with toothy fish.

[NHBull]

1 minute ago, Further North said:

 

I'd add leaders for any time you're interacting with toothy fish.

Absolutely, but I haven't hooked anything but bass for years

[MassYak85]

The reasoning behind people saying that is those are "reaction" baits where the fish are not necessarily sitting their analyzing it before chowing down. It swims by rather quick and they are forced to decide then and there "do I want to eat that" and line visibility probably won't play as big a role unless they are already super finicky. With the worms you are generally fishing them slower and the bass has time to swim right up to it, stare it down, and decide to eat it or not. 

 

That's the theory anyway, whether or not you decide to buy into it is your choice and you should experiment and prove it to yourself one way or the other. Personally, I like leaders for most techniques unless the water is super dingy or I'm fishing topwater or punching. I've caught them on straight braid, but I've also caught 12 fish fishing the same lure, same areas, as a friend who caught no fish and was using straight braid, and I had a leader on a bright sunny clear water day. This happened two times in one summer, same conditions two different friends. That's as close I've been able to come to "proving it" to myself that they are necessary sometimes. So when in any doubt I use one now. 

[Further North]

1 hour ago, NHBull said:

Absolutely, but I haven't hooked anything but bass for years

Yup.  I figured that.  I'd have to still use leaders up here even if I switched to bass only, out of self defense.

[kiteman]

15 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

The reasoning behind people saying that is those are "reaction" baits where the fish are not necessarily sitting their analyzing it before chowing down. It swims by rather quick and they are forced to decide then and there "do I want to eat that" and line visibility probably won't play as big a role unless they are already super finicky. With the worms you are generally fishing them slower and the bass has time to swim right up to it, stare it down, and decide to eat it or not. 

 

That's the theory anyway, whether or not you decide to buy into it is your choice and you should experiment and prove it to yourself one way or the other. Personally, I like leaders for most techniques unless the water is super dingy or I'm fishing topwater or punching. I've caught them on straight braid, but I've also caught 12 fish fishing the same lure, same areas, as a friend who caught no fish and was using straight braid, and I had a leader on a bright sunny clear water day. This happened two times in one summer, same conditions two different friends. That's as close I've been able to come to "proving it" to myself that they are necessary sometimes. So when in any doubt I use one now. 

The water I fish in is relatively clear so I can see how this might make sense.  

 

The pond in question used to produce bass on the braid I am currently using all the time.  It's gotten more pressure in the last year or so and I've seen a drop off in activity.  While I can't say (but hope this isn't the case) that the fish population is dwindling because people are taking a lot of fish, perhaps the fish have only gotten smarter about what they take, and that's why I'm considering trying the leader.

[Choporoz]

18 hours ago, kiteman said:

...line is line no matter which bait it's tied to.  right?

[Choporoz]

34 minutes ago, kiteman said:

 perhaps the fish have only gotten smarter about what they take, and that's why I'm considering trying the leader.

Perhaps....but, I read somewhere that the average brain of a LMB weighs less than most of the jigs I throw.  I try not to give them too much credit.

 

The only aspect of line visibility that interests me anymore is whether or not I can see it when I'm flipping or fishing bottom baits.  That said, I do use leaders.  But not because of visibility.  I use leaders with braid for three reasons: abrasion resistance; make a spool last longer (years); and so I can break off, if I need to.