Braid and the Texas Rig

[Dens228]

Braid to leader is like Chevy/Ford on fishing forums.  

Answers at both ends of the spectrum with various reasons for either or.

I fished 30 lb braid on T-rigs/plastic for the past several years without a leader.  Sometimes I would tie a leader on, most of the time I didn't. I fish water from inches of vis to 15 feet of vis on a regular basis and never saw a difference.  This year I switched to a Hi-Vis braid and my ability to detect strikes before I felt them has gone up, out of caution I added about 5 foot of 12 lb mono leader just in case of line shyness.  Fact is I am not convinced of line shyness but on the other hand using a leader I can keep retying and when the leader gets too short I tie a new one on and my mainline stays intact, except for about 2-3 inches with each new leader.  

[PhishLI]

On 7/27/2021 at 9:12 PM, MN Fisher said:

I'd use a leader - 8'-10' minimum...primarily for shock absorption. Most standard worm hooks are light-wire - a hard hook-set with straight braid could straighten the hook, losing the fish.

I understand that this could be a thing, or has been a thing, but I've never experienced this with anything other than treble hooks when using straight braid. We're as choked out as you can get around here, so I'm fishing straight braid, for the most part, 6 months out of the year as are the majority of my friends, and I prefer crisp, stiff, fast action rods. None of us have straightened out a worm hook ever, and we hook into some solid fish that often come in encapsulated in a mop of weeds weighing as much or more than the fish. Bent out a skosh? Sure, sometimes, but not enough to cause a loss. On the flip side. my buddy who's a braid to leader guy gets broken off way too much for my liking, and he rarely if ever out-fishes us straight braid guys.

[CrankFate]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:49 PM, jbsoonerfan said:

Are you using invisible hooks and weights as well? If not, I wouldn't worry about the line.

I, personally, use orange beads. Prevents the fish from focusing on the bullet weight ?

[Mbirdsley]

Biggest reason I use a leader on my braid rods is just so it is easier to break off if it gets snagged.

 

When I am in northern mi there are a lot of gin clear waters.  So a flourish leader is a must imho.  Regular water probably not 

[gunsinger]

I put a 3’ 15 lb leader on my Tokyo rig using an FG knot today. It may have been coincidence but I scored a lot more bites today than I had in the last two trips. Speaking of the Tokyo rig, my bite to hook up percentage is 100% so far. I’m learning to like that setup. Time to start making my own. 

[CrankFate]

13 hours ago, Mbirdsley said:

Biggest reason I use a leader on my braid rods is just so it is easier to break off if it gets snagged.

 

When I am in northern mi there are a lot of gin clear waters.  So a flourish leader is a must imho.  Regular water probably not 

That’s interesting. Basically the opposite of why I don’t usually don’t use the leader on my T-Rigs. So I can save my rigs from most hang ups. I actually use the Fluoro leader when I don’t expect to get snagged a lot.

[Diggy]

Straight braid tears up my baits much faster than with some sort of fluoro, mono, co-poly as a leader or main line.

[Mbirdsley]

59 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

That’s interesting. Basically the opposite of why I don’t usually don’t use the leader on my T-Rigs. So I can save my rigs from most hang ups. I actually use the Fluoro leader when I don’t expect to get snagged a lot.

I do a lot of bigger river fishing.  With lots of snags.  So there are times I do get hung up a bit. I guess I’d rather loose the jig or  t-rig rather than something happening to my rod 

[Maggiesmaster]

I changed to 30 lb braid with a 6’ Fluor or mono leader. Tied with a shin knot, the line easily passes through standard guides, and the yellow color shows easily. For other lures, I use old fashioned mono. 

[GaryH]

Looks like we solved this age old issue….. ???

[Ski]

10 hours ago, Diggy said:

Straight braid tears up my baits much faster than with some sort of fluoro, mono, co-poly as a leader or main line.

Never heard of this?

Please explain how????

[Diggy]

8 hours ago, Ski said:

Never heard of this?

Please explain how????

In my experience:

When I am fishing a normal Texas rig, free rig, etc, if the bait slides up the hook and gets to the line, the braid slices thru the bait easier, especially depending on diameter.

 

This is what made me change my approach. I remember catching tons of dinks fishing flukes way back. I cant remember the brand, but on straight braid, I would catch about 2-3 fish max on a bait. Next day I used yozuri hybrid that was on another reel and had up to 10 fish per bait. Certain baits where the head blows out easy or is full of salt, it would be even worse with braid unless I took preventative measures (screw locks, specialized hooks, bait pegs, etc). 

I tend to buy more durable baits now outside of some special JDM baits. I now use some sort of nylon/fluro for texas rigs. I can fish jigs, jikas, tokyo rigs, moving baits and frogs on braid with no issues. I still gravitate towards using 15-20lb fluoro nowadays for bottom contact.