Braid+leader vs floro

[PressuredFishing]

Warning controversial topic. This is relating to bottom lures and sensitivities. I use straight floro, reasons include not having to deal with the problems of braid like digging into spool, killing rod guides, annoying sound, tying extra knots, harder backlashes to get out. What do you guys prefer? Do you like braid more for the bonus sensitivity? Or do you like to not have to hassle of the problems above I listed. I'm not against braid personally, I use it for frogging and flipping, I just feel like people overuse it alot.

[padon]

casting , straight flouro. spinning braid to fluoro. cant tell you why . after trying it all for a few years thats just what i like.

[ATA]

Let me clearify something for you, Braid is more sensitive when you have tight line, So fluorocarbon in general is more sensitive than braid, Despite that I am using braid to fluorocarbon for my jig rod. If you spool your braid tight, It won't dig in itself and you connection knot wouldn't be a problem unless you need to do it few times, Otherwise you can have it ready with good 7 feet fluorocarbon leader and you can change lure few times during the day.

It is just my idea and I respect everyones decision just sharing the way I do it.

[Bluebasser86]

Braid does not destroy line guides. The old Spiderwire did, but the stuff we have now doesn't. Noise depends on the line. 4 carrier braids aren't wound as tightly, so they tend to be noisier. A quality 8 carrier will be close to just as quiet as mono or fluoro though. Even if you get a backlash or knot out of a fluorocarbon line, it's likely damaged, so not sure if that's a benefit or not. Leader knots are simple to tie and make it so braid last for ever since all you ever tend to lose is the tiny bit when you have to tie a new leader. 

 

I use both because they both have their place. Braid on my casting gear will never have a leader on it, but it almost always will on my spinning combos. I only have straight fluoro on a couple spinning rods, way more of them have braid. 

[PressuredFishing]

24 minutes ago, ATA said:

Let me clearify something for you, Braid is more sensitive when you have tight line, So fluorocarbon in general is more sensitive than braid, Despite that I am using braid to fluorocarbon for my jig rod. If you spool your braid tight, It won't dig in itself and you connection knot wouldn't be a problem unless you need to do it few times, Otherwise you can have it ready with good 7 feet fluorocarbon leader and you can change lure few times during the day.

It is just my idea and I respect everyones decision just sharing the way I do it.

Yeah I loved fishing braid to leader in less snaggy offshore areas, but when there us a ton of riprap and just shaggy stuff I hate retying a leader more than 5 tinea a day lol, now imagine it in the freezing winter temps, although if I can get away with it in a snagless area, I'll do it

Just now, Bluebasser86 said:

Braid does not destroy line guides. The old Spiderwire did, but the stuff we have now doesn't. Noise depends on the line. 4 carrier braids aren't wound as tightly, so they tend to be noisier. A quality 8 carrier will be close to just as quiet as mono or fluoro though. Even if you get a backlash or knot out of a fluorocarbon line, it's likely damaged, so not sure if that's a benefit or not. Leader knots are simple to tie and make it so braid last for ever since all you ever tend to lose is the tiny bit when you have to tie a new leader. 

 

I use both because they both have their place. Braid on my casting gear will never have a leader on it, but it almost always will on my spinning combos. I only have straight fluoro on a couple spinning rods, way more of them have braid. 

Hmm, maybe it's worth a try, I remember using 4lb braided line for trout on a 100$ trout UL rod, really nice, chew through two of the guides and was livid, also trout fishing in the winter hated reltying in the cold. With that said, maybe I'll give it a shot on the newer sic guides because I think it may still chew through my older stainless steel guides, (even mono has made line divits) 

[Bluebasser86]

Braid in really cold conditions is a nightmare. When I'm fishing in the winter and the temps drop near or below freezing, I have to go to mono or fluoro because the braid freezes midcast. Like trying to reel in a frozen rope. 

[Kenny Yi]

I have low confidence in any connection knot with heavier line, I also don't like having the knot go through casting guides, so straight for casting

 

braid to leader on a spinning outfit is awesome

[gunsinger]

I went back and forth on this topic for a while. I was using 30# braid with a 15# FC leader tied with the Crazy Alberto and catching fish in a particular spot with regularity. Cut off the leader and didn’t catch any fish in that same spot for two weeks. That’s not to say I didn’t catch any fish anywhere, just none at that spot where I could always count on one or more. I went back to the leader and, you guessed it, I started catching fish in that spot again. 
 

Was it the leader or was it my mindset/confidence?  I don’t know but, regardless, it’s braid + leader for me on slow moving, bottom contact baits. 
 

Your results may vary and my results provide no guarantee that you will catch fish.

 

[Jig Man]

I’ve been all around braid, leader, no leader, mono, fluorocarbon until I finally went to fluorocarbon for most of my fishing.  I only use braid for Arigs and winter vertical jigging.

[dodgeguy]

Stop using garbage rods with garbage guides. Braid is easier to remove a backlash from not harder. It also doesn't get damaged and backlashes less. As far as digging use at least 50 lb test on a baitcaster.ive tried straight flouro next to braid numerous times when the bite was tough and it makes no difference in the 10 years I've tried it. For me it's lime green with the last 10 feet colored black. Slack line sensitivity is one place flouro is better but to say braid has none is misinformation. Unless you have a ton of slack in your line you will feel the strike. I fish senko on fairly slack line and feel the bit all the time. Definately more so than with mono.

 

[Team9nine]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

I use both because they both have their place. Braid on my casting gear will never have a leader on it, but it almost always will on my spinning combos. I only have straight fluoro on a couple spinning rods, way more of them have braid. 

 

^^ Pretty much where I’m at.

 

Braid only belongs on a baitcaster when it does; and when it does, it doesn’t require a leader. Otherwise, nearly every combo is fluoro. Spinning combos are majority braid/leader setups except when I can’t get away with it (winter supercooling). 

[gim]

Most of my bait casters are straight braid.  My spinning reels have braided line but I usually use a fluorocarbon leader.  I will also say that sometimes I HAVE to use a short leader on some of my lures I throw with a bait caster because we have toothy predators here that love to chew through line.  I primarily use Seaguar Blue Label for this purpose.

 

"Unofficial Z-man record holder"  Lol I like that @Team9nine

[Bankc]

I prefer braid to leader.  Braid casts better and lasts longer.  Plus, if I get a bad backlash, I can dig it out with braid.  With Fluoro, you often have to replace the whole spool.  Even if the backlash is easier to get out (which it usually isn't due to line memory), you'll often kink the line and create a weak spot with fluoro.  Fluoro is tough, but once it stretches or kinks, it never returns back to the way it was.  I don't know how many times I've made a bomb cast with fluoro, only to realize that the line snapped in the middle, just a few casts after a bad backlash.  

 

Plus braid had better tight line sensitivity, smaller diameter, and less stretch.  The only time I really like straight fluoro these days if for pitching and flipping, where the slack line sensitivity really matters, and longer casts don't matter.  Even on my crankbait rods I've switched to copoly due to line memory.  

 

But there's no right or wrong answer here.  If one was clearly superior to the other, that's all anyone would use and the other would disappear from the market.  That's why no one uses silk, Dacron, or Kevlar line anymore (for the most part).

[MN Fisher]

I'm kind of all over the board for line on my reels.

1 BC and 1 Spinner - Nylon-mono

1 BC and 1 Spinner - YZH

2 BCs and 2 Spinners - Braid

1 BC and 2 Spinners - FC

Occasionally will put an AbrazX leader on the baitcaster braid, but normally it's just tied direct.

Spinners with braid always get a leader of InvizX.

[Captain Phil]

11 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Warning controversial topic.

 

I don't understand the controversy.  I use braid, mono and fluorocarbon depending upon the circumstances.  Each has it's positives and negatives.  I don't understand why anyone would use a leader for bass fishing?  If braid is as great as some anglers believe, tying on a leader seems counterproductive. All a leader can do is create a knot that can fail or hang in your guides.  I use braid for frog fishing and top water fishing around heavy cover.  I don't like it for flipping as the rough texture often interferes with the fall of the bait.  You can overcome this by using more weight, but you won't get as many bites.  Big Game mono is much better for that type of fishing.  There is one type of fishing where braid shines.  That's Rattle Trap fishing in tournaments.  I have lost so many big fish on Rattle Traps it's ridiculous.  I now use 50 pound braid and crank them into the boat.  Haven't had a fish jump off since I switched. For sensitive bottom fishing with plastics, I don't think you can do better than straight flouro.

[Junk Fisherman]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 

I use both because they both have their place. Braid on my casting gear will never have a leader on it, but it almost always will on my spinning combos. I only have straight fluoro on a couple spinning rods, way more of them have braid. 

 

This is my normal setup as well but I have been using braid on baitcasters with a leader more and more over the last couple years.  I have a dedicated light baitcast combo that I use for dropshots with braid as the main line and that is a near-perfect setup.  

[gim]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:07 AM, Captain Phil said:

If braid is as great as some anglers believe, tying on a leader seems counterproductive. All a leader can do is create a knot that can fail or hang in your guides. 

Braid does not have good resistance to abrasiveness.  It wears out when it rubs against logs or rocks.  Flouro is much better for this very reason.  And I have had pike snip right through 40 pound braid just this season.  I didn't think they could, but they do.  Some of our lakes have zebra mussels too which are very sharp and if I'm using a bottom contact presentation I need fluoro.

 

Then there's the clear water advantage that fluoro has too.  Not everyone thinks that bass can see fishing line and I'm not totally convinced they can, but in clear, pressured waters, using a fluoro leader is a variable I can control, so I'm going to control it.

[Standard]

I'm not sure how braid got the 'pike won't bite it off' reputation, but I've had those toothy critters slice through braid more often than not.  

 

I've gone to flouro leaders on both of my baitcasting setups.  Started out using a double uni for the braid to leader connection, but have since switched to alberto as I find it easier to tie.  Haven't had one fail.  

 

Floating down the Miss with a buddy earlier this year, he was using straight braid and I had a flouro leader.  I was catching fish, he wasn't.  About halfway through the float I tied a flouro leader on for him and he started catching some.  Not scientific at all (he's not quite as avid a fisherman as me), and even I didn't think that river smallies would care that much about the line.. but it reinforce my decision to use flouro leaders.

[FishTank]

I use straight braid for topwater and heavy cover fishing with a one particular baitcaster and on one finnese spinning combo I use braid with leader.  Other than that, I am not a huge fan of braid but it has its purpose.   I use FC for all other bottom contact baits and jerkbaits but mono for crankbaits.   

 

One my gripes with braid and I have a few, is that I see more damage and wear on reels that use braid all the time.  Line guides,  bearings, gears, etc...  all have signs of more use than reels that use regular FC or mono.  Of course this depends on the reel and how it is used.

[PressuredFishing]

44 minutes ago, FishTank said:

I use straight braid for topwater and heavy cover fishing with a one particular baitcaster and on one finnese spinning combo I use braid with leader.  Other than that, I am not a huge fan of braid but it has its purpose.   I use FC for all other bottom contact baits and jerkbaits but mono for crankbaits.   

 

One my gripes with braid and I have a few, is that I see more damage and wear on reels that use braid all the time.  Line guides,  bearings, gears, etc...  all have signs of more use than reels that use regular FC or mono.  Of course this depends on the reel and how it is used.

Yes I have noticed it's hard on gear as well, I use sic guides and it is better, but don't use on stainless steel guides

[gim]

1 hour ago, Standard said:

I'm not sure how braid got the 'pike won't bite it off' reputation, but I've had those toothy critters slice through braid more often than not.  

I am not sure either lol.  I have tried 30 pound braid and upped to 40 pound this season.  Still didn't prevent it.  Which begs the question, is there any pound test braid that can stand up to those teeth?  50 pound, 65?  I muskie fish with 80 pound braided line and use a steel, titanium, or fluorocarbon leader.

[dodgeguy]

never been bit off by a toothy critter in the 30 years ive used braid.

[TnRiver46]

I think the true answer is buried somewhere underneath a bunch of the best $150 combos and reaction strikes 

[Standard]

15 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

never been bit off by a toothy critter in the 30 years ive used braid.

 

I need some of your luck.  Had straight 40 lb braid to a weightless t-rig worm for throwing into pads / weeds.  Got to the edge of the pads and watched as a big pike came up, snatched the whole thing in his mouth, turned his head and I felt the slightest tug.. cut through that line like butter.  

 

Not a big deal with plastics, but when I'm throwing $8-15 hard lures I'd rather not let the fish keep them.

[OkiePapist]

I'm just getting back into the sport, from when all we used was mono. I have one reel, Lew's LFS Speed Spool, that is straight FC. Everything else I own is mono with an FC leader or straight braid. I love how well I feel the bite and how well braid casts and doesn't backlash. I love FC for its invisibility. I hate working with FC though. Once I run out of FC, i'll likely just run mono leaders.