Should I use a leader with braid?

[woolleyfooley]

23 hours ago, Zcoker said:

 

I’m on the east coast, west palm area 

 

Not a good reason, imho. The only way that I’m able to save most all lures when snagged is by having heavy strait braid. I fish the Glades cover all over the place and I can’t remember losing a fishing lure to a snag.  

So do you use FC line for any techniques? Or braid on everything? Really curious!

23 hours ago, Zcoker said:

 

I’m on the east coast, west palm area 

 

Not a good reason, imho. The only way that I’m able to save most all lures when snagged is by having heavy strait braid. I fish the Glades cover all over the place and I can’t remember losing a fishing lure to a snag.  

So do you use FC line for any techniques? Or braid on everything? Really curious!

[Zcoker]

2 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

So do you use FC line for any techniques? Or braid on everything? Really curious!

 

 

No. I use braid on everything. Strait braid. Once upon a time I played around with floro & mono leaders, floro line, and finally gave up because of all the failures, lost fish, broken leaders, lost lures, just wasn’t for me. And, besides, not the slightest difference in the amount of fish that I catch as well as the size. The use of braid on all my reals is like a forgotten subject. It just works with the least amount of maintenance, lasting a very long, long time. 

[woolleyfooley]

21 hours ago, Zcoker said:

 

No. I use braid on everything. Strait braid. Once upon a time I played around with floro & mono leaders, floro line, and finally gave up because of all the failures, lost fish, broken leaders, lost lures, just wasn’t for me. And, besides, not the slightest difference in the amount of fish that I catch as well as the size. The use of braid on all my reals is like a forgotten subject. It just works with the least amount of maintenance, lasting a very long, long time. 

Gotcha. Thanks! Were you losing fish and lures with FC due to snags? Were you losing fish because they would wrap you up in vegetation?

[Zcoker]

38 minutes ago, woolleyfooley said:

Gotcha. Thanks! Were you losing fish and lures with FC due to snags? Were you losing fish because they would wrap you up in vegetation?

 

I few of them. The glades is loaded with structure, impossible to define. The heavy braid makes it very easy to break a lure loose. Also, one little kink in the floro can send a whole cast sailing away, literally emptying the spool. The knots, too, if not tied correctly will snap. I just can’t be bothered with all those possibilities. Like I said, briad on all my reels is like a forgotten subject. I’m not worried about where I cast or what I hook. It’s all coming back in to me! 

[MickD]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:47 PM, dodgeguy said:

Its obvious that some of you don't fish around rocks with zebra mussles or in pike infested waters either.  Both of those will rip through braided line like butter.

I keep wondering why, if braid is so easy to be "ripped through," by rocks, why are braid scissors not made out of rocks?  Just wondering.

[dodgeguy]

1 hour ago, MickD said:

I keep wondering why, if braid is so easy to be "ripped through," by rocks, why are braid scissors not made out of rocks?  Just wondering.

I did not say that.

[MickD]

11 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

I did not say that.

I was sort of joking, but with a little "truth."  The truth is that if braid is so fragile in fishing environments, why does it take special scissors to cut it?  I fish over a lot of rocks and zebra mussels and have not found braid to be a problem.  Most of the time it's the leader that comes into contact with the structure.  I didn't mean to insult or offend.  Sorry if I did.

[r83srock]

I’m not a fan of leaders. Strait braid or strait mono. Rods that I use treble hook baits, except maybe a big topwater or a trap in grass, I will use mono. I keep to similar spinning setups in the boat, one with straight braid for wacky rigs, flukes and one with mono for Ned’s, tubes, grubs. I could go straight braid on everything and be totally happy. If I have a rod with straight braid on it and need to fish something, anything, I just tie it on and don’t sweat it. I had too many issues with leaders.

[dodgeguy]

4 hours ago, MickD said:

I was sort of joking, but with a little "truth."  The truth is that if braid is so fragile in fishing environments, why does it take special scissors to cut it?  I fish over a lot of rocks and zebra mussels and have not found braid to be a problem.  Most of the time it's the leader that comes into contact with the structure.  I didn't mean to insult or offend.  Sorry if I did.

No offense  taken