Do I NEED a leader for braid?

[Andrew Coleman]

I have one spinning rod that i do everything with, and i don't want to put a leader on whenever i switch my lure. I'm fishing in water where usually u can only see about a 1ft down and there are a ton of rocks, logs, branches, and weeds for me to fray my line on and i want somthing tougher. but i'm not willing to tie on leaders. I've heard of people taking a sharpie and making some dashes on their line because it makes it harder for a bass to see the dashed line?

[Bass XL]

No, you don't have to. If it is clear water though, I would suggest putting a leader on.

[Marty]

I don't use a leader in any water clarity.

[fishbear]

The lakes i fish are generally very very clear and highly pressured, so yes, I always put a flourocarbon leader on my braid.  Not taking any chances.

[Fishing Doug]

I don't use a leader in any water clarity.

X2

I don't fish braid a lot, but I never have a leader. Not a fan of having another knot between me and the fish.

[SimonSays]

for me it depends on the color braid you're using, green or red I feel is ok w/o a leader.  High Vis-Bright yellow however...leader it up...

also adding a leader on allows for you to keep your braid on infinitely longer since you're only cutting the leader up when tying knots.  Food for thought.

[Speed Worm]

The biggest disadvantage of braid/microfilament is the knot strength. The reality is that braid is a great product but not all mono knots work on braid. I would only trust 2 knots tied to braid: bimini and double uni. For me, tying braid to a hook or lure is a huuuuge no-no, since braid tends to slip. Just fishing 101.

Btw, there is a million posts about this subject. Do some searching.

[vicdotcom]

I usually do not put a leader on my braid lines.  But I fish in Fl where the water is pretty murky usually.  The only reason I put a leader on is if I am fishing some thick bushes and trees.  This is only because if I get caught up, having all braid is pretty tough to break off.  So when I am around that cover I use a leader so that if I get caught up, it will break off easier at the knot.

Vic

[Grey Wolf]

NO!!!!!

[Long Mike]

I fish with braid on all my rods, both bait-caster and spinning.  I also use a fluro leader on all of them, for the reasons cited above.  I use a Stren knot to tie the flouro to the braid.  I have never had that knot fail.  When I have had to break my line, it always fails at the palomor knot on the hook/lure.

[Dan:]

I use a leader in clear water but if it is stained to muddy I just tie the bait directly to the braid. For a leader though, I would recommend the Double Uni-Knot. It's not hard to learn or tie and it is very strong.

[CookieMonst3r]

Like many, I only use a leader when the water is clear. Double uni knot, is the knot I tie.

[Andrew Coleman]

Well I think ima get some braid(spiderwire) tomortrow hopefully or the next day. Thanks for the input guys!

[Grey Wolf]

Well I think ima get some braid(spiderwire) tomortrow hopefully or the next day. Thanks for the input guys!

Why spider wire ?

[adclem]

I would use either Power Pro or Suffix.  These seem to be the two most popular.  Power Pro also comes with compression tape to help mount the line to your reel better as well as the Ez-spool box, very nice feature.

Later,

[MichBassMan]

I use green 50# power pro on both my jigging rods. Started out with leaders for about a year and then quit using a leader regardless of water clarity. I haven noticed a drop off in bites at all. In fact I think I catch more fish because I spend less time with the leader hastle. Also I don't need to fret about a knot banging my guides anymore.

[family guy]

i always use a flouro/mono leader on braid,call it a shock absorber if you will,like the uni to uni knot,very strong,and if/when you get a snag it's easier to brake off the leader than the main line,cause braid always breaks more than what lb's it's rated,in my experiance anyway.

[ww2farmer]

I used to be anti-leader, as my home lake is not really clear and I never felt the need for it. But as I have traveled around more this season fishing tournaments on other, clearer, bodys of water, I have seen the difference in the number of bites I get with a leader, and with out. So from now on in clear water braid will be fished with a fluro leader, or not fished at all.