Clear water and Braid

[bubbler]

oh so i was fishing clear lake and i replaced most o my soft plastic combos with braid and about a 8-12 pound floro leader....is that ok for clear high pressure water

[Tin]

Yes but if you are fishing cover don't even bother witht he leader.

[ilovefooffur]

I prefer to use mono or flouro when the water is clear.

[ww2farmer]

With the exceptions of some late summer alge blooms, the water I fish is very clear, 15+ feet of visability most of the time. I use braid with no leader quite often when fishing in the weeds, I catch them just fine. I have used a leader..........didn't catch any more, or less, same with straight fluorocarbon, so for me it's an easy choice, I use the braid. It has far more advantages in weeds than negatives, you get better hook sets with the no stretch line, you have the strength to get a fish's head turned and up-n-out of the cover, and it last's a long time.

Now, if your fishing Smallmouth, use fluorocarbon, either a leader, or as the main line. I have seen that make a differance, a BIG differance. If your cover is wood or rock I would use fluoro. as well, braid and abbrasion causing cover is not a good mix. The only time I use braid in an abrasive situation is dock skipping. It skips great, and again it gets the fish out of there and headed to me fast, I have not seen any negative effect on catch rates using braid for this either, even in gin glear water. Just be sure toretie often,any nicks in the braid from rubbing on dock posts and the line is sure to break. With any kind of open water situation, reguardless of species, go with fluorocarbon..............thats just how I do it.