Fishing with leaders

[FishingBuds]

(lets be sure to stay on subject)

why are there some fishing with leaders in fresh water fishen?

examples of some is the 12# mono with #6 mono leader. isn't the chance of the line breaking with the #6 still the same? to me if your taking a chance with #6 why not spool with #6.

braid line with a floro leader. Theres not much cost difference between them, why not use all floro?

Why deal with the knots?

what am I missing here on these two issues? What is the biggest advantage that out ways these issues, besides a easy answer of it catches fish, would love to have someone explain.

seriously, is the leader thing just something that happened to sneak in freshwater fishing and its what is passed down to others? To me it seems there is no big advantage but just get us to buy more line?

[Simp]

For me I use braid on a spinning rod because it handles SOOO much better then mono or fluro. However most of the time I use a leader because I''m often in clear water conditions. When it's muddy I"ll go straight braid.

[Crestliner2008]

The reason for using a fluoro leader with any braid is two fold - abrasion resistance and visibility. Braid frays quickly when confronted with wood, rock or bottom debris. The fluoro acts like a buffer is all.

In clear water situations fluoro has an advantage in that it's nearly invisible. It does stretch, so it can also act as a shock absorber to the braid - which doesn't stretch at all.

All in all, there are a lot of reasons to use a leader in freshwater angling. I have never heard of a mono leader with a mono main line though! That's a new one on me.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I fish with four rods. Three casting, one spinning. Two of the casting and my spinning rod are spooled with braid. I use fluoro leaders on all of them. The other casting is spooled with all fluoro. The only time I don't is when I'm frogging, then it's straight braid.

I find braid to be much more castable than just fluoro or mono. I get less backlashes, and if I do, they are much easier to remove. I can all but turn off any brakes on the reel and just hurl a lure out.  I also absolutely love the sensitivity with braid. Lots of the water I fish is fairly clear, and I do believe that the fluoro leader does increase in the bites I get from being less visible. My cranking rod is spooled with all fluoro because well, I wanted a little bit of stretch and the invisibility. I may swap that out to braid with a fluoro leader at some point though.

[fishfordollars]

As of today I have never fished a line with a leader except a c-rig. All others are either braid, flouro, or mono. NO leader.

[iceintheveins]

I use a fluoro leader when using braid because our waters are generally pretty clear and fluoro doesn't abrade. If I'm fishing a frog I will use a mono leader on my braid, or straight braid if the cover is very thick.

[FishingBuds]

how long of a leader are you guys using?

and I appreciate your alls feed back cause for what I know about using leaders it just doesn't seem like a BIG advantage, I understand where your coming from on using floro with braid. I have (when in use) used nothing but braid and I know my strikes so maybe I might do an experiment to see if my strikes increase by adding a floro leader.

some of ya mention mono and I have slowly went away from mono. I never have used mono for frogs? witch brings to mind, stretch. Is it a good thing to have stretch? seems the market steers you away from stretch, it sure has convinced me so far.

[SimonDM17]

I'll use a leader for:

Visibility

Abrasion resistance (or pickerel resistance)

Getting a lure to run shallower or deeper

Giving a walk-the-dog lure better action

A C-rig

I don't generally use leaders longer than 4' bass fishing.  I'll use up to 7' for trout.  I also like to use a leader if I'm fishing a treble hook lure on braid, I feel like the extra stretch keeps the hooks from coming out as often. 

[SoFlaBassAddict]

how long of a leader are you guys using?

and I appreciate your alls feed back cause for what I know about using leaders it just doesn't seem like a BIG advantage, I understand where your coming from on using floro with braid. I have (when in use) used nothing but braid and I know my strikes so maybe I might do an experiment to see if my strikes increase by adding a floro leader.

some of ya mention mono and I have slowly went away from mono. I never have used mono for frogs? witch brings to mind, stretch. Is it a good thing to have stretch? seems the market steers you away from stretch, it sure has convinced me so far.

Leader length for me really depends on what I'm doing.  Mostly though, I concern myself when I'm pitching.  I like the leader knot to be right outside the tip top of the rod when I'm holding the lure to make a pitch.  If I'm tying on a drop shot, my leader is generally about one and a half rod lengths.  On average, I probably use a six or seven foot leader.

I have used mono leader when I use braid with cranks.  I think the extra stretch helped out on the hooksets.  Now that I've grabbed a cranking style rod, if I ever put braid on it I'll probably use fluoro because of the rod action.

[FishingBuds]

I'll use a leader for:

Visibility

Abrasion resistance (or pickerel resistance)

Getting a lure to run shallower or deeper

Giving a walk-the-dog lure better action

A C-rig

I don't generally use leaders longer than 4' bass fishing. I'll use up to 7' for trout. I also like to use a leader if I'm fishing a treble hook lure on braid, I feel like the extra stretch keeps the hooks from coming out as often.

what Line & Leader combo are you using on the walk the dog?

[Redhed]

the only leaders i use in fresh water is for C rigs and (this may not be technically a leader) but when i fish light line (6lb-8lb) on my spin rod and want to use an unweighted plastic i use a swivel about 12-16 inches above the hook to help with line twist. plus this helps the unweighted lure to swim correctly without twisting itself around and around... i slay fish on an unweighted worm around grass and structure. i mean kill'em.. (assuming thats what they want for the day).. i always keep an unweighted rig on the boat or pond fishing.

[Crestliner2008]

how long of a leader are you guys using?

Try a 6' - 10' fluoro leader for starters, with your braid. It's optimal to have the connecting knot on the spool of your reel when you are ready to cast. And use an albright knot for the connection, with a touch of super glue (Zap-A-Gap is great stuff!).

The albright is much slimmer a knot than the uni-uni so it passes through guides much easier. The purpose of the glue is to fill the gaps in the windings (has nothing to do with adding strength) to accomplish the same purpose - smoother flow through the guides.

[joeyd50]

I fish 20lb golden braid with about a 2 foot leader of 17lb fluoro on spinning gear, it really does handle great and I can see the braid real good

[stealthcaster]

I fish 30lb braid with a 6 foot 15lb clear mono leader, using alberto's knot. LOVE it for all bass fishing applications!  I used to use fluorocarbon, but I recently switched to mono and it certainly doesn't seem like I catch any less fish.

[gobig]

Many of us out West use braid with a floro leader on our dropshot set up because of sensitivity (We fish deep. Its not uncommon to fish 50+ feet) and the line twist is almost eliminated. Rather than changing line often, you change the leader.