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Is there an advantage to fishing braid with a leader? I am reading alot where guys will use 65 lb braid with a 20 lb leader in heavy cover???? Would the leader not break before the braid ??? so wouldnt straight 20 lb line be the same? Just wondering before i go drop 30 dollars on some power pro.
Braid is much more sensitive and no stretch when setting the hook with a lot of line out fishing deep.
[QUOTE=transamz9;506992]Braid is much more sensitive and no stretch when setting the hook with a lot of line out fishing deep.[/QUOTE]
I can see that would help in deep water,like drop shotting. but if i am fishing a brush pile and the jig gets snagged i dont see where the 65 lb braid is going to do any better than the 20 lb leader. you know the whole weakest link thing. 90 % of the time it is the lure gettin hung in the cover not the line.
what I am talking about when the PROs go on about fishing heavy cover and switchin to braid with a leader. Am i just not seeing it? Setting here waitin for the bulb to go off.
If i got my truck stuck in a mud hole why would i use a 5000 lb tow rope with a 200 lb tow rope tied to the end to pull it out?
Braid for feel and durability, and the fluoro leader for less visibility. If the bite is finicky, sometimes you slowly pick up the rod to check if the fish is on. The leader having more stretch helps keep you from pulling it away from the fish.
The braid has no stretch and if youre flipping heavy brush it gets the fish headed your direction as soon as you set the hook. Every second longer you give that fish in the brush then its that much more likely to hang you up
If you are flipping and pitching and it is not really heavy cover just use mono or floro. If you are dragging a jig in 30ft of water the braid with a leader is a good option because of the extra feeling and no stretch.
I have one rod and reel that I use only for flipping and pitching. It's 7.6 heavy action rod with a pro qualifier reel spooled with 65lb super sonic braid. I've never used a leader but if I was fishing gin clear water then I would give it some thought. I like the braid for the sencetivity and the strength so I can pull the big boys out of cover. I see the reasoning for the fluro leader but in my opinion you really don't need it for Nolin lake.
To answer your first question, of course the leader will break first, provided your knot is up to snuff. This is a good thing because you don't have to retie at the leader, which means you haven't wasted any of that precious braid. That might make me seem like a real tightwad, but I'm on a fixed income and my @$$#%!# puckers every time I clip the tag end of braid.
To me, the biggest advantage of braid is its limpness. It casts better and has absolutely no memory. When you've had fluoro on a reel for a while, it starts getting memory and every single coil in it after the cast detracts from the sensitivity. That's the game changer right there for me.
The braid is so limp & has so much sensitivity & the florocarbon leader is way more invisible than braid & floro sinks too. Plus you can flat snap a rod in short order using strictly braid unless you back your drag off. Way better off to lose a jig & leader than a rod.