Braid guys - what's your take? 2024

Team9nine reply :

Given the frequent discussions on this site around braid, I thought Seth Feider's comment was interesting after nearly pulling off the Elite win this weekend. He was using 40 lb. 832 with a 20# fluoro leader.

His reel was spooled with braided line, but he said it was critical to attach the jig to a 3- to 4-foot fluorocarbon leader. "I couldn't get bit on just straight braid," he said.

So braid guys, what's your take? Sponsored shill for fluoro, or legitimate case where straight braid wouldn't cut it?

Enquiring minds want to know

J Francho reply :

Was this at Champ? I say shill, unless he was at the north end, which I doubt.

bigturtle reply :

I always use a leader when possible, theres no downside and you don't have to worry about whether your leader matters or not

Choporoz reply :

I won't speculate as to whether the fish cared. I have no reason to doubt that the pro believed it was important.

CroakHunter reply :

100 percent it affected his fishing, whether the fish could see his line is beyond my educational background. But I am a braid guy, and use a leader for every technique except frogging. It's a confidence thing for me. I would say Thats why he couldn't get bites on straight braid. Happened to me the blast tourney i fished, threw around straight braid, no bites, picked up the rod with the leader in it and started wacking the big ones.

RichF reply :

I grew up fishing the super clear, grass filled lakes of upstate NY.. I've always been able to catch bass flipping in those conditions with straight braid (that's the way I fish 90% of the time). I think that Seth thinks it makes a difference but I also doubt he gave straight braid that much of a chance. I bet he saw clear water and thought he needed something the fish couldn't "see." I use 20lb fluoro quite a bit...it's more than visible.

A-Jay reply :

I watched much of that event on 'bass live'.

Most of the coverage on Seth showed him making very short, possibly target oriented, presentations in the grass.

At hook set, he was often at or very close to vertical on the fish.

Most times the bass was up and out of the grass & into the boat is just a few seconds.

Had the fish been a little more 'buried' in the grass, the nylon may have been somewhat detrimental as it can often get bogged down rather than cutting through it.

As it turned out, seems it helped with getting bites (or at least he believed it did) and didn't seem to adversely affect the landing ratio.

He did catch quite a few very respectable Green bass and even at least one brown one doing it.

A-Jay

fishindad reply :

On 8/1/2017 at 11:57 PM, RichF said:

I grew up fishing the super clear, grass filled lakes of upstate NY.. I've always been able to catch bass flipping in those conditions with straight braid (that's the way I fish 90% of the time). I think that Seth thinks it makes a difference but I also doubt he gave straight braid that much of a chance. I bet he saw clear water and thought he needed something the fish couldn't "see." I use 20lb fluoro quite a bit...it's more than visible.

Though I've never fished those waters in upstate NY, I would guess they are very similar to waters I fish here in MI (clear, mesotrophic) and what Seth F. fishes in MN. I agree with Rich that Seth probably threw a few casts with straight braid and was/is so dialed in to that presentation and the fish that he made that adjustment for whatever reason - rate of fall, toothy critters, visibility, etc and it worked.

Attila reply :

On 8/1/2017 at 11:36 PM, J Francho said:

Was this at Champ? I say shill, unless he was at the north end, which I doubt.

Much like @A-Jay I was watching on Bass Live and it looked like he was due east from the launch site on the eastern part of the lake. Definitely not south of the launch.

I think the fluoro helped him a lot; I know it helps me a lot when I fish topwaters in really pressured, clear water.

A-Jay reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:42 AM, Attila said:

I think the fluoro helped him a lot; I know it helps me a lot when I fish topwaters in really pressured, clear water.

Fluorocarbon line & Topwater ~ That's down right Blasphemous ~ !

A-Jay

fishballer06 reply :

There was an interesting bit on BassLive Friday afternoon with Jason Christie. Jason had a small limit and came upon a grassy area and he was flipping it. He culled out his whole livewell in a matter of 15 minutes in this one area. They commented that they noticed he was using a very heavy sinker in some not so heavy grass. So the cameraman asked Christie what size sinker he was using and why so big?

Jason's response was along the lines of "I'm using straight braid right now, so I'm using a 1.25oz tungsten sinker so that the fall rate is so fast that the fish don't even have time to focus on the braid in the water. They're just going to see this bait falling so quickly that they react to it and bite."

MTPanda reply :

I always tie a leader on my braid. Running pure fluoro is too expensive and braid lasts awhile. I just tie an FG knot and I'm good to go. I don't like pure mono either because of the line memory as well so its pure braid with fluoro leaders and mono leaders for top water

I drop shot and finesse fish a lot so I need whatever help I can get to hide my presentation.

Choporoz reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:48 AM, fishballer06 said:

There was an interesting bit on BassLive Friday afternoon with Jason Christie. Jason had a small limit and came upon a grassy area and he was flipping it. He culled out his whole livewell in a matter of 15 minutes in this one area. They commented that they noticed he was using a very heavy sinker in some not so heavy grass. So the cameraman asked Christie what size sinker he was using and why so big?

Jason's response was along the lines of "I'm using straight braid right now, so I'm using a 1.25oz tungsten sinker so that the fall rate is so fast that the fish don't even have time to focus on the braid in the water. They're just going to see this bait falling so quickly that they react to it and bite."

Had anyone other than an elite said this, I'd have rolled my eyes and stiffled a chuckle...no...I still rolled my eyes and chuckled. It this another new technique we need to learn? Or, was he just conking then on the head with that small brick and the dazed fish didn't know what they were biting? I mean....what???

moguy1973 reply :

Finesse fishing=leader since the bass have a chance to look at the bait a bit.

Reaction fishing(ie cranks, a-rig, fast falling baits, topwater)=straight braid

Scott F reply :

On 8/1/2017 at 11:45 PM, bigturtle said:

I always use a leader when possible, theres no downside and you don't have to worry about whether your leader matters or not

For me, there is a downside to using leaders, which is why I don't use them. Having to keep leader line around, tying extra knots, and having that knot go through my guides on every cast is the downside.

For the pros, I get that they have to try everything they can to put fish in the boat. If there is even a chance that using leaders, scent, electronic fish callers, shutting down depthfinders, or not using trolling motors will put even one more bass in the livewell, they have to do it. I'm not a pro. My lively hood does not depend on me landing every possible fish. I don't have to, and choose not to, go to extremes to catch bass. I do just fine not using leaders, or scent, or technique specific rods. I fish for fun and want to keep it as simple as I can. I seldom get skunked and I enjoy my time on the water.

If whatever the pros do works for them, or works for you...go for it.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

There's just too many variables to assign definitive cause and affect of tweaks in presentation. It could just as well been a timing thing. We can only guess what's in his heart and mind.

J Francho reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:52 AM, Choporoz said:

It this another new technique we need to learn? Or, was he just conking then on the head with that small brick and the dazed fish didn't know what they were biting? I mean....what???

This is not new. Using a heavy weight for a speed drop/reaction bite is pretty old school.

Choporoz reply :

No....but doing it because you're worried about the fish seeing your braid might be

sully420 reply :

I only use leaders on spinning gear, if im useing casting fear i fish braid or floro i dont use leaders on casting gear. When i want the advantages of braid i fish braid and im trying to get a reaction. When i want floro for its sinking ability and invisibility and resistance to pike amd musky teeth i use only floro. I find high quality floro can last for a long time. If seth has confidence in what he was doing than that helped him catch fish.

J Francho reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 1:07 AM, Choporoz said:

No....but doing it because you're worried about the fish seeing your braid might be

You're kidding right? There's a billion and one threads dealing with that since the beginning of braid. That has to be the most often cited reason for using a leader. I think in most cases, it's hooey. I use a leader for other reasons, or more often use straight whatever leader I'd use. In most cases, I feel like the "best of both worlds" argument is actually combining the worst traits of both.

Attila reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:44 AM, A-Jay said:

Fluorocarbon line & Topwater ~ That down right Blasphemous ~ !

A-Jay

Yup, that's me...breaking the rules for the worse.

Attila reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:54 AM, moguy1973 said:

Finesse fishing=leader since the bass have a chance to look at the bait a bit.

Reaction fishing(ie cranks, a-rig, fast falling baits, topwater)=straight braid

What if you fish straight fluorocarbon for crankbaits and spinnerbaits? What if I only use braid for walking style topwaters and use a fluorocarbon leader on poppers which have a frog pattern on them that smallies are coming right up to and looking at during a long, 30 second pause?

Thing is, every presentation may have a nuance to it. It's these nuances that pros and some co's are trying to pick up on which make them more successful.

I'm not going to get into the whole bass can see braid argument...I don't have time. I do know that for me, certain presentations work better running either straight fluorocarbon or a leader of the same. What works for me might not work for others. Has my mind ever been changed? Yes, because before last year I only used mono for topwaters, crankbaits, and jerkbaits.

Heck at least one member here throws his jerkbaits on tieable wire and still catches 5-6lbs smallmouth; what does that do this whole argument?

Anyways, just my 0.02 worth on this matter...

Burtonxj reply :

I usually throw a flouro leader on. Just a confidence thing for me.

RichF reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 12:48 AM, fishballer06 said:

There was an interesting bit on BassLive Friday afternoon with Jason Christie. Jason had a small limit and came upon a grassy area and he was flipping it. He culled out his whole livewell in a matter of 15 minutes in this one area. They commented that they noticed he was using a very heavy sinker in some not so heavy grass. So the cameraman asked Christie what size sinker he was using and why so big?

Jason's response was along the lines of "I'm using straight braid right now, so I'm using a 1.25oz tungsten sinker so that the fall rate is so fast that the fish don't even have time to focus on the braid in the water. They're just going to see this bait falling so quickly that they react to it and bite."

Christie's response was pretty darned professional if you ask me. The pros know that a big part of their job is to promote, not just their sponsors products, but fishing products in general. Christie knows that tackle companies have been pushing the idea of line-shy fish for a long time so he had to provide an explanation for why he was seemingly contradicting that notion while crushing bass using braid in super shallow, gin clear water. I actually applaud him for providing a "plausible" explanation on the fly like that.

Yeajray231 reply :

All my reels, spinning and casting are spooled with braid. The sensitivity, managibility and casting distance are the main reasons . The strength to diameter factor is nice too. That being said, There are quite a few advantages of using a leader other than the obvious and most raved about visibility factor... Using fluoro leader offers a slightly faster sink rate when fishing soft plastics which seems to be big for me in the summer. It will also help keep a jerkbait down on a longer pause... The biggest plus about a leader for me is I can break it off if I get hung up without wasting a bunch of braid. Mono leaders are nice for treble hook baits and its straight braid for me with any top water.

I fished with straight braid for about 8 years and never found bass to be line shy... But the other advantages a leader offers has pushed me in that direction for certain applications .

MassYak85 reply :

I can't say I've done enough side by side comparison to say definitively that the fish are significantly affected by seeing braid.

I'll tell you what I'm not going to start doing....fishing 50lb braid in place of my 12lb fluoro for shakeyheads in 15ft of visibility.

HookRz reply :

look, I don't want to break the news there is no Santa to anyone, but job one for these pros is to sell stuff. That's what buys them their beans. Make no mistake about that. It's been proven fluorocarbon is not invisible in water, any more than tubular glass is invisible in air. He was short pitching. The fish isn't bothered by a huge sparkly boat covered with gaudy adds, a man in a multi-colored sponsor suit, a 4/0 hook, but thin braid freaks them out? Really?

The main tell; who believes he was conducting leader experiments on the water with the tournament (and his salesmanship value) on the line?

That said I usually do use short leads that don't go through the guides , made of actual fluorocarbon leader material, not soft line made to be cast, for abrasion reasons only. I live in the land of toothy critters and Zebra Mussel covered docks. Neither have ant respect for 40# braid.

NHBull reply :

Braid only as long as it doesn't touch the bottom.

If it touches the bottom, it get a FC leader

If my livelihood depended on it, I would do much more testing.

MichaelCopeland reply :

I use straight braid mostly. Sometimes I use some of the mono line I have for a leader, Carolina rig for example. Don't really think it makes much of a difference if any. When I use mono it always seems to get a little out of whack when I tighten my knots down because just pulling the tag end to tighten it doesn't fully secure it for some reason. I don't have that problem with braid plus the knots are way easier to tie with it. Never tried flouro before, can't really afford it. Only reason I have braid is because of an Academy gift card my bossman gave me, otherwise I can't really afford braid either. Probably shoulda got some flouro with it too. Didn't think about it at the time I guess.

Mike L reply :

Straight Braid for select presentation's

Flouro or hybrid for everything else.

Mike

Bluebasser86 reply :

One of the lakes I fish for smallmouth has really clear water but I have no problems catching them on straight braid. Might make a difference to get a couple extra bites, but not enough for me to bother with tying a leader. Now if I was dragging bottom in the rocks and zebra mussels I would for the abrasion resistance.

GrumpyOlPhartte reply :

All this stuff is w-a-a-a-y too techie for me. Except for frogging, jigging, and finesse fishing my comfort line/leader combo is 30-pound braid with 12/15-pound fluorocarbon leader. Don't know about bass vision and deduction capabilities, but I fish from a kayak and when I get snagged, I'd rather try to break off the leader than the braid. After having to cut many feet of braid to free a snag, I adopted the aforementioned combo. Besides, if I want to switch to a jig I just clip off the leader and tie on a jig. (Dang! I sound so amateurish!)

lmbfisherman reply :

I think it is all in ones' head, what they are confident in. I've caught bass with yellow straight braid and white, while confidence is more important...what I think what matters most is how the line presents the lure in my opinion. For example straight braid would take more focus walking the dog if you didn't have the proper slack and jerked too quickly. While if you had a mono leader the action would be easier to present. Another example when I was fishing a pike tourney in May, I had steel leaders. I wasn't getting bites anywhere all morning. As soon as I removed the leader I started landing pike. In this example I was using a Berkley Cutter 110+. I think the steel leader just made the action the pike didn't want that morning. I've caught them before with steel leaders no problem. At least this is what I think happens, the line makes a difference in lure action in my humble opinion.

fishindad reply :

On 8/2/2017 at 9:13 AM, HookRz said:

look, I don't want to break the news there is no Santa to anyone, but job one for these pros is to sell stuff. That's what buys them their beans. Make no mistake about that.

I respectfully disagree in the sense any professional athlete in any sport needs to step into the winner's circle in order to attract and, maintain sponsors. If these guys (and gals) aren't catching fish and placing in the money on a consistent basis, their sponsorship dollars shrink or disappear. Same with golf, tennis, whatever. In know this is getting off topic but I've been thinking about team9nine's original query (with apologies to T9 for the long post).

You better believe these pros are ultra competitive and want to win more than anything. And not just to satisfy their sponsors. I guarantee they will do just about anything to win short of cheating. Look at how fast dropshotting, spybaiting, Neko rigging, just to name a few recent examples, took off with the pros. If tying on a used Cuban cigar on 25 lb. mono was the new deal you better believe these guys will be on it. So was Seth (and Jason Christie) telling the truth or were they just saying those things to sell sponsor product? These pros are so dialed in and have presentations absolutely mastered down to the finest detail - they better or they don't make the cut. I would bet Feider has fished jigs using straight braid, straight fluoro, mono, braid with fluoro/mono enough that he knows having a 3 foot leader of 20 lb fluoro with that jig was the deal that day. Whether you or I want to believe that or accept that is up to us. To me, Seth is like a young AMart, always thinking outside the box and so in tune with the fish and their presentations. Whatever his rationale was who's to say but I will bet a lot of pros are paying real close attention to what he is doing out there. He and Aaron are somewhat anomalies in that they aren't the prototypical "Southern boys" - nor is Ike or Brandon P. for that matter. And it's great for the sport, especially since I live North of the Mason-Dixon line, lol.

Me personally, I don't really care nor do I think worrying about such details will make that much difference, to me, in a day's fishing. Just like most of us I do what works for me and what gives me the most confidence given the limited time on the water. Sure, if I fished for a living I would definitely experiment all the time with such details because it most certainly can and would make a difference between cashing a check or not. Where I fish there are tons of muskies and I've lost plenty of $$$ jerkbaits to bite-offs that I always have a fluoro leader. And still get bit off (yes, I know the diff between a bite-off and a knot failure). There's no one single perfect line choice but we all know enough that there's usually a perfect line choice or combination of lines for our own personal bass fishing situations.

TOXIC reply :

Back on topic..... Straight braid for me. I have fished a crystal clear marl bottomed chain of lakes in Wisconsin for 20 years and Lake St Clair for 15 years straight. My problem with a leader is that you are adding another failure point. I don't like to tempt fate. I usually lose.

riverbasser reply :

I dont use any leader unless I'm fishing a C-rig. Either straight braid, fluro or mono. I use all 3. Does fluro help me get bites I wouldnt on braid? I have no clue but I use it anyway unless I'm fishing thick vegetation. I spool about 50 yards of fluro on my reels at a time with mono underneath and I do the same with braid. Cost is about 4 bucks difference doing it this way.

S Hovanec reply :

Don't know the situation, but here's a little experiment I did a few years ago. I fished 2 identical setups on Erie, one with straight braid and one with braid and a 6# floro leader. The only bites I got were on the rod with leader.

Rick Howard reply :

I don't get it... Why use the braid at all?

Choporoz reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 4:07 AM, Rick Howard said:

I don't get it... Why use the braid at all?

manageability (no coils), durability, casting distance, sensitivity, visibility, cost, low maintenance

YMMV on any one of those points, but collectively....well, hard to argue against most anyone using it for some applications

Tim Kelly reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 2:00 AM, TOXIC said:

Back on topic..... Straight braid for me. I have fished a crystal clear marl bottomed chain of lakes in Wisconsin for 20 years and Lake St Clair for 15 years straight. My problem with a leader is that you are adding another failure point. I don't like to tempt fate. I usually lose.

If you have no zebra mussels that approach is fine, but if they are present braid gets sliced too easily.

J Francho reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 4:10 AM, Tim Kelly said:

If you have no zebra mussels that approach is fine, but if they are present braid gets sliced too easily.

Cayuga Lake: where the zebes grow ON THE MILFOIL!

A-Jay reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 4:11 AM, J Francho said:

Cayuga Lake: where the zebes grow ON THE MILFOIL!

See now ~ That's just a really Dirty Trick right there ~

So is that when you braid the Fluoro & Braid mainline together ?

A-Jay

J Francho reply :

15# CXX works fine. Retie often. Don't whine about the memory.

fishindad reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 4:35 AM, J Francho said:

15# CXX works fine. Retie often. Don't whine about the memory.

John, I only know you through your posts and replies on BFHP and you come across as someone who doesn't whine about much of anything ?

HookRz reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 1:05 AM, fishindad said:

I respectfully disagree in the sense any professional athlete in any sport needs to step into the winner's circle in order to attract and, maintain sponsors. If these guys (and gals) aren't catching fish and placing in the money on a consistent basis, their sponsorship dollars shrink or disappear. Same with golf, tennis, whatever. In know this is getting off topic but I've been thinking about team9nine's original query (with apologies to T9 for the long post).

You better believe these pros are ultra competitive and want to win more than anything. And not just to satisfy their sponsors. I guarantee they will do just about anything to win short of cheating. Look at how fast dropshotting, spybaiting, Neko rigging, just to name a few recent examples, took off with the pros. If tying on a used Cuban cigar on 25 lb. mono was the new deal you better believe these guys will be on it. So was Seth (and Jason Christie) telling the truth or were they just saying those things to sell sponsor product? These pros are so dialed in and have presentations absolutely mastered down to the finest detail - they better or they don't make the cut. I would bet Feider has fished jigs using straight braid, straight fluoro, mono, braid with fluoro/mono enough that he knows having a 3 foot leader of 20 lb fluoro with that jig was the deal that day. Whether you or I want to believe that or accept that is up to us. To me, Seth is like a young AMart, always thinking outside the box and so in tune with the fish and their presentations. Whatever his rationale was who's to say but I will bet a lot of pros are paying real close attention to what he is doing out there. He and Aaron are somewhat anomalies in that they aren't the prototypical "Southern boys" - nor is Ike or Brandon P. for that matter. And it's great for the sport, especially since I live North of the Mason-Dixon line, lol.

Me personally, I don't really care nor do I think worrying about such details will make that much difference, to me, in a day's fishing. Just like most of us I do what works for me and what gives me the most confidence given the limited time on the water. Sure, if I fished for a living I would definitely experiment all the time with such details because it most certainly can and would make a difference between cashing a check or not. Where I fish there are tons of muskies and I've lost plenty of $$$ jerkbaits to bite-offs that I always have a fluoro leader. And still get bit off (yes, I know the diff between a bite-off and a knot failure). There's no one single perfect line choice but we all know enough that there's usually a perfect line choice or combination of lines for our own personal bass fishing situations.

You have a right to your opinion but I wouldn't cal fishing sales persons athletes. Know any? They live on sponsor salary, not winnings. Examine their contracts.

J Francho reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 5:03 AM, fishindad said:

John, I only know you through your posts and replies on BFHP and you come across as someone who doesn't whine about much of anything ?

What's BFHP? And I whine about anything, lol.

Hurricane reply :

I have given up on braid... I really don't need it for the waters I fish anyway...

bowhunter63 reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 9:08 PM, Chris. said:

I have given up on braid... I really don't need it for the waters I fish anyway...

Hurricane reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 9:23 PM, bowhunter63 said:

x2

Its more of a pain in the ass....

Rick Howard reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 4:10 AM, Choporoz said:

manageability (no coils), durability, casting distance, sensitivity, visibility, cost, low maintenance

YMMV on any one of those points, but collectively....well, hard to argue against most anyone using it for some applications

My thinking was that if you tie floro to braid you only increase your chances of knot failure by adding more knots. Also it seems you would lose the sensitivity of braid by tying the floro to it?

To me its a one of the other type of thing. But then again, I am not betting my mortgage on fishing lol. I don't spend nearly as much time figuring this stuff out as I would if it was my source of income. That said, I do think we tend to over think this stuff a little

J Francho reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 10:11 PM, Rick Howard said:

My thinking was that if you tie floro to braid you only increase your chances of knot failure by adding more knots.

If they are two well tied knots, physics says that each knot carries less burden, as the number knots increases. Hmmm.

I used to make that argument, too. All the while, fishing for steelhead and salmon using a centerpin, float rigging, and 8# line. The terminal rig has no less than 5 knots. The fish sometimes run more than double the line rating. If there was an issue with knots, that situation would shake it out.

fissure_man reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 10:56 PM, J Francho said:

If they are two well tied knots, physics says that each knot carries less burden, as the number knots increases. Hmmm.

Hmmm indeed

Your rod-reel-line-knot-hook system is only as strong as the weakest link. If we accept there is some variance in achieved knot strength, then each additional variable-strength knot you tie in series increases the likelihood that one of them will be weak enough to fail (like Russian Roulette, how many times do you want to spin and pull the trigger?)

That said, 100 well-tied knots in a row are just as strong a single well-tied knot, and are stronger than a single poorly tied knot. So if you tie your knots properly and use appropriate gear and drag setting, knot failure should be a non-issue (salmon/steelhead example).

On the other hand, if you’re really bad at tying and QC-ing knots, to the extent that any given knot may be dramatically weaker than the previous (becoming likely to break under normal fishing conditions), then yes, keeping the # of knots to an absolute minimum may technically help you. But that doesn’t address the problem - just tie better knots!

=============

In response to the OP:

I think there is some pressure on the pros as ‘experts’ to maintain the impression that every part of their presentation is dialed in to the finest, near-scientific detail. Is it really?

How often do multiple anglers come in after fishing similar (or the same) areas, each having divined a different ‘best’ presentation/line/lure/color? Even if one caught more than the rest, what was the critical difference? Rarely is it crystal clear.

Experimentation happens most when things aren’t working, but even then, how often are variables tested independently (is it even possible?)? Maybe Seth tied on the fluoro leader at the same time as drifting onto an active fish, or it coincided with the fish turning on for some (any) other reason. Maybe it was the line, who knows? 20 lb fluoro is hardly stealthy to me, and much thicker than 40 lb braid. Was it the visibility? Lack of visibility? Stiffness? Effect on fall rate? Water displacement signature? Sound rubbing on the weeds? Would 15 lb have worked better, worse, equal? Would 25 lb have worked at all? There’s no time on tournament day to even try to answer these questions - when you find a system that works, duplicate it. Come interview time, state your best educated guesses as fact, mix in ample sponsor plugs, and you're good to go

BassNJake reply :

On 8/4/2017 at 3:41 AM, S Hovanec said:

Don't know the situation, but here's a little experiment I did a few years ago. I fished 2 identical setups on Erie, one with straight braid and one with braid and a 6# floro leader. The only bites I got were on the rod with leader.

I fished Erie a few times for smallmouth where only 6lb floro would get a bite, whether it be on a leader or straight flourocarbon.

8lb floro was too heavy/visible as well as 8 or 6 lb mono, It's my opinion they were "spooked" or more wary of the line.

We were fishing in 12-18 ft of water targeting individual groups of boulders way out in no mans land.

So a lot different than flipping weeds.

With that being said why do people use as light of a floro leader as they can get away with?

If floro was as invisible as they say, 20lb could be used instead of 6lb and you wouldn't have the break offs.

I think floro is harder to see than mono or braid but not invisible.

I also believe it is another tool that has a place and time when it can be more beneficial.

S Hovanec reply :

On 8/5/2017 at 4:36 AM, BassNJake said:

With that being said why do people use as light of a floro leader as they can get away with?

If floro was as invisible as they say, 20lb could be used instead of 6lb and you wouldn't have the break offs.

I don't think it's the visibility, it's the stiffness of the line. Light line does not impede the action of the bait the way heavier line does.

2396

Braid guys - what's your take? 2024

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