Should You Use a Leader with Braided Line?

Braided fishing line can be a great product, but it stands out.  It’s usually dark green, black, brown, or even bright yellow—none of which are exactly subtle.  Given that, it’s only normal to wonder if fish can see it, or if you should use a leader with braided line. 

As with most questions about fishing, “it depends.”  You don’t need to use a leader with braided line if you’re fishing in murky water or with fast moving baits such as spinnerbaits. You should consider using a leader with braid if fish are likely to have a long look at your lure or if you’re in very clear water.  There is also some benefit to using a fluorocarbon leader with braided line if you’re fishing around sharp obstructions like barnacle-encrusted piers or rocks that are likely to cause abrasions.

Let’s spend a little time discussing the pros and cons of using a leader so you can make an educated decision and optimize your time on the water.

The Benefits of Using a Leader with Braided Line

If you’re going to tie on a leader to any fishing line, it needs to serve the purpose of minimizing the main line’s drawbacks and flaws. With braid, the four biggest issues are visibility, abrasion resistance, and (ironically) its strength and rigidity.

A Leader Is Less Likely to be Seen Than Braid

As mentioned earlier, braided line is exceptionally visible in the water. It is basically colored rope, and unless you’re in very murky water or fishing around similarly-colored vegetation, it’s going to stand out.

This doesn’t really matter much if you’re using a fast technique where the fish aren’t going to get a good look at the lure. I’ve never found the need to tie on a leader when using a spinnerbait, for example, as the fish have such little time to make a decision and react that they aren’t going to notice the line.

It can, however, make a huge difference if you have a slower presentation such as a drop shot or plastic worm where you expect the fish to size up your offering and consider its options, especially if you’re in clear what were the braid is going to stick out.

Fluorocarbon is a great leader material because it is practically invisible underwater. This eliminates one of braid’s main drawbacks, which might be the difference between catching fish or going home empty handed.

Some Leader Materials are More Abrasion-Resistant Than Braid

Given how braided line is renowned for its strength, this might seem a bit counter-intuitive, but braided line isn’t very abrasion-resistant. In fact, it’s actually very easy to cut with scissors or even the sharp edge of a rock.

If you’re fishing for toothy predators or around rocks or barnacles, you might consider adding a fluorocarbon leader. While it won’t be as foolproof as a wire leader, it is less likely to be sliced through than braid and also is much less visible than wire.

A Leader is a Handy Breaking Point

While braid isn’t that abrasion-resistant, it is exceptionally strong, especially if it is pulled straight back. This makes it very difficult to break off if you lure happens to snag on an obstacle. In fact, trying to break it off can damage your equipment or even hurt you if you aren’t careful as the braid will tend to dig into whatever is pulling it, be that the spool, or your hand.

The point where the leader and braid attach is a weak spot. As we’ll see in the drawbacks section, that isn’t always a good thing, but in this case we can use it to our advantage. If you happen to get snagged, it is substantially easier to break off if you’re using some sort of leader than if you were fishing with straight braid.

A Leader Reduces Braid’s Stretch

While a major selling point for braided line is how it has very little stretch, that’s not always a good thing. If you are using lures with treble hooks such as crankbaits or top water poppers, you really want a little bit of stretch in your hook set or else you run the risk of ripping the thin hooks out of the fish’s mouth.

Sometimes, adding a leader allows you to get certain benefits of braid (such as how it can be used season after season) with certain presentations that are really better off with monofilament.

The Drawbacks of Using a Leader with Braided Line

As we’ve seen, there are plenty of good reasons to use a leader in the right situations, but it’s important to remember that like everything else, it has its time and place.  There are several drawbacks that you need to be aware of. Specifically, it is one more thing to do, one more thing to fail, it can reduce your casting distance, it nullifies some of braids advantages, and it is often an unnecessary placebo.

It’s One More Thing to Do

I’m not trying to come across as lazy here but I will point out that fishing is a major multi-tasking event in the first place, especially if the wind is blowing or you have kids in the boat. I often bring my children out with me so I favor simplicity whenever possible. Using a leader is one more knot to tie which is not always the easiest thing to do with a full boat.

I am a huge believer in efficiency, especially when I have kids on the boat, so I usually prefer to just use a straight line without a leader. The more complicated your rig, the more frustrating fishing can be come in situations where you can’t devote 100% concentration to the task at hand.

It’s One More Thing to Fail

As mentioned earlier, this can be a double-edged sword. The connection point of your leader is going to be the weak spot in your rig. Sometimes you want this, such as when you’re stuck in the rocks. Other times, this is terrifying (such as when you have a huge fish on the line).

This also goes hand in hand with “it’s one more thing to do” discussed above. Any time that you add another knot, you have another knot that you need to keep an eye on and check as it can weaken over time.

Casting Distance Can Be Reduced

Regardless of the type of knot you choose to connect your leader to your main line, it’s going to create a little bump that is going to rub against your line guides while casting. If you’re using larger diameter lines, this bump can be substantial and can reduce your casting distance.

This probably won’t be a deal breaker or even that noticeable, but it is something to be aware of. When you’re power fishing you’re trying to cover as much water as possible over the course of the day and a foot off of each cast adds up over time.

Using a Leader Nullifies Braided Line’s Advantages

Two of braided line’s main strengths are that it can saw through vegetation with ease, and that it has virtually no stretch. Adding a leader will nullify both of these advantages.

Braid Cuts Through Vegetation – Leaders Don’t

A major advantage of braid is that it is sharp and will cut through aquatic vegetation easily. This will often enable you to work a lure through some gunk without fouling it, which means that fish will have a better chance of being deceived by the lure and biting.

This also makes braid great for shallow water trolling for species such as chain pickerel as you can often cut weeds off the line with a quick snap of the rod, rather than needing to reel the entire set up in and start over.

If you add a leader, you forgo this advantage and might find yourself picking more weeds off of your lure and fishing line. At the very least, this will be a time waster, but it’s also likely you’re missing fish because of it.

Braid Has Very Little Stretch – Leaders Do

The second major advantage of braid is that it has virtually no stretch. This is very important in situations where you require a rock solid hook set, or if you need to turn a fish immediately away from cover. Depending on the type of leader you use, significant stretch could be imparted which would make your hook set weaker and a break off more likely.

It’s Not Always Necessary

I suppose the main drawback to using a leader with braided fishing line is it simply isn’t necessary much of the time. If you’re fishing in stained water, it’s unlikely that a leader is going to make much difference to the line’s visibility, and if you’re fishing in open water, or with lures like spinnerbaits that are rarely broken off, there isn’t much use for a more abrasion-resistant line.

If you’re going to do something while fishing there ought to be a useful purpose. The sport is expensive enough as is and if you add on extras that aren’t totally necessary the costs are only going to increase.

Common Questions About Fishing Line Leaders

Now that we’ve discussed the pros and cons of using a leader, let’s dive into some of the more common questions associated with them.

What Type of Leader Should I Use?

You have three basic options when considering a leader for your braided fishing line: monofilament, fluorocarbon, and wire. Each has their advantages and drawbacks. The chart below will help you decide:

What Size Line Should I Use for My Leader?

An important consideration is the size (in pound test) of the leader material that you will use. In general, there are a few things to keep in mind when making this decision:

• What type of fish are you targeting? If you’re trying to catch a fish with sharp teeth like a northern pike or musky, you’re going to want a heavier leader like 20 to 30 lb test that is less likely to be cut.
• What type of presentation are you using? If you’re using a finesse presentation such as a drop shot, using too heavy of a leader could kill your lure’s action and you might want to scale down to a 6-12 lb test leader. On the other hand, if you intend to use a monster hook set like you’d need with a plastic worm, you’re going to want a stronger leader.
• What size diameter is your main line? It can make life easier by using lines of similar diameters as the Double Uni Knot is very easy to tie and works especially well with lines of the same size. Most manufacturers will share their lines diameter right on the box so pick up a few and see which ones match up well.

How Do I Tie On a Leader?

If you decide to use a leader with your braided line, your next question is going to be how to go about tying one. I prefer the Double Uni Knot, especially when tying two lines of roughly the same diameter. Basically, you’re tying two Uni Knots against each other.

To tie it, follow these steps (bear in mind that steps 1-3 should be done one at a time for each knot, I just did them simultaneously for illustrative purposes):

1. Lay your leader and main line down parallel to each other, and then take the tag end of each and form a loop over both lines (Figure 1).
2. Spiral the tag end through the loop you created 3-4 times (Figure 2).
3. Pull the tag end to draw the single Uni Knots tight (Figure 3).
4. Pull each main line (at the same time) to pull the two Uni Knots together (Figure 4).

How Long Should My Leader Be?

This is situational but I prefer to keep my leaders short (within about 2′ to 4′) simply because I find that the longer a leader is, the harder it gets to use. Really, you want your leader to be as long as it needs to be and not an inch more.

If you’re using the type of wire leader that comes with a swivel, you’ll usually want it to be longer than the lure it is attached to, because if it is shorter, you run the risk of the lure’s hooks becoming caught by the swivel itself.

If you’re using a monofilament leader, the longer it is, the more stretch you’ll have. Sometimes it makes sense to have a longer one if you are concerned about pulling the lure from the fish’s mouth. Other times, you might find this counterproductive.

How Long of a Fluorocarbon Leader to Braid?

You’re typically going to want at least 12″ of fluorocarbon leader to braid, though more can be used if necessary. Chances are if you have a fluorocarbon leader on, you’re using it because you want some abrasion resistance. To determine how long it should be, you need to ask yourself how far up the line you expect these abrasions to happen. If you’re only worried about fish teeth, the leader can be much shorter than if you’re planning on dragging your lure through a rocky shoal.

Just remember that if your leader is too long, you’re going to have to cast the knot through your line guides, which can reduce casting distance.

What Type of Leader Should I Buy?

There are several purpose-built leaders on the market, but it may not be necessary to splurge for one depending on your application. If you’re just looking to cut down on braid’s visibility, for example, you can simply use a leader of fluorocarbon from a spool you already own. I tend to use Seaguar fluorcarbon fishing line. While they make some some dedicated leaders, their Abrazx line works fine for bass fishing. I’ve used their types of line for leaders as well when fishing in clear water. Abrazx is just designed to be more abrasion resistant than some of their other offerings, so it makes sense as a leader as it will give you a bit more strength around hazards.

If you really wanted a dedicated fluorocarbon leader, Seaguar also makes dedicated leaders such as the Seaguar Blue Label 100-Yards Fluorocarbon Leader 20-Pounds which would work well for most applications discussed on this site.

If you’re primarily fishing for pickerel, northern pike, or muskie, consider a wire leader made of titanium, like the Terminator Braided Titanium Leader (50-Pounds, 12-Inch). I’ve found that if you go much below 12-inch you can run into trouble with the leader fouling on hooks (especially on jerkbaits).

Conclusions

Determining when and where to use a leader with braided fishing line isn’t always the most straightforward process, but I hope this article helped. Generally speaking, use a leader when it makes sense and will help you minimize some trait of braid that is undesirable for your specific need, but don’t feel as though you need to use one just for the sake of it.

As always, if you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it so it can help others. You can also feel free to leave a message below or to send me an email with any additional questions. You can also pick up a copy of my book, Fishing with Kids: A Parent’s Guide, which includes other helpful advice.

Thanks,

John Paxton