Braid with fluro carbon/ mono leaders

[Bluekriss 0]

Hey, I'm fairly new to the site but have been fishing on and off for a fair amount of time. I was just wondering what people's opinions are towards using leaders with braid. I'm talking mainly about light fishing here and not specific like targeting tricky bream on little lures. I'm wondering what people's preference if any when just general fishing wether off a boat, jetty or shore, I'm going on the presumption that most people have now switched over to braid as their main line, I think it is terrific and have always tied on mono/ fluro carbon leaders, however I know lots of people starting to come across to braid and the concept of using a few meters long worth of leader before their rig hasn't even crossed there mind. Also I will admit when out fishing if I get a break off and either my leader is gone or not looking in great shape I normally just tie a swivel straight onto the braid and off we go, I've never really noticed a difference in catch rate however these times have either been when "they are on" or when there's been nothing happening and nothing to compare to. Bit long winded and boring but guess I just want to see if people think the investment in expensive leaders and time consuming knots are worth while or not?

[plankton 725]

I always use a fluro leader when I'm running braid. It's not that expensive, $10 for a 50m spool that will last you awhile. The knots aren't hard either, in lightweight line tests I use the slim beauty. Braid is extremely visible to fish in the water while fluro is virtually invisible.

[Ranger 48]

In addition to the visibility issue, a mono or more preferably a flouro leader is essential for abrasion resistance. If the braid touches a rock, barnacle, even fish gill plate it WILL snap.Forget the idea of swivels. You do not need that extra weight on the line when lure fishing, and a swivel will not pass through the rod guides for casting.Everyone has their own preference for leader knots, experimentation will denote what works or what doesn't work for you.I normally fish a 6lb braid for bream, I also start with a 6lb leader. In heavy structure I may upgrade to an 8lb leader, when fish are touchy I may downgrade to a 4lb leader.If BAIT fishing is your thing rather than lure fishing, then you can revert back to a swivel in the line before your rig/trace.

[Bluekriss 0]

I guess bait fishing was more what I was referring to, I have just been surprised at how many people I have met who love using braid but only ever use it in the traditional, mainline, swivel, rig method

[thefunkychicken 0]

Gday.Yep, fluorocarbon is a MUST. While lure fishing, a good idea is to use at least a rod length of fluorocarbon leader then tie your lure on. With bait fishing, just make use fluoro to tie your rigs up with, you can then use a clip swivel to attach this straight to your braid.Tight lines.

[Jack. 10]

My light line fishing is done 70% of the time with bait at the moment and I'll share my experience of how I came to use a bastardised method.of banishing which I've kinda just evolved into using.About 5 years back I was fishing around the port using a light (4kg) soft ugly stik or Abu muscle tip in same weight class. I ran 8lb mono to a swivel and then 8lb mono trace to my hook. I would have like a size 1 ball sinker above the swivel that closely got lighter to say size zero. This caught me some nice bream salmontrout and even a few small schoolies.I like many others bought myself a stiffer rod (2-4kg) in order to try my hand at bream luring. Long story short, I ended up putting the bait away completely (only way to successfully lure for bream IMO). I found success with 4lb braid using a double uni knot to connect about two rod lengths of 2lb fluro. Little squidgy wrigglers started to work a treat for me. With some tough winter fishing (and a decent lack of skill) I started reverting to bait, specifically little crabs and small slices of pilchard. I left my plastics set up as is, and instead of a jig head, I put a light 00 sinker on running free to a little size 6 bait holder hook. And I still basically fish this way. I run 6lb braid connected to 8lb fluro (2 rod lengths). I run a 00 sinker to the size 6 hook.I guess I like the bait to closely drift through the water column and be as natural as possible. I rely on watching the braid and at the first sign of a twitch I strike hard like I would with a soft plastic and hopefully come up solid. There is no question that fluro is required at the business end for abrasion resistance, but I also like the shock absorption it provides too, I think the slight elasticity actually helps set the hook. Fishing a stiff so rod and using braid, keeps you in close contact with the bait and it's difficult for even the smartest fish to nose a bait without you knowing about it.The only time I use a swivel is when joining my 30lb braid to 40lb leader when trying to catch a snapper or mulloway. This is because I use the ezi rig runner with a heavy sinker generally to get a live bait down and keep it under control. Hope any of that was helpful.Cheers

[breambo25 1]

When targeting bream on bait I use a double uni knot instead of a swivel so that it is easier to cast unweighted baits. However, it's probably more crucial to use flurocarbon with fishing with lures. I use 3lb for bream normally.http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.comThis link is to a site which has good instructions on how to join braid and mono or fluro but I'm sure if you googled 'fishing knots' you would find some helpful info there too. Cheers.