Do you mean 6" (6 inches) or 6' (6 feet)? In my experience, 6" is definitely not enough to act as shock absorption, but 3' and more is for the set up that I use. Also, it is my experience that spinning rods with micro guides have far less trouble with wind knots and tip wrap. The newer rods that I have used that have more traditional guides (SC Avids and Premiers) have still performed well with the Nanofil that I have been using. The Shimano's that I have tried? Wind knots and tip wrap.

i always use a 12"to 14" mono leader of 12 lb.if you have your drag set right there is never a problem.if the leader is too long you just defeat the purpose of Braid. also if you use too long of leader you end up reeling the swivel through the tip eye.by using 30 lb braid you will break off the 12 lb mono either at the jig or at the swivel if you get hung up.

jagg, 6 feet.

Yes, a 6 inch leader would be more trouble than it is worth, and it would be worth nothing much at all as a shock absorber.

But, even 6' is not much length of leader line to show much stretch, what, maybe an inch or so on a careful hook set. I doubt it'd be that. My guess is that would represent an almost incalculably small difference in the supplemental action of the angler lifting up on the rod to snag the fish. A rod bending is a great shock absorber.

For bass, I usually tie on a fluoro leader that is long enough so that the knot is just off the reel. I have rarely felt the knot when it is flying off and passing the rod tip. On the way back being reeled in, if it is under pressure (a fish is hanging on), yes, I'll sometimes feel a very slight bump.

Gary Yamamoto has gone almost "all spinning tackle" and he has determined that he prefers longer 20 feet fluoro leaders meaning that they are sitting on the reel at the beginning of a cast.

Finally, no to another post, that a 6' leader or even a 20' leader defeats the purpose of using braid as it would mask its sensitivity. In the case of fluorocarbon, it does stretch . . . but only once. Unlike mono which is more like a rubber band and is a bit elastic, fluoro is more like a stick of Juicy Fruit gum: it stretches but stays stretched out and doesn't retract.

But, I get the nuance. What we are doing is balancing three desires: line visibility, sensitivity and shock absorption.

The big advantage of having braid as a mainline behind any length of leader is increased casting distance if you want to make some long casts. Aaron Martens, last year's AOY, mentions that he gets considerably longer casts on baitcasters even when the braid is back on the reel spool and never comes off, that is, his fluoro leader is longer than his casts by a decent margin of error. For spinning tackle, this would be different since the spools are fixed but braid back behind even 20 feet of fluoro will fly off the spool easier and more orderly and it is lighter so it puts less resistance on the lure as it is flying through the air.

Brad

I wanted to give a report that I had gone out yesterday, as posted elsewhere, and caught 20 or so trout at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries using 2 lbs. SOS line, a monofilament. It worked well, cast well, using a 1/32 oz. hair jig.

Last night I trimmed off some of the spooled up SOS, it had frayed a bit, and it now became a substantial "backer" line on by 1000 reel, then I used a junction knot to attach the 2 lbs. Sufix Nanobraid and I rolled on about 75 yards of it, more than I would ever cast off the spool. But, I wanted to test it with no leader as the line is so very fine in diameter that I doubt a fish could possibly see it. It was a slower bite today with 5 or 6 caught quickly.

But, regarding the casting, there is no comparison: the braid cast the little 1/32nd oz. hair jig, using about the same effort, 20 or 30% farther I would guess.

And, in both cases I was using an Ugly Stik 4'8" whippy rod so I would expect my distance to be even farther with the 6' 9" rod I have on order.

The quest here? Down at the 2 lbs. test range, is a leader even necessary where long casts are desired? Agreed, though, that it is nice to have a stronger mainline tied to a weaker leader so you establish a better break off point and not lose as much line.

This braid goes all the way up to 14 lbs. test and even at that level, it is the size of 2 lbs. mono so one could size up a bit making it easier to find a fluoro or mono leader line that would tie on well.

Brad

Joe Reed on Tawakoni told me a few years ago that all he uses is Berkley Big Game Mono.
He boats as many fish as anybody on the lake fishing vertical.

yep i like Berkley Big Game green in 12 lb test for the leader.caught over 30 yesterday .i dont keep 10" Crappie,just not enough meat on them.did keep 12 over 11".