I keep going back and forth on this and would like to know what you folks who fish a lot. use and why. If you use a leader on braid how long of one? Are striper line shy? Would appreciate any info. Thanks!

I run 20# braid with a 12# mono leader. Spinning 2500 sized. 7'1" medium fast rod. I like the way braid cast.

I've caught more stripes then any other fish. They're not that bad of a fighter.

Never seen legal length brake 12# mono.


When their in a school. They'll attack anything you throw into the bunch. White curly tailed grubs on a round head jig has always worked for me. Weightless rigged flukes too. Treble hook rigged on the flukes.

I too like the braid on all my reels, I do uni-knots and splice on fluorocarbon of different lengths and weights, depending on what I am doing. For the stripers I might have 15-25' of usually 15 pound to 50 pound power pro. When chasing the stripers I only use my Shimano 6000 series spinning reels or my 400 Calcutta, since I was spooled twice at PK by really big stripers. Really hurt my feelings and now the 24 pound drag and extra line of these two bigger reels hopefully take care of that. Sure would have liked a pic of either one of those fish.

Never had one fish do that before while running the trolling motor to help chase them down either. That's just me and my luck lol...

I use braid and just tie on a swivel and 3' leader. I have caught them trolling Captain Mack's Umbrella rigs which are basically all wire so I would not say they are line shy all the time, however when the water is super clear, we catch more on lighter (12lb leader) than 20lb leader...

Hey scuba do you have problems casting with the 3' leader? Do you use the same setup for both vertical fishing and long castting?

I think if you used a fluorocarbon leader it would be OK. The main issue will be your ability to put enough pressure on the hook set to bend them or rip the hook from their mouth. I have considered using braid in the past because I fish allot in wet slips ( no lift) in order to get to fish staging in the shade. There are cables close by and I loose some fish to the cables. That said, back when I used to troll for stripers, I quickly learned to just let them run, or you'll pull in crank baits that look like those below.



If you can, it's best to just let them run and wear themselves out.

Yeah. 3 feet is about the max on the leader length.

The deal here is, is the knot joining the two. For which you can feel as it bumps into the eyelets. Too long of a leader. The knot gets wound into the reel. Next cast and that knot will grab. Count yourself lucky if the lure doesn't pop off and goes flying. Saying a long goodbye to your money.

Three feet keeps the knot at the end of the pole. One foot hang out before you cast. The knot only bumps a couple of guilds.

Guys I have never had issues with the line splice knots when casting or cranking the line back. I use the uni-knot to splice the leader to the braid. It's really nothing running back and forth through the eyes. Here is a great website that has the knots we all use. This is above average website show how to tie and what they are used for.

fishing knots

The knot doesn't cause a problem. It's just not a smooth feeling on the cast. Plus, it'll wear on the knot.

After a decent fishing trip. Replacing the leader as after care. I switch mine out pretty regularly. They take a bigger beating then the braid that never touches anything but water.

Sufix Elite 14 lb lo-vis green monofilament tied directly to the business end.................never let me down yet

3’ is fine for casting with a 7’ rod. When I tuna fish I use loop to loop so no knot. I would use a uni to uni if I wanted to tie a knot, I freeline a lot of shad so not throwing super long casts…

Not for beginners, especially the free lining. Soooo much fun but really takes patience and of course a good free spool and clicker.

I use a spinning rod and just leave my bail open and let them run, then reel tight and hang on…. I only freeline 2 at a time, one off the front and one off the back…

I use braid on ALL my rod/reel set ups from ultralight spinning to heavy bait casters. Both lures and bait.

I use about 6 to 8 feet of appropriate weight “mono” type lines for leader.

I use a Double Uni-Knot to join leader to braid.

Been using for years, no regrets. Many benefits.

.