How and why to use braid and a long fluorocarbon leader 

The first thing I noticed about this reel is its weight ru-vid.comUgkxM68VkfsQhHaabDce1IwOCXuvumcpbZ_k . I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable but it was a little heavier than other similarly sized reels. However, that didn't deter my enjoyment of how smooth this reel is. I spooled it with 20lb. Tuf-Line XP and it's perfect for what I use it for. I have it paired with an 8'6" Medium/Fast Okuma SST Salmon/Steelhead rod. The combination is perfect for casting and even drifting. I used the reel all day and didn't experience any arm or hand fatigue except when fighting a few fish! The bail is solid and feels strong when engaging by reeling and manually closing the bail by hand. The large rubber handle grip is very comfortable. It's got a powerful drag, silky smooth reeling, and feels very comfortable in the hands. I recommend it!

Best video on this subject I've seen yet. I'm in the same position Mark started in, where I'm just spooling up straight fluoro, having issues with line twist and friction affecting my casts. I see a lot of anglers use this braid setup with a fluoro leader but no one ever explains *why* they do that, what the advantages are, etc. Mark articulated clearly and explained in detail all the logic behind every part of this setup, down to the advantages of the FG knot, and I really appreciate all that specificity.

Great video man. You brought my fishing to a whole other level. Keep the videos coming!

I've been fishing with upholstery thread long before they come out with braided line. great video

Very informative video!! Thank you so much for making it easy to understand and grasp!!

Amazing setup ! ☆☆☆☆☆ Thanks for sharing with us!

Brilliant idea. I am going to try this idea on my finesse rod. Fluorocarbon is so damn pricey so this will help ease that price pain!!!

Thank you my fishing friend for the tip great vid i Have a question when fishing for big pike and muskys what line set up would you recommend

I just never bother with any of these leader set ups for Bass. I use mono and fluorocarbon in open water and straight braid in heavy vegetation. I don’t use light lines either. No complaints after 35 years of Bass fishing. Guess it is hard to train the old dogs. It’s a good informative video!, Thank You!

I tie off with two knots the uni to uni and also the GT knot with excellent results

New to fishing here, I recently bought my first fishing gear and my line is a 25 lb braid , didn't knew that I would be needing a "leader" for it until I saw your video "How and why to use braid and a long fluorocarbon leader". My query now is what diameter and lb my flourocarbon leader should be that would match my 25 lb braid. Great video and truly educational.

I use the uni to uni knot for leaders with good results as well. Too lazy to learn a new knot. Will check out the knot you recommend to see how difficult it is to tie.

I've never had to change a spinning reel every day using pure FC. But I do generally use braid to FC because it's my favorite way to fish. But before all this braid jazz I would fish spools worth of FC and never get line twists like that.

Will you use 25' of f.c no matter how deep you fish?

So your leader should be less weight than your braided line? I'm new so I want to make sure I'm understanding that right. Is that only true with Braided?

what about 30 pound braid?

Thanks for the video. Would you ever consider a similar rig for trout? Something like 8lb braid to a 4lb fluor leader on an ultralight set up?

You don’t pop your line setting the hook with 6lb test? What about your drag?

So what you're saying is, when figuring out what leader size to use, you go by the bradded line's test straight, not bradded line's diameter? So theoretically, you can have a leader diameter that is larger then the bradded line's diameter?

Very informative, thank you

If I’m running 8lb test braid what size fluoro would y’all throw on, I’m up here in Minnesota and definitely have grown to like 8 more than the 10lb I used to always run

I cut my tag end as short as possible an then tie two overhand knots over the top of it.

What's the benefit of the leader? Why not just straight braid?

i like them thin slick and long

Sorry for the dumb question but I’m new to fishing . Why have a leader why not just fish straight florocarbon

I have 20lb braid and some 8lb Flouro and the flouro is the 15ft leader. Will that be ok?

So braid has no twist, better hookset then why bother with a leader?

I'm sure this is beneficial, but using straight braid is too easy and I still catch a lot of fish worm fishing or using Senkos. I am a little confused with using 25 feet of leader. A lot of my worm fishing, especially with wacky rigged Senkos, isn't much further out than that. Seems like the braid is still on the reel and you are essentially just using fluorocarbon. This seems to defeat the purpose of using a 40 pound braid in cover. Like the gentleman here, I use spinning gear, a bigger reel and a medium heavy rod. I tie a Palomar knot to the hook and if it is tied right, I have never had one fail.

Use a swivel behind your bait. No line twist.

I'm using 8# braid on daiwa bg 3000. Is a 10# flouro leader big enough?

Why don’t u use a swivel your going to keep twisting your line with the fg to the leader the lures twist your line

why such a long leader?

The only thing he said that he came wrong with is that you have to use a FG knot that's not true I use the same set up and I use the Uni to Uni or yukatan knots everything else is correct

What about when you fish heavy cover that 10 lb test will not work what you use then you are talking open water attack for if you are using that 10lbs in heavy cover you would be done fish gone with that part of your line

Just one more weak link to worry about. Apparently fish see but don't pay mind to those lures that are definitely not real looking (spoons, spinners etc) and let's not forget those highly visible treble hooks. Everything is obviously fake looking, yet fish, especially bass with their keen eyesight and knowledge of what's real and what's not in their realm will bite em. Explain that (they're either desperately hungry or defensive). I've used straight braid, no mono leaders, no weak links. Those links can fail as anyone who uses em can attest too. On a long enough time line, you'll eventually experience that weak link failure. Get some appropriately colored braided line. Learn to tie uni knots and their slight variants and go fishing. You'll catch just as many.

What’s all that in English. Lol.

Sorry man but knots should always be out of the guides even when the knot is a FG or PR because sooner or later they will damage the tip and/or the guides.