Roger,

I guess more than anything it's time on the water, feel, and confidence. I guess I should have mentioned most of my bass fishing is in no worse than stained water, if I was fishing muddy a shorter leader would be no problem. I don't have any scientific study results, but did fish with a friend last weekend at a powerplant lake here in Texas and we were both fishing identical carolina rigs with the same plastic bait. He had a 20lb flouro leader, I had 15. I caught 12 fish on the rig during the day and he caught 0. We caught fish on other things that day, but when we looked back at the carolina rig catching there was a big difference.

I always seem to seek stealth, be it leader length or weight, boat noise, anything that might give the fish a tip that I am there.

Eric Green

I fish exclusively saltwater. This time of year we have a speckled trout fishery that is world class. We're fishing a warm water discharge and it's like fish in a barrel at times. For me the longer leader does two things. One, it allows me to be a bit more stealthy, and two, it allows me to keep the lure I'm using in the strike zone longer. In the spring, summer, and fall, I have no problem using a 2ft leader on my rods.

I would like to say that unless you guys were casting to the same spot, working the lure the EXACT same way, and still you were the only one to catch those fish then yes it COULD be that the leader length and weight that gave you the extra edge...but if not, then you prob just had the right cast at the right time.

LEGENDARY CREATIONS CUSTOM RODS
Maplewood, MN

Cheng,

Could be so, but we were dragging the carolina rig slowly over offshore humps so not really casting towards anything in particular. It wasn't the length of the leader in that case, just the lighter pound test must have been less visible to the fish. 2ft leaders may be fine for most cases, I just choose to go longer and reduce the chance the fish won't bite cause she sees the braid. I suppose the shorter leader will also make it possible to use the rig with micros, but I save those rods for my flourocarbon rigs.

Eric Green

Wait a little while and start using the Power Pro hollow core and a rigging needle.

The easiest, smallest line to line knot i've found is the Albright. It uses only two thicknesses of the fat line, unlike the uni-uni (which I have used for years also). I watched the Sebile video, and I might try it, but it seems like a lot of trouble for what you gain, and I'll bet if you don't do it just right, you may see your fish of the season disappear. My experience also indicates that there is a relationship between the length of the leader and how well it goes through the guides on casting. I don't have a formula, but have found often that if it gets much longer than the rod, it doesn't go through the guides well. (Even 6 mm fly guides.) I shorten it and often that solves the issue.

Having said that, however, I haven't found a knot that reliably goes through the 4mm micros I used on an ultralight spin rod. I've concluded that if I want to use a leader, it has to be very short as to not go through the guides, or I have to use bigger guides.