Leader or no leader

[Senko28]

My main line is 50lbs braid and some are suggesting me to attach a leader of mono. How long and what pound test leader should I use when I'm fishing a 6 inch Black Dog Injected G2 Lunker Punker

[angry john]

20-30 lb leader should be fine, i use leaders from 3-6 feet.

[fishsmart]

I use 20 lb braid with 20-30 lb fluoro 6ft long leaders in clear water.

Charles

[Toadslayer72]

The 8" Punker is the only bait that I consistently fish without a leader. I can bomb that bait like no other and it's a real luxury to have no stretch at the end of one of those casts. It's easier to work the bait and if I get bit way out there, again no stretch is a big plus. I'll fish other topwaters with or without a leader but not usually the Punker.

Most all of my other fishing is braid with a copoly leader, I like having that little bit of cushion plus it saves you on braid. As far as what lb. leaders, I try to stay close with the diameters but that's just me. I like a longer leader mostly because of reties so they usually start just outside the reel on the cast. I used to go even longer but I ran into problems with break-offs at the Alberto throwing heavier baits. I came to the conclusion that the knot hitting the line guide on the way out of a big boy cast with big baits was the problem. I don't know if that's true but since I switched up, I haven't had one issue.

Oh and if you are gonna go with a leader and the Punker, I'd suggest staying away from Fluoro because of the sink factor.

[Native]

The 8" Punker is the only bait that I consistently fish without a leader. I can bomb that bait like no other and it's a real luxury to have no stretch at the end of one of those casts. It's easier to work the bait and if I get bit way out there, again no stretch is a big plus. I'll fish other topwaters with or without a leader but not usually the Punker.

Most all of my other fishing is braid with a copoly leader, I like having that little bit of cushion plus it saves you on braid. As far as what lb. leaders, I try to stay close with the diameters but that's just me. I like a longer leader mostly because of reties so they usually start just outside the reel on the cast. I used to go even longer but I ran into problems with break-offs at the Alberto throwing heavier baits. I came to the conclusion that the knot hitting the line guide on the way out of a big boy cast with big baits was the problem. I don't know if that's true but since I switched up, I haven't had one issue.

Oh and if you are gonna go with a leader and the Punker, I'd suggest staying away from Fluoro because of the sink factor.

+1 , Use braid by itself with top water baits or with a shorter, say a 12-18" mono leader (mono floats like braid) if you have to use a leader (some use a mono leader to add stretch to the hook set and reduce the chance of pulling the bait from the fishes mouth from a hook set made too soon). You don't want the mono leader knot to pass thru your guides because it will abrade and reduce the life of the knot and cause a potential break off on a cast unexpectedly. You won't want to use Flouro with top water baits because it doesn't float and will tend to drag the nose of your top water bait into the water as it sinks reducing the effectiveness of the bait quite a bit.

[Senko28]

Thank you all for the great advise