TackleTour

I’ve just made an interesting discovery pitching around 3g lures testing new vs old BFS spools for my Alphas TW, the Roro X and KKR spools. Difference was huge. Initially I thought the different startup speeds and trajectory were determined by the different spools: one super quick and flat, the other one felt like having problems starting up and then the lure went higher and higher. I also suspected guides (Torzite vs. Alconite) and rod lengths (6’7 and 7’1) so I switched around with no improvement.
…Until I noticed the different leader lengths. The quick and flat one had a 15ft / 5m leader, the slow one had a 3ft / 1m leader. When I also tied on a very long leader on the slow spool, they behaved pretty much identical - super fast and flat trajectory.
(Both 6lb FC leader and both 6lb Berkley x9)

What I take from this: when pitching light UL lures short range, the initial friction in the guides seems to have a great impact on the whole cast. Even though x9 is a thin and very smooth braid, having a mono leader way beyond the length of the full guide train made a huge difference in performance.
I expect the influence of the leader length to decrease with increasing lure weight but yet have to work my way up comparing.
So if you prefer braid for your stream fishing and are unhappy with your pitching accuracy and distance, consider trying a FG knot and a very long leader.

i prefer a longer leader as well. it seems to help get the knot thru the guides for me.

have you had any problems with x9? i was having trouble yesterday breaking the line above the knot while tightening down tying a new leader on

For really any leader, I run it so the leader knot is between the reel and the first guide. Usually does well for me casting and also for pitching, as the leader "should" be out of the guides if you are pitching at that leader length.

In my experience fluorcarbon is higher in friction than braid or mono. Maybe the additional weight of the leader is the factor here.

Weird things happen when the mass of a spool is biased away from the axis. I suspect the extra mass on top of the spool from the longer leader helped to carry the remaining braid and acted as if you pitched a heavier lure do to its weight. It should also have a negative affect on startup due to the increase of mass on the spool but it might be I possible to notice or the be overshadowed once the leader is off the spool and tugging on it keeping it spinning.

That's what I suspect as well, the low spool weight and long heavy leader is acting like a shooting head fly line.