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I'm actually against conventional wisdom given here if you are fishing clear water. Even in the Galveston bay complex, I know for a fact west bay gets gin clear especially in the cooler months. I'm pretty sure east bay is the same way but I don't fish it that often so maybe some people who fish it can shed light on that. In my opinion, big trout get big for a reason. I am a firm believer that the reason is that they are genetically smarter than other fish and much smarter than we give them credit for. For a trout to get that big she has had to dodge so many near death experiences, so many boats driving 60 mph right through her hunting grounds, lures, you name it. Yes, of course there are people that use straight braid and still catch big fish but who's to say that's the most optimal way to do it? Also, who's to say that even played a part in that specific circumstance when there are so many factors to consider other than the color of the line. Are you SURE the water was completely gin clear? Did something get in the way? Was the feeding period a full on aggressive frenzy or was it subtle which can cause fish to be more line shy? Was the tide moving bait and sand/mud particles around? Were the waves disguising your lure? Was the fish just completely starved and hasn't eaten in a day or two? I could go on and on...
I personally would rather not chance losing even 1 strike out of 100 on a trophy trout that is line shy. It is a fact that fish in other areas of water ARE line shy and if you are specifically targeting big fish I would not chance it. If you are fishing muddy water then yes, it probably doesn't matter. This is the exact reason I replace all of my hooks on ANY lure right out of the box as well as the split rings. I want close to a zero chance of me losing a big fish to be something as trivial as hooks, split rings, a leader, knots, etc. Any possible kink in the time that I get a bite to the time the fish is on my boga I want removed as the last thing I want to do is be sitting there with busted split rings, or even worse no strike on a line shy sow.
That's my 2 cents on it and the reason why I will always use 2-3' of berkley 30 lb. big game clear mono leader when throwing top waters. I think mono is also better in every way as leader material if you are set on throwing top's because it does not drag the nose of the bait down into the water which fluoro will do. Fluoro absorbs water, mono doesn't. If I were fishing mostly soft plastics or sinking baits than I would definitely use a fluoro leader.
If you are using braid you also have to factor in that you want your top to have some give when a fish strikes it which the mono leader fulfills. A fluoro leader does not have much give to it so there will be a lot less give to a fish striking it - let alone you moving your rod any which way whatsoever.
Also you have to remember, if you fish braid and get a backlash you WILL eventually snap that braid because it has no stretch properties when tied directly to the lure. Mono has stretch value and will stop you from throwing lures off, fluoro doesn't have much stretch. One more important factor is being able to break the leader material off rather than half a spool of expensive braid.
As you can see, there are a lot of benefits to fishing braid to a mono leader set up for tops. If you are not throwing tops you'd probably be better suited for fluoro since it is more abrasion resistant, stronger and has a low light reflection index (very clear). I personally will not fish any other set up unless someone can really convince me otherwise. Since switching to braid to a mono connection I've noticed increased hook-ups, better action on top waters, and less backlashes that are easier to get out with braid as opposed to mono (good luck). Best of all no matter where I fish the last thing I have to worry about is a huge speck deciding to be line shy and can focus on other things while I'm out on the water.
Last edited by worstSPECKanglerTX; 06-14-2012 at 06:22 PM.
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