I’m thinking this might have been asked a few times. 
 To give some info on setup. I have a Kistler Argon 7’ MH and Diawa bait caster reel. I love the feel of the setup. It balances right at the hook keeper. 
 I’m going to be bank fishing Tenn rivers mostly. Maybe some lakes. 
 I’m thinking 30 maybe 40lb 832 main line.  Texas rig 4-5”. 
 I’m wondering about using leader or straight main line? If I go leader which would be the go to leader? What lb test? What knot to use or should I use clips? 

Leaders are usually used for one or more of the following reasons:

 

1. Invisibility. Fluorocarbon is less visible than braid so people will use leaders for line-shy fish. 

2. Abrasion resistance. Braid frays quickly around hard cover, and fluorocarbon should offer the best resistance to the abrasion. 

3. Toothy fish bite-offs. Esox can saw through braid like butter, but I have never been bitten off with a fluorocarbon leader >20lbs. 
 

4. Shock absorption. A leader can give necessary shock absorption, and the longer the leader, the more shock it will absorb. 
 

5. Preventing braid from wrapping around treble hooks. Braid is so limp that when casting a treble hook bait, the braid will often wrap around the hooks, preventing an actual retrieve. A leader of non-braid material will give a little stiffness to prevent the line wrapping. 
 

Do any of these apply to you and how you fish? Besides weedless frogs, I use a leaders on all braid applications, mostly for reasons 2-5. The invisibility factor isn’t why I use a fluorocarbon leader, but it can’t hurt. 
 

40lb braid is a good all-around line choice for baitcasting gear. It’s up to you if you think you need a leader. If you can’t yet identify any reason why you may need a leader, I suggest fishing with straight braid first, and seeing what you think. If any of the above reasons become relevant when using straight braid, tie on a 20lb leader and see if that helps. 

I'd go with 40 LB. mainline for general purpose.  Anything less than 40 and with some techniques your line will dig into itself on the spool if your hook set has authority.  30 isn't too bad honestly, but 40 is even less so.

 

For the leader, I'm a mono leader guy.  I have tried all kinds of flouro and just not personally a fan.  I swear by either Trilene Big Game or Andes monofilament.  Andes is a little stiffer than Big Game.  Are there better monofilaments out there?  sure, but not better enough to justify the price.  I use 12-15 Lb. test for leaders and have always been very happy there.

 

As for leader knots.  No matter what anyone tells you, don't listen to them, listen to me.  Learn to tie the FG knot, and tie it well.  Don't think you are tying  it well, know you are.  When this happens, you will know what I mean.  It is the thinnest and yes, strongest line-to-leader knot there is.  

 

It can be a bear to tie properly, but if you do it right you won't need to do it often.  Hope this helps man.

I agree with everything Jesse mentioned. 
I only use braid as a “specialty line” but get why you’re asking. 
 

As far as leader material is concerned it’s a well known fact on here that I do not and will not use leaders for any reason, but do rig it on the grandkids combos. 
 

I went through a few and settled on Seaguar’s new Pounce leader material. 
It did everything its advertised to do considering my inexperience. 
I’d pick up a spool of your choice in 12# or 15# if you’re gonna use 30# braid. 
 

But others will help you zero it in better 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

1 hour ago, LionHeart said:

No matter what anyone tells you, don't listen to them, listen to me.  Learn to tie the FG knot, and tie it well. 

This. Just remember, the FG knot works best with narrow braid (50lb or less) and thicker leader (at least 6lb) in my experience. Ideal combo for me in your situation would be 40lb mainline to a 12lb leader. 

If your rod has standard size guides several easy to tie knots work good; Uni-Uni, Alberto, Kerh leader knot etc. Micro swivels used for fly fishing also work unless your rod has micro guides.

You don’t need a FC leader any premium mono has better knot strength and abrasion resistance.

Tom

Braid is not a universal line.  It definitely has its place in bass fishing (flipping/pitching, for example), but fluorocarbon is more widely used across techniques and lures.  It's the leatherman of fishing lines.  Seaguar InvizX is what's spooled on the majority of my reels.  Seaguar Smackdown is my braid of choice.

 

Also, leader is not required for bass fishing.  I suggest forgoing the leader for now.  Maybe try it later, if you feel it can give you an edge.  But if you catch plenty of fish without it, then I'd argue you don't need it.  But if you feel you should be using it, then it's hard to beat Seaguar Pounce or Gold leader.  

If I'm on a spinning reel for a standard size texas rig (eg. a mag 2 with a 3/16oz weight) I'd opt for something like 20lb suffix 832 with a 12lb sunline fc leader. .009 diameter for the braid and .011 diameter for the leader has proven to be good for me and as long as you aren't using a cheap leader in most cases you should be ok...on the other hand if I was using a casting rod I'd just throw straight fluorocarbon...personally like YGK G-Soul or Spro Gouken currently.

What @Jar11591 posted above is very detailed and accurate IMO.

 

The two primary reasons I use a FC leader is 2) and 3) in his post. The jury is out on whether pressured fish can see the line and get spooked in clear water. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it might be. I try to control the variables that I can control.

 

With the amount of northern pike we have here, using straight braid with moving, flashy, or vibrating lures is a recipe for losing them. At first I didn’t think they could bite through 30 or 40 pound braid. I was wrong.

 

I haven’t been bitten off with 50 pound braid yet, but 50 is a bit overkill for most of my applications.

Have to agree with Jesse.

 

I've got 30# braid on a couple reels.  One used BC reel came with 30# braid.  I had to remove several spots where the braid had dug in.  Once removed, I haven't had a problem since.  If braid becomes loose on the spool, make a long cast and retrieve the line with it pinched between your fingers to spool it on tight again.  Or use a high resistance lure to accomplish the same thing.  A weightless worm will not work.

 

I don't use much braid.  Started with 40# and have been satisfied with it.  Only use heavier on my frog rod.  Plan on using much lighter on a BFS rig with shallow spool.

 

As stated, braid has very little abrasion resistance.  The lighter the line the less resistance.  I tried 5# on a Light power spinning rod.  Definitely need a leader with it.  Will use heavier line when it comes time to change it.  Or go to 4# mono/co-polymer.  The reel on this rod doesn't hold much line.

 

 

As far as if the rod has micro guides. I am pretty new to understanding micro guides.  I think the guides are micro. They are short in height, most of the guides are the same diameter and height. 
 I am used to leaders. My fishing has been Washington state steelhead and salmon. The setup there is 5-7’ leader with corkies and yarn as the bait/ lure. The setup is kept in a pip box. Makes for easy swap outs if line breaks. 

In order of smallest to largest, there's micro-guides and then there's mini-guides, and of course there's the standard guides.  Most rods that don't have standard guides have mini-guides.  Micro guides are very small, and they're not nearly as popular as mini-guides.

15 minutes ago, Glenn said:

In order of smallest to largest, there's micro-guides and then there's mini-guides, and of course there's the standard guides.  Most rods that don't have standard guides have mini-guides.  Micro guides are very small, and they're not nearly as popular as mini-guides.

I have an old Skeet Reese big worm rod that has micro guides. I love the rod action but I hate the guides. Micros are just too small imo.

My first micro guide rod was one of the original Quantum Smoke rods from long ago. 
It’s a HF that I used as a dedicated punch rod and has served me well. 
I always felt that if I was ever gonna have a custom build it would have micro’s.

 

I picked up the new St Croix 7’4” H/F GXR and decided after the first outing I didn’t need to. 
I don’t know the sized number of the guides but perform and match up perfectly. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

 

1 hour ago, Glenn said:

In order of smallest to largest, there's micro-guides and then there's mini-guides, and of course there's the standard guides.  Most rods that don't have standard guides have mini-guides.  Micro guides are very small, and they're not nearly as popular as mini-guides.

I am trying to add pics of the guides. Hopefully it works. 

That's likely a mini guide.  A micro guide is the right one in this pic:

 

If fishing braid from the bank (and not throwing topwater) I will always use a leader. I don't think anyone has mentioned the reason I use one, it's so I can cleanly break-off a snag. 

On 4/21/2025 at 2:16 AM, Lead Head said:

If fishing braid from the bank (and not throwing topwater) I will always use a leader. I don't think anyone has mentioned the reason I use one, it's so I can cleanly break-off a snag. 

^^This^^
 

This is my #1 (I could argue ONLY) reason for tying a leader onto my braid mainline…

On 4/21/2025 at 1:16 AM, Lead Head said:

If fishing braid from the bank (and not throwing topwater) I will always use a leader. I don't think anyone has mentioned the reason I use one, it's so I can cleanly break-off a snag. 

X3

You get hung up bank fishing and trying to break off braid can be downright dangerous. Breaking off a 12-15# leader is much easier and you know your not leaving a bunch behind.

FM

On 4/19/2025 at 6:45 PM, new2BC4bass said:

As stated, braid has very little abrasion resistance.

Then why does it take special scissors to cut it well?  Regular scissors can't cut it but a stick will?   I'm not trying to be a smartxxx;I'm genuinely interested in a logical answer to this question. 

1 hour ago, MickD said:

Then why does it take special scissors to cut it well?  Regular scissors can't cut it but a stick will?   I'm not trying to be a smartxxx;I'm genuinely interested in a logical answer to this question. 

Scissors or fingernail clippers wont cut braid like mono or Floro, mainly because braid is limp.  Scissors will cut it if pulled tight, but in order to do that on the water you would need 3 hands.  The reasons for poor braids poor abrasion resistance is because one, it is made up of multiple threads.  Each thread is extremely small, and a sharp object such as a rock can cut a small individual thread easily.  Once one thread is cut, others are exposed and the line becomes weak.  The same thing happens with mono, but instead of an individual thread breaking, the outside of the mono becomes frayed.  The frayed portion is easy to detect, and cut out if weakness is determined to be an issue.  Braid can become compromised without noticing the weak spot.  The second reason is braid is not smooth.  A line like mono is smooth, making a sharp object less likely to catch on a rough spot and dig in when the line is ran across it.  Braid is rough, making it easier for a sharp point to catch and do damage.   The third and arguably the biggest reason is braid is soft.  The harder the line, the more abrasion resistant it will be. 

 

Some objects such as wood, braid is less prone to abrasion than other lines, but others such as basalt rocks, or barnacles braid does not hold up nearly as well as other lines do.  If you are fishing in a river with rounded rocks, and wood, than abrasion will not be a problem with braid.    If you are fishing in a lake with sharp jagged rocks, and metal objects on docks, than straight braid will work, but watch for damage and replace when needed.  

16 minutes ago, king fisher said:

but in order to do that on the water you would need 3 hands. 

Thanks for the explanation.  Makes sense.  I've looped it over the scissors to get it to cut more easily, which provides the tension you need.

2 hours ago, MickD said:

Then why does it take special scissors to cut it well?  Regular scissors can't cut it but a stick will?   I'm not trying to be a smartxxx;I'm genuinely interested in a logical answer to this question. 

Two different things.  Used 5# on my Light power spinning rod.  A few casts into a small tree branch totally destroyed it.  Search braid resistance.  Here's just one video.

 

 

15 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

Two different things.  Used 5# on my Light power spinning rod.  A few casts into a small tree branch totally destroyed it.  Search braid resistance.  Here's just one video.

 

 

This verifies that braid is more sensitive to abrasion but doesn't explain physically the reason for the early failures.  

Whatever you do, don’t use that junk ass Invizix for a leader. I lost a big one the other day because of that, and that wasn’t the first time it’s broken on me. Sunline Sniper for leader or mainline, no problems at all