So in saltwater I always ran 2-3’ of flouro leader. I’ve never ran a leader in freshwater that I can remember. But I’m gonna give the Ned rig a big go this year. How long of a leader are you fishing on your spinning rigs for the ned rig? Most ponds I fish aren’t more than 10 feet deep.

I was running 6-7’ leaders on my 7’ spinning setups ( 15# braid/8# fluorocarbon) before I got some bfs reels. The leaders are still there but the rods don’t come out of the locker any more.

The longer leaders was to account for lots of hang ups and break offs.

I run 10#braid with 10# leader. They way I measure the leader is I extend my arms and go finger tip to finger tip gives me roughly about 6' leader or I go from reel to rod tip then back down. That gives me plenty of leader using either method.

Thanks guys! I have some 8 pound flouro and also use 15 pound braid.

I do something in the 7-10’ range for leader length. I tie an Alberto so it can zip through the guides all day long without issues.

8 lb leader line is what I use for ponds. I may bump up to 10lb in special circumstances but it’s 8 lb 90% for me.

I follow Ajay’s logic on this one- a long leader. then the knot is on the spool when the fish is boat side. Doesn’t matter what’s tied on the end. Also, that’s fewer leaders you have to tie in a season and less chance of having to tie one on the water. It also means if you get snagged you can probably reach the leader to pull on it rather than pulling from the braid, ergo no chance of snapping at the leader knot. I normally go with 20’ or so (about 4 fully stretched out arm lengths.

@casts_by_fly breaking off at the connector knot with the Alberto is usually 50/50 for me. I never thought about a longer leader to prevent breaking off at the connector on snags. That’s a good idea. Having to retie a leader during a tournament is a time killer.

I too like the leader knot on the reel when the fish at the side of the boat so around 15 feet of 6lb flouro to start.

I use a surgeons knot.

I keep my knot out of the reel. Ever since I started doing that my number of wind knots is nearly zero.

I have issues with panfish attacking connection knots so I run ~25ft leader to keep the knot out of the water and less retying. Plain old uni to uni on spinning never had a problem with it hanging up in the guides.

21 hours ago, stk44 said:

@casts_by_fly breaking off at the connector knot with the Alberto is usually 50/50 for me. I never thought about a longer leader to prevent breaking off at the connector on snags. That’s a good idea. Having to retie a leader during a tournament is a time killer.

I'm mostly an fg user now, but tied an alberto on all my rigs for over a decade and your breakage ratio doesn't reflect my experience at all. Breakage at the lure had to be upwards of 95%. I only left the alberto for the fg because it was as strong and a touch smaller. Something seems off for you to have a 50/50 ratio at the join and I'm not sure a longer leader will alleviate that.

scott

2 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

I'm mostly an fg user now, but tied an alberto on all my rigs for over a decade and your breakage ratio doesn't reflect my experience at all. Breakage at the lure had to be upwards of 95%. I only left the alberto for the fg because it was as strong and a touch smaller. Something seems off for you to have a 50/50 ratio at the join and I'm not sure a longer leader will alleviate that.

scott

I could be way off with the estimate 50/50. I’m really confident in that knot.

When the leader does break off, it’s a huge waste of time re-tying and those times likely carry more weight in my memory. Your comment is well noted though and I’ll keep a better eye on this next season as I’ve never really made a conscious observation.

10 minutes ago, stk44 said:

I could be way off with the estimate 50/50. I’m really confident in that knot.

When the leader does break off, it’s a huge waste of time re-tying and those times likely carry more weight in my memory. Your comment is well noted though and I’ll keep a better eye on this next season as I’ve never really made a conscious observation.

When I used braid to lrader I tried several different knots. The fg is the only one that didn’t break at the junction.

Just now, Jig Man said:

When I used braid to lrader I tried several different knots. The fg is the only one that didn’t break at the junction.

I completely have confidence in that but I cant tie an fg on the water and it’s still a PITA off the water.

The Alberto fixed an issue that I had with the double uni on baitcasters, likely because I keep the drag locked down. I don’t remember the last time I broke off with the Alberto assuming I start each trip with a fresh leader.

Knot just outside the reel, so length varies a bit depending on rod length. Fresh leader and Alberto knot before every trip.

One my lone spinning setup this year I’m going 12# braid to 10lb mono leader. Prob do 6-8’

Dont have a need to use leader with ned rig.

Back when I used spinning outfits I used 7ft leaders. By using a rod length of leader your knot will always be just in front of the reel, works for most any rod length.

I now throw ned rigs on a 7ft ml/f bait cast rod, I'll use anywhere from a 15 to 25ft leader for some of the reasons listed above and then some.

I use 8 pound flouro straight with no leader. Yes on a spinning rod. any finesse technique that uses less than 10 pound test I use a full spool of flouro with no leaders. Been doing it that way for years.

I don't measure it, usually just a couple long pulls off the spool. I change my leaders out pretty often because I'm always worried about the leader knot losing strength with time, so I don't want to waste a bunch of line and I'm mainly using it for sink rate and abrasion resistance.

I’ve tested this one out on the water plenty over the years, with lengths between 0’ (no leader), all the way up to 15+ ft, and everything in-between. Short answer - it doesn’t matter. Use what you prefer or what makes sense given your waters and situation. These days, I’m in the long leader camp. The bait does fish differently based on whether you use a leader or not; even how long of one, plus there are the other previously mentioned benefits.

I switched over to 10lb bright yellow braid on all my spinning rods. Leader varies based on rod power and the presentation. Anywhere from 6# to 10# fluorocarbon leaders.

For my NED rigs, usually run 6#, but step up to 8# when I'm in South Dakota chasing those bronze-backs.

12 feet. I want the knot on the spool when I lip, flip or net the fish.