CarloT wrote:
I make my leader about half the length of the rod. You don't want the knot going through the eyes when you cast!
Don't know if the same principal applies to freshwater as to salt.
A leader is there to protect your terminal tackle, meaning should there be obstructions under water which can damage your line a leader line takes all the abuse, and so protects your thinner main line.
Also when casting that you don't put all the pressure on your (thin) mainline. You tend to break off when casting real hard with just your mainline.
The type of knot you use in many cases determines the size of the knot. As the freshwater guys use a thinner dia line their knots will obviously be smaller, and have no more effect on the guides than our bigger knots on bigger guides.
I make my leader 1x rod length + casting drop ( top guide to swivel ) and then have 2 or 3 loops on my reel. This then covers both top descriptions.
See the knot section for diffrent knots.
To connect braid to braid I will suggest in the freshwater scenario to use a UNI to UNI or FIGURE 8 to FIGURE 8.
The reason for this is I don't think you apply the same pressure to fish as we do in salt, and these will work
There are stronger like bimini to cats paw, or spider to Yucutan, bur that leaves you with a loop and as there are a lot of obstacles in the fresh I will be scared for a snag-up.
If you see your braid to braid tends to break under great pressure it is wise to double up on the line in the knot itself--meaning fold the line double when making the knot.
Any of these knots should have no effect on a baitcaster.