Using leader with braid?

[MathGeek]

We fish mostly fresh water in the midwest and west, but our catch rates have gone up tremendously since switching exclusively to fluorocarbon in 2006. We do fish the inshore waters of LA or FL for 4 weeks or so each year, and it seems like our catch rates are up there also since switching exclusively to fluorocarbon. I will occasionally put a steel leader on, but only if something toothy like king mackerel or shark is a likely customer.

The fluorocarbon is often the weak link in the system, and occasionally we lose fish to line breaks, but we've reduced this considerably by retying all the knots every day and checking the leader for nicks and frays. However, it does seem clear that we lose fewer fish to leader breaks than we lose to having them not bite in the first place due to more visible line.