Braided fishing lines were on the market for years before I finally decided to give them a try on my own rods and reels.

The biggest reason for my resistance to braid was my distrust of knots between the main line and leader.

Braid is woven from single strands of synthetic fibers, including Spectra, Dacron and micro-dyeema.

Virtually unbreakable, braided line offers great advantages to anglers who know how to integrate them into their fishing tactics. They also are considerably thinner in diameter than nylon monofilament and fluorocarbon lines of similar breaking strengths.

But they also are visible to line-shy fish that might reject anglers’ offerings. To overcome that disadvantage, savvy anglers use fluorocarbon leaders, which are virtually invisible underwater.

I use braid for two applications primarily: topwater “frogging” and finesse fishing with small jig-minnows, Ned rigs and whacky-rigged stick worms.

Dancing hollow-body frogs across matted vegetation and water lily fields generates explosive strikes from big bass and pike, but then the angler is faced with the problem of securely hooking and effectively fighting the fish through all of the greenery.

Braid, with its nearly no-stretch properties, transmits all of the power from the angler’s body and heavy-action rod directly to the hooks of the lures. This enables anglers to drive hooks securely and winch the fish from the heavy cover.

I tie topwater frogs directly to the braid with palomar knots. Some anglers believe palomar knots with braid might slip, but I have never experienced a knot failure. I use them with 100 percent confidence.

Because it lays on the reel evenly and casts nicely, braid also is good for presenting topwater plugs in open water where long casts are required. For that application, I tie a two-foot length of 17-pound-test mono, which is less visible to the game fish and which reduces the chances of the lures’ treble hooks turning to snag the main line, thus ruining the presentation.

For many years, my finesse presentations on spinning outfits was with reels spooled entirely with fluorocarbon lines with breaking strengths from 6- to 12-pound test, depending on the application. I did not trust my knots knitting fluoro to braid and opted instead to wrestle with the inevitable twists and tangles.

Spooling with a 10- or 15-pound braid virtually eliminates the headaches of bird’s nest, while offering the advantage of line that is virtually invisible to fish investigating the jig or plastic worm.

I set up my spinning rods and reels with a 10-pound high-vis braid (yellow typically) to which I tie fluorocarbon leaders measuring eight to 10 feet.

I admit I avoided making fluoro leaders for many years because the knot with the main line is a potentially weak link. But I learned to tie the leaders with trusty double uni knots. With practice, anglers in less than a minute can tie leaders that are nearly as strong as the line itself.

Joining braid and leaders boils down to knotty business, so it pays to practice before putting the combo to work in actual fishing conditions.

Jack Wollitz has been tying knots and writing about fishing for decades. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com