For open water I mostly go with South Bend's Invisa-Leader in the lightest weight. They're easy to come by up here. We have lots of northerns in the Glacial Lakes and there's all kinds of hammer handles just waiting to bite you off. Sharp teeth, using superbraid doesn't help much. About the only time I don't use a leader is when finessing walleyes. They say a leader messes up the action when pulling plugs but I seem to do about as well as the other guys (the ones who know what they're doing).
Now for ice fishing I use the smallest diameter single strand they sell, get bitten off constantly without it. But when you do hook a northern you get a spring with all the twisting they do. Now I'll tie on a micro-jig for the rod in my hand but pulling up a tip-up to check bait and finding terminal tackle gone just makes me nuts. How long have I been fishing without even a hook?!?
