New to fishing and a few questions

[Kent]

If you are going to continue using the braided line (and if you like the feel of it go for it) I would recommend that you do use leader. Fluorocarbon is not necessary and is mostly just hype and extremely expensive. A good monofilament leader will serve you well and is far less expensive. Leaders are more expensive than comparable line probably because leaders are usually more limp than regular fishing line (which I assume is more expensive to manufacture). That said, I have often used regular fishing line for leader material (especially for bait or lure fishing, as opposed to fly fishing) and done just fine.
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