Tie-ing knots with 80lb. mono is no joke, especially with small swivels....novice knot-tiers stay away from that one..
With plugs: - If I'm playing with 4 - 8# choppers...a 6" clear coated thin wire-leader does me just fine (stay away from black unless your chunking bottom, IMO). From shore, mono will eventually cost you while playing with bloos. On a boat, if you KNOW there are alot of bloos around save your plugs, they don't always float to the surface ya know.
I attach the pre-tied wire to the main line via the swivel and attach the lure to the snap on the other end of the wire. Braid will not work like wire, I dis-proved that to myself this season already. I was just lucky the first dozen times or so.
With Larger bloos (12#s and up), you MUST use heavier wire. Or you'll be changing the thinner wire frequently. Or simply move out of that area
(right Clammer?)
With bait: - When I bait for bass, there are a lot of variables that come into play before I change to wire. I'll allow myself 2 cut-offs in a row in a certain amount of time, before changing to wire. BUT!! I have to believe there are HUGE bloos OR at least some Bass in the mix. There are many variables to this situation, too many to type up today.
Something to be aware of: When bait-fishing with wire...and
STILL getting cut-off, more than likely...this is what's happening. The first bloo-fish chomps into your bait. His head starts thrashing violently. The bait may slide up your leader during this thrashing. When it hits the swivel at the top of the union (where the wire ties to your mono) it will get hung up at this point. If another bloo-fish was following the one on the hook, he'll chomp at that bait on the swivel. If he catches some of your mono....seeeee - ya.
In your case, the leader shouldn't have played a part in your not hooking up after you switched to wire. As thick as they have been appearing, a leader shouldn't make a "hit' of a difference. More often than not, they'll hit it. There are exceptions however - maybe you didn't give it enough time...or maybe your instance was one of those "exceptions"
Good Luck...
...I know the picture sux, but it's just to give you a basic visual idea of how it happens.