No leader needed for plugs, Not that it could hurt but really does not buy you anything. The true trick is mentioned above. The art of working a run comes with time. The one piece of advice I can offer is that the fish in a good plug run are closer to the bank than you might think. Over the years I have noticed that its the bank side pole that gets hit 7 out of 10 times. The fish would rather head shallow to get out of the way than move out into the middle of the river. Good luck.