I sure agree with you 100 percent. I used to nymph with 5x in skinny water and 4x in stained water so the trout would not be scared by my leader. But, after I thought it for many years, it dawned on me fish could see the 5x, too. So, a few years ago I switched to 4x nymph rigs for every kind of water and found my catch rate didn't suffer. It's easier to land fish and I don't break off as many flies. For dry flies I fish 6x for tricos and midges, 5x for olives and most everything else in the 14 to 18 inch fly size. For terrestrial size flies, 8, 10 & 12 for example I fish 4x.