Need help with leader

[novabass 0]

I have an R.L. Winston 9 foot, 7 weight rod and I bought some 7 weight forward floating line for it.

I am confused on what kind of leader to put on it. I know that some people make their own. Should I make my own out of mono or buy a tappered leader. If I buy a leader, what size should I get?

If I make my own, what sizes of mono do I need to get?

 

I'll be using this rod for fishing for trout and smallmouth.

[Jaydub 0]

For general purpose trout fishing, I'd start with a 9' leader tapered to 4X tippet. You might go a little heavier for Smallmouth.

 

I tied my own leaders for the first 10 years I fly fished. Then I got lazy and started using factory tapered leaders. I found that they worked just as well for me. Now I'm trying out some furled leaders. All of those leaders I tied did make me good at tying blood knots.

 

You can download leadercalc here http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/download.php It's an excel spreadsheet with a bunch of formulas for knoted tapered leaders.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

since you will be doing mostly streamer fishing for smallmouth just use some maxima 14 lbs mono about 4 to 6 feet smallies are very rarely leader shy as for the trout a 9 ft tappered as suggested above is fine then add tippet as needed

[kentuckytroutbum 0]

I personally use 7 1/2 ft leaders with a 4x taper which has worked great for trout & smallies. Use regular tippet for surface flies, or use fluorcarbon tippet for nymphs and sinking flies. FC has a specific gravity heavier than water so it will sink, but will work with a floating flyline. If you want to get really deep, use an intermediate sinking line, leader, and FC tippet. You can down to about 10-12 feet with that setup.

 

With a 7 wt. rod, you can usually up-line or down-line by 1 wt. size, and the rod will still load up on the cast.

 

Tight lines.

[novabass 0]

Thanks guys.

Yes, riffleriversteelheadslayer is right, I will mostly be fishing for smallmouth.

However, I have a trip lined up to head up to Michigan on the Au Sable. So I'm getting ready for that as well.

[JSzymczyk 0]

you have to be ready to adapt to conditions including what flies you are fishing and the water is like. I fish a 7 weight all the time, and quite often overline it with an 8 wt line.

 

I'm not a fan of the "X" designations of leaders at all... For smallmouth fishing I usually will use a 9 foot mono tapered leader with a 4 or 6 lb tippet. I cut that back to where the built-in tippet section almost ends and either tie in a mini-tippet-ring or a double surgeon's loop so I can add my own tippet section. Occasionally I will use a 10lb leader/tippet when fishing around heavy cover or casting flies which are hard to turn into the wind (deer hair bugs, etc). I really like the Cabela's "Bass" series leaders by Climax- they are relatively inexpensive, very high quality, and last a LONG time.

[novabass 0]

So I guess in the long run I would save money by making my own leaders, but from what I understand, I would need to buy several sizes at first to make my own leaders.

I think I'm leaning towards just buying some already made leaders that tapper down to the correct size of tippet.

[Goduster 0]

I use a 5 1/2' Furled leader and 4 to 6' of tippet attached to it, works great

[JSzymczyk 0]

So I guess in the long run I would save money by making my own leaders, but from what I understand, I would need to buy several sizes at first to make my own leaders.

I think I'm leaning towards just buying some already made leaders that tapper down to the correct size of tippet.

 

I doubt you would save any money at all by making your own leaders. It's like fly tying or handloading ammo... you don't do it to save money.

 

Buy some tapered mono leaders of the sizes you want, and a few spools of tippet material. Loop-to-loop new tippet on as needed and you will get a good long life from each one, barring any horrible catastrophes.

[novabass 0]

If I were to use monofilament tippets, can I use regular monofilament like is used for a spinning or baitcast reel?

[Goduster 0]

I have found the tippet is considerably more supple than most standard mono lines and actuall turn over the flys better.

[JSzymczyk 0]

If I were to use monofilament tippets, can I use regular monofilament like is used for a spinning or baitcast reel?

 

ABSOLUTELY. I use Trilene XL all the time for tippet. Have for decades without any problem. The only thing I've found when using nylon mono "Tippet Material" from fly tackle companies is that I spent more money.

 

I do use Fluorocarbon tippet at certain times, but other than that mono such as Trilene, Stren, whatever, is perfectly fine to use for tippet material.

[FrequentTyer 0]

I have found the tippet is considerably more supple than most standard mono lines and actuall turn over the flys better.

 

Could it be you are using a copolymer tippet material? Nylon monofilament should be a fairly uniform material with the main difference between manufacturers being quality control on the actual diameter of the line. When you get into materials like Rio Powerflex, they are actualy a copolymer which can have very different properties from nylon, and can include resins and coatings that can make a big difference in performance. Personally I would not worry at all about using any nylon mono to build the butt and taper section of a leader as long as I measured the actual diameter of the material. For the tippet I would stick to materials packaged for tippets, at least for the type of leaders I use. Of course you can play with any material and adjust the length to make up for diferences in stiffness.

[Gene L 0]

I use mono for tippet, and also for leaders in general. It's rated slightly less # per diameter than tippet material, but not by much.

 

The biggest advantage of tippet material is it comes on convenient rolls.

[Michigan fly gal 0]

For general purpose trout fishing, I'd start with a 9' leader tapered to 4X tippet. You might go a little heavier for Smallmouth.

 

I tied my own leaders for the first 10 years I fly fished. Then I got lazy and started using factory tapered leaders. I found that they worked just as well for me. Now I'm trying out some furled leaders. All of those leaders I tied did make me good at tying blood knots.

 

You can download leadercalc here http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/download.php It's an excel spreadsheet with a bunch of formulas for knoted tapered leaders.