Leaders and materials

[nick2011 0]

i was curious as im still piecing together my skills of fly fishing..what is a good all around leader to tippit set up length pound test ect... any help is good help.. i have been using tippit to make my leaders but im finding thats not working so well all the time

[colotyer 0]

This what i normally use or start with,9ft.tapered leader,if i am nymphing i will use a flourocarbon leader5-6x,tied off from that is a 5-6x flouro tippet for the first fly,tied off from the eye of the fly is 6-7x flouro around 12-18 inches for the second fly.

[Crackaig 0]

The simple answer is that there isn't one. Leader construction will depend on how you are fishing, where you are fishing and what flies you are fishing. Swinging a streamer under undercut banks for big browns requires a different set up than fishing a dry fly, and so on.

 

A very good instructor I know recommends beginners start with a tapered leader and tippet of 1 1/2 times the rod length. That would be a good start. For further advice we really need to know more about your fishing.

 

Cheers,

C.

[SilverCreek 0]

There are several general guidelines for leaders and tippets. This is for dry fly fishing or nymphing.

 

Start with a leader length about the same length as the rod and then lengthen it as your casting gets better. For a 9' rod it would be a 9' leader. (In my opinion, starting a rank beginner with a leader that is 1.5 times the rod length places a heavy casting burden on the beginner. That would mean starting a beginner with a 13.5' leader for a 9' rod. This also means the beginner will likely bring the leader into the rod guides to land the fish and this will increase the chances of a break off.)

 

The leader butt should be close to the diameter of the end of the fly line. For a 5/6 fly line it should be in the range of 0.021" to 0.019" diameter.

 

The "X" size of the tippet varies with the size and wind resistance of the fly. For a rank novice, begin by dividing the hook size by 4 to get the X size and then as you get better at casting divide the hook size by 3 to get a thinner tippet.

 

The tippet length varies with the length of the leader and also depends on casting skill. A shorter tippet give the beginner more control for accuracy but at a cost of less drag free drift.

 

Most leaders are built on the 60% butt - 20% transition - 20% tippet formula. You can use this 60/20/20 formula to decide when to add new tippet to a worn leader. Using this "rule" a 9 ft leader would have a 22" tippet.

 

Realize that commercial leaders have to work for beginners as well as experts, but experts can cast a longer tippet section with accuracy. So I recommend that as beginners become better casters, they lengthen the tippet. For a 9' leader and using the 20% tippet rule, I tell beginners to start with a 22" rule of 4 tippet, then as they get better, lengthen it to a 26" and then a 30" rule of 4 tippet. Then switch to a rule of 3 tippet and gradually lengthen that to 30". As they become better casters, the tippet gets longer, then thinner and longer.

[Ruffells311 0]

Like said before, depends on how your fishing, what your fishing for, and the wind. I always go with as long of a leader/tippet as I can, and still be able to turn over flies. Which depends largely on the weight of the fly and the wind conditions. I fish warm water, so a tappered leader is not needed (makes it easier to turn smaller flies over though) because most of the time it doesn't matter how the fly lands. Personally, my normal set up is about 7 ft of a cheap line (a large spool of some "moss green" 12# mono from walmart will last nearly forever) then a loop on the end of that, with a 100% flourocarbon 8# tippet on that (varried length) connected via loop to loop. That way I use less of the exspensive flouro when I change tippets from changing so many flies, and the leader/tippet aren't the same color. Them being different colors acts like a camo, so to the fish it doesn't look like just one long thing attached to their food. If they can see the flouro anyway. Its kind of like a tapper to. Fly line to 12# to 8#. Sorry it is in pounds and not the X stuff, but what I buy is suppose to be for conventional tackle. I haven't fly fished for long, but this method works well for my needs.

[nick2011 0]

thinks for all the info, i guess im not too far off other than changing up the leader between dry and nymphing..on more question. are their different tippet diameters for the same pound test?

[SilverCreek 0]

Tippet X size is diameter, strength is different but pretty close for the major manufacturers. You will find that real tippets are stronger per diameter that normal fishing lines.

[Mike1958 0]

A furled leader is more forgiving, especially where wind knots are concerned, and with a micro swivel or ring at the end of the leader, it allows you to change only the tippet as opposed to the entire leader.