tippet and leader lengths

[Fish For Life 0]

Im sure this has been asked before but ill ask again. How long should your leader and tippet be. I am using a 9" 5 weight. How long should they be together and how long they should be individualy. I Know that there is no real answer but instead of telling me that tell me what lengths you use.

 

Thanks

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

it depends on what you are fishing for if I am fishing dries for weary trout I use a 9 foot furled leader with a tippet about 5 feet long 6x-7x for SMB I fish a 5 foot straight 14# magna for nymphs on trout I fish a furled leader 5ft long with 3-4 feet of 5x-7x tippet streamers for trout I use a 6 foot tappered with 3-4 ft of tippet between 3x-5x

[netabrookie 0]

I usually go with a 9' leader for trout in the bigger streams with a 1 1/2' to 2' tippet. On the smaller mountain streams when Im chasing brookies I drop back to a 7 1/2' leader because some of the pools and runs are small and I don't want a leader that is longer than the pool that I'm fishing. I have made a few leaders but I haven't mastered that yet and would rather use a purchased one. I use a loop-to-loop connection so changing is very easy.

Take Care, Tony

[FantasticMrTrout 0]

Hi. I would say it all depends on the fish and where in the world you are fishing. Let say you are fishing in New zealand, I never fish anything less of 15 foot, the trout are super spooky and I like to have a bit of a buffer from tippet to fly line. Here in sweden and Norway I will fish with a 9 or 12 foot leader, that is including the tippet.

[Piker20 0]

Fish the longest you can cast. Once you start using leaders longer than the rod you need to make sure your casting is up to it. A long leader cast badly won't catch any fish where as a shorter leader cast well is going to present a fly well and trick a fish hopefully. For wet flies you don't want too long a leader as fish can hip a hook with you never knowing. 9ft would be my default leader on a 8½ ft and 9ft rod with a short length of tippet to suit target fish.

[phg 0]

I'm seeing a bit of a consensus forming.... For trout, 9' is my standard leader, but for spooky trout in clear water, I stretch it out to 12', or longer, and for small brook trout streams, I shorten it to 6' - 7'. (Like Tony said, there are times when the pool is so small, a 3' leader would reach across it.) For the most part, though, 9' gets it done for trout.

 

For bass, bream, catfish, etc., 7' is plenty, and it can be straight mono, as those fish aren't particularly leader shy.

[oarfish 0]

Leader Length

Best suited for…

6 foot

Sinking fly lines of all types, panfish, bass, trout in tiny, brushy streams

7.5 foot

Trout in streams from 10-20 feet wide, intermediate and sinking tip lines in lakes and saltwater conditions where the fish are not terribly spooky. Also streamer fishing for trout with big flies or with heavy nymphs and big indicators

9 foot

Trout streams larger than 20 feet wide where the water is mostly riffled, or else the fish are not spooky. In salt water, fish in shallow water under bright, clear conditions.

12 foot

Trout in most lakes with floating lines. Trout in streams with flies smaller than size 16 when the water is flat, low, or very clear

15 foot

Spooky trout in extremely clear water in both lakes and rivers.

 

 

 

Tippet Size

Tippet Diameter

Approximate breaking strength in Super Strong nylon (pounds)

Balances with fly sizes:

8X

.003"

1.75

22, 24, 26, 28

7X

.004"

2.5

18, 20, 22, 24

6X

.005"

3.5

16, 18, 20, 22

5X

.006"

4.75

14, 16, 18

4X

.007"

6

12, 14, 16

3X

.008"

8.5

6, 8, 10

2X

.009"

11.5

4, 6, 8

1X

.010"

13.5

2, 4, 6

0X

.011"

15.5

1/0, 2, 4

.012

.012"

18.5

5/0, 4/0,3/0, 2/0

.013

.013"

20

5/0, 4/0,3/0, 2/0

.015

.015"

25

5/0, 4/0,3/0, 2/0

Tippet lenght depends on wather color, it's speed what your fishing for,as a suggestion I'd start with no more then 4.5 to 5 feet, handle that and work up and down with your delivery. The above leader and tippet info comes from Orvis.

[Bugsy 0]

How long should your leader and tippet be?

 

Whatever length that allows you to effectively present the fly. I'll modify that by stating the minimum length you need to effectively present the fly. Long leaders may be necessary in some instances, yes, but using leaders and tippets that are needlessly long only complicates matters.

 

If you can do well with a 7' leader and 24" tippet, is there any reason to go longer?

[rockworm 0]

Just a few additions to the above, fine responses:

 

Leader length (which is only part of a leader's character) depends upon 1) the type and size of fly you are presenting, 2) the type of water being fished, 3) the size and temperment of fish you hope to catch, and several other less critical considerations. (Such as whether you hope to return the fish in good condition to the river...) You generally want a longer leader when fishing a dry fly in smooth water than a wet fly in rougher water.

[Bazooka Joe 0]

Everybody here has cover it really well but my suggestion would be to keep it simple:

 

Small streams: 7 1/2 ft with 1-2 ft tippet

 

Most rivers 9 ft 1-2 ft tippet

 

Spooky fish in gin clear water 12ft 1-3 ft tippet

 

 

As Piker stated, the longer the leader the more difficult it will be to cast and thus your presentation will suffer.