Hand tied leaders

[DFoster 0]

 I prefer tying my own leaders for all styles of fly fishing with the exception of dries. For dries I still use manufactured tapered leaders. This is a short video I thought some would find interesting.   I put a few screen shots of his designs below.

Have a great weekend!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hN6PHG_Juo

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chugbug27 0]

Maybe that explains why my "three fly rigs" always end up as a "one tangled mess".... Stiffer mono! (I hear my sister somewhere in the distant past ribbing, "no duh, Steve")

[DFoster 0]

2 hours ago, chugbug27 said:

Maybe that explains why my "three fly rigs" always end up as a "one tangled mess".... Stiffer mono! (I hear my sister somewhere in the distant past ribbing, "no duh, Steve")

I've never cast a 3 fly rig, here in Massachusetts they are verboten-  2 flies maximum.  Even with just 2 flies, a properly tied leader and many years practice I'm always one rushed cast away from what looks like a plate of spaghetti.  😲

[Philly 0]

I use to make my own leaders, nothing fancy.  Once I discovered furled leaders, I quit making them.  I don't make my own furled leaders but over the years I've acquired several by swapping flies and/or materials for them.  I don't think I ever used more than two flies.  Nothing fancy there.  Just a dropper from 12 to 18 inches tied off the bend of the hook.   I've caught two panfish on that rig several times and one time a couple of small bass.  A bit more excitement than I like.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

As a saltwater type - my leaders are all hand tied (and since I'm from the stone age - a bit old fashioned).  For anyone hitting the salt for the first time - here's the first step - a permanent butt section connected to the end of the fly with a nail knot ( two nail knots in a row if connecting to a full Intermediate fly line - one won't work...).

I prefer monofilament for this portion of any saltwater fly leader (and Ande Premium is always my first choice if available).  Each butt section ends in a surgeon's loop big enough to pass any popping bug through and here's the routine...

7wt... 3.5 feet of 30lb mono

8wt ...4 feet of 40lb 

9wt... 4.5 feet of 40lb 

10wt.. 5 feet of 50lb 

11wt.. 5.5 feet of 50lb

12wt... 6 feet of 60lb

 

I'll forego the final "quick change portion of my leader setups for now... but here's a teaser.. 

I tie up pairs of leaders, joined by a common bite tippet, then loaded loop to loop on spools by size... When needed you pull off a leader pair, clip the bite tippet in half and have a ready made class tippet with shock (or bite tippet) ready to  secure to your butt section and ready for whatever fly... 

[Poopdeck 0]

I stopped with the multiple 8” pieces of whatever when I discovered it didn’t matter. I keep my leaders super basic and really with no formula in mind. I  adjust as I go depending on what I see happening. In fact most times i just use a 7’ 3x tapered leader with a tippet ring. Then I just add a few feet of tippet with maybe one step down.  I think chug showed me the light. It’s a much simpler process. The leader formula process is probably the biggest bunch of over hyped hooey in fly fishing, or I’m an old curmudgeon who stopped caring when I had to start wearing magnifiers to see what I was doing. Not sure.

I also kept my pre-tied freshwater leaders stored on old tippet spools.   I just tied a loop in the tippet end as well and join them loop to loop. When I needed a tippet I just pull it out to the double loop and cut off the tippet end loop. 

[RickZieger 0]

Almost all my fly fishing is for warmwater fish I have been going with 4 or 6 lb mono for straight leads. 

Still catch fish soit seems towork.

 

[chugbug27 0]

5 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

 I think chug showed me the light. It’s a much simpler process. The leader formula process is probably the biggest bunch of over hyped hooey in fly fishing

Yeah, I'm seeing myself slip back into the darkness... I don't disagree with you. Guilty as charged... 

[DFoster 0]

My own leaders are simple enough .  2’ of 25lb to 15” of 15lb to 10” of 8lb to 6lb to 4lb. This gives me roughly a 5’ leader.  I tie a small perfection loop on the 4lb then I tie whatever length and X tippet I want to the loop. I use my desk draw to measure the sections. The draw is 24” wide and the knobs are 15” apart.  These 5’ leaders last for years although occasionally I need to replace the 4lb section.  I mostly use cheap mono but have some tied with floro.  They cost next to nothing and work on all my rods from 3 to 6 weight. 

[Sandan 0]

On 2/16/2024 at 9:44 AM, chugbug27 said:

Maybe that explains why my "three fly rigs" always end up as a "one tangled mess".... Stiffer mono! (I hear my sister somewhere in the distant past ribbing, "no duh, Steve")

I wanna say the only leader formula you'll ever need but.... http://www.garyborger.com/2012/05/09/uni-body-to-harvey-style-leader/

@chugbug27  As to casting a 3 fly rig, I do that quite often as we can legally fish 3 flies. First slow things down a bit so your loops are open. Tight loops spell tangles with a capital "T". What helps me open my loops is the way I hold my rod. Rather than having my index finger pointing up the grip (towards the tip of the rod, I hold the rod more like a hammer, not tight but my thumb and index finger are around the grip. Bio-mechanically when your index finger points up the grip it inhibits wrist action which is usually a good thing, but that results in tighter loops. "Wrapping" does just the opposite. Watch out for tailing loops cause that's gonna tangle you right up.  Bottom line, just open up your loops. If your chucking 3 nymphs and weight use a Belgian or oval cast. Keeps constant tension on your line.

[chugbug27 0]

My stomach's turning just thinking about it.

[DFoster 0]

14 hours ago, Sandan said:

I wanna say the only leader formula you'll ever need but.... http://www.garyborger.com/2012/05/09/uni-body-to-harvey-style-leader/

@chugbug27  As to casting a 3 fly rig, I do that quite often as we can legally fish 3 flies. First slow things down a bit so your loops are open. Tight loops spell tangles with a capital "T". What helps me open my loops is the way I hold my rod. Rather than having my index finger pointing up the grip (towards the tip of the rod, I hold the rod more like a hammer, not tight but my thumb and index finger are around the grip. Bio-mechanically when your index finger points up the grip it inhibits wrist action which is usually a good thing, but that results in tighter loops. "Wrapping" does just the opposite. Watch out for tailing loops cause that's gonna tangle you right up.  Bottom line, just open up your loops. If your chucking 3 nymphs and weight use a Belgian or oval cast. Keeps constant tension on your line.

Here in Mass were allowed 2 flies and more often than not that's what I use.  I have a passion for the traditional Scottish/English style of fly fishing so It kind of irks me that we can't use 3 flies here.  I don't understand what difference it makes, I throw them all back anyway?  But then again there are a lot things I don't understand about this state.

You are totally correct- Open the loop with multi fly rigs or bad things will happen.  It's even more critical when using weight. 

 

[DFoster 0]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:11 AM, Poopdeck said:

I stopped with the multiple 8” pieces of whatever when I discovered it didn’t matter. I keep my leaders super basic and really with no formula in mind. I  adjust as I go depending on what I see happening. In fact most times i just use a 7’ 3x tapered leader with a tippet ring. Then I just add a few feet of tippet with maybe one step down.  I think chug showed me the light. It’s a much simpler process. The leader formula process is probably the biggest bunch of over hyped hooey in fly fishing, or I’m an old curmudgeon who stopped caring when I had to start wearing magnifiers to see what I was doing. Not sure.

I also kept my pre-tied freshwater leaders stored on old tippet spools.   I just tied a loop in the tippet end as well and join them loop to loop. When I needed a tippet I just pull it out to the double loop and cut off the tippet end loop. 

I with you on complicated leader formulas.  A world class caster might notice the difference but I can't.  I like simple.  I use store bought tapered for dries and my own knotted leaders for everything else.  I mostly fish for trout and smallmouth and my leaders without tippet run about 5'.  20lb down to 4lb at which point I tie a small perfection loop that is essentially my tippet ring.    I like having the knots to prevent slip shot from sliding.

On 2/17/2024 at 10:23 AM, RickZieger said:

Almost all my fly fishing is for warmwater fish I have been going with 4 or 6 lb mono for straight leads. 

Still catch fish soit seems towork.

 

  Using a piece of straight mono will cast but I tapered leader will cast better.  I keep my leaders very basic-. A few feet of heavy but section and then tie on progressively lighter and shorter sections.  I don't go crazy with the step downs usually no more than 4.

[SilverCreek 0]

If you want the formula for tying Gary Borger's Unibody leaders, go down to my post on this page.

https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/leader-tying.343201/page-2

 

[niveker 0]

2 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

Gary Borger's Unibody

I went from tying my own with the old Orvis kit, to extruded leaders, and was about to go back to those over-complicated leader formulas until I came across Borger's system.  Highly recommend it.