Fly fishing leader

[davey buoy]

Now I broke my leader in half for arguments sake. My tippet as well as 1/2 of my leader. Don't ask why,or how lol. This was last fall. My set up is a 8/9 with floating line. I know the leader is tapered but when you break it should it be replaced.?

I have enough of tippet material,but it's the leader I'm worried about?.Thanks guys.

[BillM]

Without the leader being the proper length or losing the taper, you'll have a hard time turning over flies.. Especially dries... It needs replacing.

 

If you were tossing big streamers it really wouldn't matter.

Edited April 24, 2013 by BillM

[misfish]

My question is,why the need for a leader? I run a 9ft tippit from my main fly line.

[davey buoy]

My question is,why the need for a leader? I run a 9ft tippit from my main fly line.

Nice question Brian,I'm not apposed to buying a new leader,just the importance I guess.

[BillM]

My question is,why the need for a leader? I run a 9ft tippit from my main fly line.

 

So you aren't making your leader shorter and shorter everytime you remove flies...

[davey buoy]

So you aren't making your leader shorter and shorter everytime you remove flies...

I think he replaces his tippet when needed,no leader.

[torco]

Hey the leader is needed to allow the fly to turnover when casting. But if you are throwing streamers and nymphing it is less important that it is tapered. It really depends on the situation.

[BillM]

I think he replaces his tippet when needed,no leader.

 

I can't imagine how he's turning over dries without a tapered leader.

[davey buoy]

I can't imagine how he's turning over dries without a tapered leader.

So a leader is a must Bill?,river speaking from me .

[BillM]

So a leader is a must Bill?,river speaking from me .

 

I've always run a leader, doesn't matter what I'm doing to be honest. It's not as important when your nymphing or tossing streamers like torco mentioned, but if you're trying to fish dries, it would almost be impossible.. The taper in the leader helps the fly turn over and land softly on the water. Without it, the line would just coil up and the fly would drop pretty much straight down, lol.

 

Your presentation wouldn't be very natural at all...

Edited April 24, 2013 by BillM

[misfish]

I've always run a leader, doesn't matter what I'm doing to be honest. It's not as important when your nymphing or tossing streamers like torco mentioned, but if you're trying to fish dries, it would almost be impossible.. The taper in the leader helps the fly turn over and land softly on the water. Without it, the line would just coil up and the fly would drop pretty much straight down, lol.

 

Your presentation wouldn't be very natural at all...

 

Bill.with what I run,I can lay that fly just nice. I,m thinking the weight of the tippet,makes the difference. I,m running 2lb. You know where I,m fishing. 2 lb is max. If I did run a leader,on a 4-5 weight,what length would you recommend? Or any other fly guy.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Misfish

[Christopheraaron]

it depends on the water for me, not the fish, on small creeks I just use a tippet like you, but on bigger water like the humber you want a leader.

[misfish]

but on bigger water like the humber you want a leader.

 

Why?

[bare foot wader]

all depends on your application, as mentioned, is more critical of a detail with dry fly presentations...you're setup is an 8/9, I'm gonna guess you're not dropping too many size 18's to finicky brown trout

 

heavier line has more spring to it, so it helps to turn over your leader/fly, but is not essential, it helps with low energy casts, like in dry fly fishing...but I find it is mostly important to help with a soft landing

 

you can still turn over nicely with a flat leader, ask ian james about it lol

 

for everything but dry fly fishing small stream trout, I don't bother with a knotless tapered leader (expensive)...i'm either running straight mono to a 2' tippet or if i get fancy 50/50 or 40/30/30 roughly

[bare foot wader]

if you're really looking for a fancy leader, try using a furled leader, definitely buy a few before you attempt to make one

[BillM]

Bill.with what I run,I can lay that fly just nice. I,m thinking the weight of the tippet,makes the difference. I,m running 2lb. You know where I,m fishing. 2 lb is max. If I did run a leader,on a 4-5 weight,what length would you recommend? Or any other fly guy.

 

So at that place it really doesn't matter because you're barely even casting, lol. I run 9ft leaders on my 4wt with another few feet of tippet if I'm tossing dries. I don't dare bring my flyrod into that place man, a small UL setup works for me in there.

[misfish]

a small UL setup works for me in there.

 

 

Thats to easy.LOL

 

Lets see what the weekend adventure brings.

 

Im stoked to get out.

The Notty has layed a beat down on me this spring.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Misfish

[BillM]

The Notty is blown to all hell.. I'm going to hit Lake O on Sunday.. I'll fish residents after the craziness is over. No big rush.

[davey buoy]

Now I buy a new 9' leader for my 8/9 set up. So I should only break my tippet off with a snag or fish or whatever. I understand the tippet can be as little as 3' from the leader. The question now is if I broke 2' of my tippet because of a snag for instance. Should I just tie another 2' of tippet to the remainder of tippet. If that is correct,how many times can you add knots to your original tippet?. From what I understand you don't want to touch the leader?,correct?

[BillM]

Now I buy a new 9' leader for my 8/9 set up. So I should only break my tippet off with a snag or fish or whatever. I understand the tippet can be as little as 3' from the leader. The question now is if I broke 2' of my tippet because of a snag for instance. Should I just tie another 2' of tippet to the remainder of tippet. If that is correct,how many times can you add knots to your original tippet?. From what I understand you don't want to touch the leader?,correct?

 

You should never be breaking your leader instead of your tippet.. And yeah if you snap your tippet and there isn't much left, re-tie a new piece onto your leader. The leader isn't entirely tapered. There's probably a 2-3ft section on a 9ft leader that's not tapered. So you've got some leeway when having to re-tie your tippet without getting into the tapered section.

[bare foot wader]

the point of the tippet is to preserve the leader...typically it'll be 2-3' and retie when you break off, gets too short, frayed, etc

 

I would not tie more tippet on top of tippet....every knot is another potential failure point and reduces the line strength...I'd either fish the short tippet or tie new

 

I wouldn't worry about buying expensive tippet material or leaders, if you're new to casting you will get wind knots and if you don't check/remove them promtply your leader will either snap during casting or on a fish

[landry]

Save your money. Attach a 3' section of 20 lb mono to the flatline. Use a triple surgeons knot to attach 3' of 12 lb approx. then add 3' of 8 lb. then add your tippet.

Or something similar.

[davey buoy]

Save your money. Attach a 3' section of 20 lb mono to the flatline. Use a triple surgeons knot to attach 3' of 12 lb approx. then add 3' of 8 lb. then add your tippet.

Or something similar.

landry,could you resay that it layman terms. lol. From start to finish please . Thanks.

[wallacio]

_{He's describing how to make a tapered leader by stepping down heavier line to lighter line. Personally, I'm happy to spend the few bucks on knotless tapered leaders (especially that come with a pre-tied loop on the end to attach directly to the end of your fly line)...no fiddling around with tying 3 knots or more per leader.}

Edited April 24, 2013 by wallacio

[davey buoy]

_{He's describing how to make a tapered leader by stepping down heavier line to lighter line. Personally, I'm happy to spend the few bucks on knotless tapered leaders (especially that come with a pre-tied loop on the end to attach directly to the end of your fly line)...no fiddling around with tying 3 knots or more per leader.}

If I recall last year,BPS didn't carry the leader with a loop at the end. I did ask. I bought the 9' leader and used a nail knot to tie to the fly line if I remember correctly.