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Author Topic: making leaders  (Read 4802 times)

island boy

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making leaders
« on: March 06, 2012, 10:35:53 PM »

what pound test and in what lengths do you guys use. getting things ready for spring and thought of making my own instead of buying tappered ones.
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roseph

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2012, 09:23:49 AM »

for what fish/water type/wt rod/style of fishing are you asking?
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island boy

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2012, 06:08:13 PM »

sorry about that. 6wt. full sink for lake fishing(trolling)
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dlo

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2012, 06:21:41 PM »

8 or 6lb fluoro level leader for a sinking line
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island boy

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2012, 08:29:51 PM »

thanks man.
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colin6101

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2012, 03:42:26 AM »

If you are trolling there really is no need to run a tapered leader. It definitely helps when turning over dry flies during casting though. On my sinking line I just run some 8 pound fluoro as well and it has always served me well.
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island boy

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2012, 07:57:25 PM »

thanks for the tips guys.
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cohoaaron

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2012, 08:48:36 PM »

how long do you guys make the leaders?
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awurban@msn.com

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2012, 08:32:52 AM »

Hey, for nymph fishing I usually use a leader 12-14 feet long and for just regular sinking line with bugger or something getting pulled behind a boat I will use a 6-8foot leader
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Speyfitter

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2012, 07:26:07 AM »

how long do you guys make the leaders?

For Sink Tips it'll usually be anywhere from 2 to 6 feet depending on the circumstances- typically sink tip applications are on a river to get your fly down so putting a long leader on them may be counter productive, hence the shorter leader, and it doesn't have to be tapered either- the entire leader can be one section of a certain pound test monofilament.. For Sinking lines, you can go as short as 2-3 feet and as along as 20 feet depending on water/application. Sinking lines are typically lake applications, and 2-3 feet may be in a murkier lake, you could go as much as 20 feet if you were trolling in a super clear lake with wary fish. Again, you generally don't need a tapered leader as any sinking application you are not worried about presentation as much as you're fishing below the surface so you just want your fly to turn over, that's it.

With floating lines, you may fish a weighted fly or a non weighted fly, of which the non weighted fly may or may not sink (if you're fishing a subsurface pattern or a dry fly). A good general rule is a floating line leader should be about as long as your rod or longer. Most Spey guys will fish leaders as long as their rod up to as much as 20 feet long on a floating line.  A tapered leader here, especially with delicate presentations, works, whether built or not built (bought). Some spey guys won't even make or buy a tapered leader - they'll just run straight mono from 12-20 feet. The reason is because the spey lines carry so much energy that they have no problem turning over flies with straight mono - the thicker butt section of the leader doesn't do as much, plus you have less knots. This is often fine when you're fishing 12 pound leader, but when you're in a trout application with a 3 or 4 weight line and a delicate dry fly a 3 pound tippet isn't gonna fly in this application and a tapered leader becomes more neccessary so you have some of the fly lines energy imparted down your leader towards turning over your fly, plus it does a nicer job of turning over your fly delicately.
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RalphH

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2012, 11:54:22 AM »

if you want to taper the leader start with the butt end as half the length you want and taper down by half the butt length for each section and by 5 lbs. So for a 6 foot leader for sinkling line: 3 feet of 15lb, 18 inches of 10lb and 18 inches of 6lb.

This is the Flip Pallot taper and it's good for anything other than dry fly.

For sinking lines you'll do fine with just a length of your preferred tippet strength. I use 3 to 6 feet depending. Some people prefer longer lengths of 9 or more feet.
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island boy

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2012, 03:00:33 PM »

cool. thanks for the tips.
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SteelheadAdict

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Re: making leaders
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2012, 06:35:32 PM »

it may seem weird but for trolling and indicator rigs i use three lines 8pound 6pound then 4pound all florcarbon and howevr mutch of each u want just keep the 8pound under 5 feet
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