Walter & Group...
Mark Surtees comes in with an excellent set of answers. My comments in his answer text in italics. G. :
Hi Gordy
1.) We have talked about mass profile as
being of primary importance in determining the turnover of the leader.
Name some other factors which have influence on leader
turnover.
Length, diameter and stiffness
Agree. (Of course other factors than those relating to the leader itself will make a difference such as the size and weight of the fly, the fly line, and the cast.) G.
2.) A fly fisher can purchase ready made
leaders or he can tie up his own. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each ?
A ready made tapered leader avoids the need for multiple knotting and thus the risk of knot breakages in a self tie it is however of a fixed taper and is not therefore quite as adaptable as a self tied leader.
Yes. Another disadvantage of the knotted leader is that the knots can catch weed. As Mark said, the commercial leaaer is one with a fixed or pre determined taper. Some fishers tie their own leaders when they wish a taper not readily available for purchase. Fortunately, there is an ever increasing range of leader and taper choices carried by most fly shops and catalogs.
Commercially available leaders for salt water fishing are increasingly available, too. A few years ago, some companies offered knotted big game salt water fly leaders which were not reliable. Sometimes the knots were good and sometimes not so. Lately, these have been much better. My personal preference when big game fishing, however, is to use no leaders other than ones I've personally tied. (This coming from a guy who also almost never uses a fly tied by tied by anyone other than himself or Rick Whorwood of Ontario. ) G.
3.) When (if ever) would you recommend the
use of a commercially available tapered leader combined with a segment which the
angler adds ?
Personally ? Amost always.
Good choice for most fresh water fishing and even some salt water angling. It is an economical way, too. Rather than repeatedly shortening the tippet until you have to discard an expensive purchased leader, the angler can add a tippet of his own, cut that one back as the fly is repeatedly changed and then simply add another tippet segment when needed.
4.) Describe your choice for a
leader when fishing a spring creek for wary trout on clear
day.
9? commercial taper to 3x, 3-4? 4x to a 2-3? 5x or 6x tippet.
OK . Some might elect to go with greater length and end with an 8X tippet in the event the trout are super spooky or not taking. ( I had to go that route one clear day on the Penn's Creek trophy water.) G.
5.) How would you tie up your own leader for
fishing tailing bonefish ?
Not my area but, aiming for a 12?+ leader, 6? heavy 30-40 lb line, 3-4? 20lb, 3-4? 15lb.
You came pretty close, Mark, for a non- bonefisher. My personal preference is to use 6' of 40# mono for the butt section, then use blood knots for the tapered section : 1' 30#, 18" of 20# with a 1/2" Duncan loop at the end. I, then, loop-to-loop my 3' tippet of 12# or 10# fluorocarbon . The proximal loop for that connection in the tippet is a 3X surgeon's loop or a Lefty Kreh non-slip loop. I use the non-slip loop to the fly. This is my formula for fishing large bonefish with an 8 wt. outfit.
When fishing smaller bonefish, I use a lighter leader .... even going down to a 6# tippet. I usually use a 4 wt. outfit for these fish. G.
6.) Name as many materials as you can for tying up
fly leaders.
Nylon, Flourocarbon, various co-polymer monofilaments, coated monofilaments, various wires, horsehair, silk
Yes. One might even add the use of rubber as for a super-stretch "Bungee-Butt". (I frankly don't know if anyone still uses horsehair.) G.
7.) Approximately what percentage (length) of
the leader would you use for the butt section when tying up most salt water fly
leaders ?
50-60%
Yes.
8.) Your student has heard about "bite
tippets", "class tippets" and "shock tippets". He wants to know what these
are. What do you teach him ?
Bite tippets and shock tippets are both used to reduce the risk of toothy fish biting through the line a class tippet is a minimum 15? length of IGFA approved material if you are record hunting.
Correct. (IGFA "rules" include the use of shock tippet (bite tippet") material not to exceed 12" in length for record catch entries.) G.
9.) What leader would you favor for fishing a
placid shallow lake on a clear day for very spooky trout taking # 18 midge
patterns ?
Very long 18?+ to a 6/7x tippet.
Agree. In a prior message, you saw entries by Peter Minnick and Lefty Kreh about one such leader. David Olsen commented :
10.) What leader would you consider for
fishing brook trout on a very small stream in New England ? You are
fishing with your 2 wt. outfit.
Again I have no experience here but I normally fish a 7.5? to 9?leader to a 6x tippet when fishing for trout in small streams with 3wt, I think it would be much the same.
Agree.
11.) Your Florida salty guide says he's going
to take you out to fly fish for Spanish mackerel in the morning. You are
rigging up your leaders in advance. What bite tippet would you use
?
Wire ?
Yes. As fine a diameter wire as possible. Even better to make it as short as you can get away with. G.
12.) Tomorrow has arrived. You are out
with this guide. Lots of mackerel.... but they follow your fly and won't
strike. What do you do now ?
Ask the guide for advice ?
That's the best answer unless you have lots of experience catching toothy critters !
The two ways I know to handle this situation : 1. Use flies tied on long shank hooks. 2. Use nylon mono tippets and have lots of quick-to-tie flies. (You'll lose fish and flies, but sometimes it is the only thing that works.) G.
13.) What bite tippet would you use for large
Northern Pike ?
The most common solution here is wire but many european pike anglers favour heavy duty fluorocarbon or hard mono.
Agree.
14.) How do you attach it to the rest of your
leader ?
Ready made wire leaders come with pre-crimped or twisted loops monofilament tippets can be knotted or used with tippet rings in the normal way.
Yes. Some use tiny swivels.
My own way of rigging wire bite tippets: Starting with the fly, I attach monofilament wire to the fly with a hay-wire twist loop. To the proximal end of the wire, I attach a short segment of hard nylon monofilament. I bend the wire over, crimp the bend and then attach the mono with an Albright special knot. Then attach the mono to the remainder of the leader.
When using nylon covered wire cable, as simple fig-8 knot attaches to the fly. On the other end, I form an overhand knot through which I pass the nylon mono class tippet. Then I take the bitter end of the mono and make a 6X uni knot over the covered wire and pull it tight neatly after first tightening the overhand knot in the wire.
Once, on a trip to Belize, we were catching lots of big barracuda. We found that we could get more strikes when the fly was attached to the nylon covered wire we were using if the connection to the fly was a loop. Back at the lodge, we made up these leaders by using a cigar lighter to melt and then fuse the nylon covering of the wire..... just passed the end of the wire through the fly eye and around to hold the bitter end against the standing part and apply heat. Upon cooling, it made a neat, durable loop. (It may have been Bill Barnes who came up with that trick. ( ??)
There is now available a titanium wire which is very strong for its diameter. Many knots used for monofilament nylon can be used with this material. This wire is less likely to be coiled and crimped by a toothy critter allowing for multiple use. G.
15.) Your student is going largemouth bass
fishing using poppers on a lake in Texas where there is lots of cover including
lilly pads. He wants to know how to rig his leader. What do you tell
him ?
I?m unfamiliar with this type of fishing but I would imagine that this is a case for a short tapered leader may be 6? capable of turning over a heavy fly and pulling out of the lilies without breaking.
OK. Even a simple non-tapered short leader will work here. The idea is to have a leader which will flip over a large popper so that it will crash down and wake up the bass back in the cover. Of course, the crash down is produced by the fact that this leader doesn't turn over with the energy dissipated. G.
16.) What knots would you use when assembling
and attaching a leader for steelhead fishing ? :-
a. Connecting the butt
section to the fly line.
Nail knot
Good choice. Some steelheaders use a needle knot connection to the fly line .... particularly when dry fly fishing. G.
b. For the segments of the
tapered section .
Blood knots or Triple Turn Surgeons
Yes. A well tied blood knot, particularlly the improved blood knot should hold well and is a lot less bulky than either a standard or triple turn surgeons knot. Tom White (and others) used double nail knots drawn down and snugged up together. (Nail knot tied over each segment.) I found a couple of anglers using the same principle, but instead of nail knots they used double uni knots. G.
c. To attach the
fly.
I still use clinch knots but uniknots and palomars are probably a better bet from an anti slippage point of view.
I'm going to guess that you are using the improved clinch knot. I prefer the palomar or the uni (Duncan loop). Probably the most reliable loop knot is the Non-slip loop. G.
17.) You are using a sink tip line to
fish for King salmon (Chinook salmon) in a 10' deep pool in an Alaskan
river. The fish are moving deep near the bottom. What leader design
would you consider ?
Very short 4-5? could be a level leader.
Good choice. (With a long leader, the fly may be up above the fish in the water column even if the sink tip line is down in or near the strike zone.) G.
18.) Approximately what percentage of the
length of your entire leader would you choose for the butt section for most salt
water fishing ?
50-60% see 7
Yes.
19.) Without getting into the complexities of
rigging a leader for large tarpon, tell us what size material you would choose
for the butt section.
Approximately same diameter as the fly line tip.
Not far off. I prefer to go by weight ..... so I use a 60 # nylon monofilament butt section. G.
20.) Design a leader to use when fishing for
pan fish with a 4 wt. outfit.
I need help here? J
I like Bob Stouffer's answer :
(I wouldn't argue against a 60/20/20 formula, especially if using little poppers.)
21.) When (if ever) would you use
fluorocarbon material for part or all of your leader
?
In theory it sinks better than standard mono so it could be used when nymphing. It is generally harder than mono and more abrasion resistant so deep fished flies on sinking or sink tip lines where bottom snags may be an issue or reefs in the salt.
Correct theory. I shy away from using fluorocarbon unless I need abrasion resistance such as with a bite tippet or lower visability for my class tippet. I see no advantage in having the entire leader made of this material. Disadvantages: 1.) extra cost. 2.) Takes too long to biodegrade. G.
22.) If you did decide to use fluorocarbon
for part of your leader, how would you attach it to the nylon monofilament of
the rest of the leader ?
If I used it, I would still use a TT surgeons
Fairly reliable knot. In my experience,
not as reliable as reliable as a loop-to-loop connection or even a huffnagle
knot.*
23.) Would you ever use a fluorocarbon tippet
when dry fly fishing ? Briefly explain.
Personally I don?t, though many people do, it is overpriced and the benefits arising from its tendency to sink and thus reducing surface disturbance are far outweighed by the fact that it takes about three gazillion years or more to degrade if you snap off on anything. I use ?mud? on mono and it works fine.
Agree.
G.
24.) Is there any advantage to using segments
of the same brand of nylon monofilament when tying up leaders
?
Yes, pellet plastics are variable in quality and so is the forming process, at least the common materials will share the same physical features this should prevent hinging due to differences in stiffness and help generate a uniform elasticity under load throughout the leader, knots permitting that is.
Agree. Also: Knots are more reliable. To quote Lefty Kreh, "If yuou use monofilaments that are all the same brand, you'll find that your knots form and close better." ** G.
Mark
Surtees
Managing
Director
Outback
Rigging Ltd