Follow the Leader!?

[Coontail77]

“Asking for a friend”, but what’s everyone’s leader preference on a small (7.5ft) rod? I normally run between a 9ft 5x and 7.5ft 4x, depending on the occasion. What situations do you use different leaders? As you’re casually perusing the forums, just drop your set up if you run a medium to small rod for all those who are wondering. As always,…Tight Lines, and see you on the stream!

 

[redietz]

It depends on the stream and what I'm throwing, not the rod. I probably fish 7.5 foot rods more than any other length, but the rod length has no bearing on the leader length. On a limestone stream or a tail water, fishing wet flies it might be 14 feet to 6x; on a smallish freestone fishing dries it might be 8 feet to a 4x. I'd use the same with a 9 foot rod under the same circumstances.

 

[JimNovo]

Like redietz, I try to keep my set up simple but flexible. I use a 9ft 3x/4x leader to a tippet ring on all of my rods. From there, the choice of tippet and length of tippet varies based on what or how I am fishing, water/weather conditions, or the picky-ness of the fish. I rarely run a total leader less than 12ft.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I second redietz, leader length has nothing to do with rod length but more so the body of water I am fishing and the type of fishing I am doing. For indicator fishing I run a 3 or 4X 9ft leader. For steelhead I have used 12ft leaders for nymph rigs but that is because I once bought a lot of leaders that came with 12lb. 12ft bonefish leaders so I had to use them as I have yet to find another use for them. For small brushy creeks when tossing a dry or dry/dropper I will bump down to a 7.5ft leader, probably 5X. If am using dries over wide expanses of creek I may use a 9ft. 5X leader and add tippet to make it 12ft or longer. On ponds when going for bluegill with small surface patterns I will run a 12ft 5 or 6X leader and won't add tippet.

 

[troutbert]

“Asking for a friend”, but what’s everyone’s leader preference on a small (7.5ft) rod? I normally run between a 9ft 5x and 7.5ft 4x, depending on the occasion.

I do the same as that. Brilliant minds think alike. That handles the great majority of situations on smallish freestone streams, which is where I use a 7 1/2 ft rod.

 

[Bamboozle]

I'm in the Reditz camp although I have a couple of caveats...

First off for dry fly fishing I have no idea how long my leaders are because on medium to larger streams I am starting out with either a 7' thread furled leader or a 3 meter woven silk leader as a foundation. On small streams it's a 3' thread furled or 1 meter silk butt. To either I add an intermediate section or two and tippet. When it turns over properly... I'm happy but I have no clue on the overall length.

Second, I also chose rod length by stream size so there is a small likelihood I'd be fishing a leader 14+ feet long with a rod shorter than 7'6" and maybe not on even a 7'6" rod for a couple of reasons:

If I fish a very long leader on a shorter rod, the junction between the leader and fly line plus the first couple of knots will frequently be in the guides.

Another reason is short(er) rods for me usually equate to small(er) water and shorter casts. Since I don't do the over-lining or extra spool thing, I want as much fly line out past the tip top to get the rod to load at those shorter distances. A shorter leader helps to accomplish that goal. I typically fish leaders around 5 or 6 feet long on really small water.

And I NEVER fish a leader that long with heavy flies because they just don't turn over well. My "wet fly" leaders are most likely 7 - 8 feet long and either regular knotted leaders or braided butt (not to be confused with furled) leaders.

 

[wildtrout2]

If I fish a very long leader on a shorter rod, the junction between the leader and fly line plus the first couple of knots will frequently be in the guides.

That's why I fish a 7.5' leader on my 7' rod, I like to keep the leader out of the guides at all cost. Just makes things work smoothly.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I will specify that I am not throwing leaders in excess of 9 feet on a rod that is 8ft or shorter. I agree with keeping fly line out of your tip to prevent the knots of the leaders from getting caught in the guides. I fish a 9ft leader on my 4wt 7'6" when indicator nymphing in a relatively open area. I also curtail my leaders lengths to the density of brush surrounding the water I am fishing.

 

[shakey]

I usually use a short leader .
I like a furled leader around five feet.

To that I attach a similar length of tippet , for three wet flies , which are close to evenly spaced.

If I want to take it easy and just use dry flies , I use less tippet and grease some of my leader.

Intend to use hand twisted mono leaders, but, the furled uni thread leaders by Fretz are excellent.

 

[joebamboo]

My go to rod is a 9ft 3wt for just about all trout water except Big Pine. A 9ft 4x leader with a tippet ring to add 5x tippet.

 

[Boulders]

It’s all about presentation.
The leader is the delivery of your fly to the target allowing the fly to act in a life like manner.
With my 7.5ft. ‘cane rod, depending of the situation I will use a 7.5 ft or 9 ft leader with 4x-7x tippet.

 

[Shawn Joseph]

I used to fish a wild brown trout stream several times a week for several years when I lived near it. I fished a 7’6” 4 wt with a 4x 12’ leader. That combo seemed to work great for me. It’s a little limestone so no wading and no fly line on the water(if possible).

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Hand-tied, 9+ feet long, tapered down to (a long) 4X. Tippet of 5, 6, or 7X is added depending on conditions. We build a couple leaders before the season to brush up on our blood knot skills. Rods are 8 to 9 feet long, but we're careful about pulling leader into the tiptop. We also make sure that only line is in the guides before casting after catching.