Thinking of building a few leaders...

gfen wrote:
afishinado wrote:
Here are the details on the furled leaders I make:
Click to expand...

I'm going to say I weigh in on a different technique than he does.

My current config is a butt section of 6#, 8 strands then 4 strands. To that I'll connect a middle portion, 8 strands then 4 strands of 4#. From there, a final portion of 4#, 4 strands to 2 strands then usually 4x, 5x, and what have you as neccessary.

The extra loop-to-loops don't seem to matter because after a few casts they snug down to almost disappear, and the furled loops make energy transfer almost seamless. The benefit of this is when you inevitably snap the 2 strand loop you have to make a much shorter piece, and can be done much quicker.

Two ways of reaching the same goal.
Click to expand...

How do you "split" the transitions (from 8 to 4, and 4 to 2)? Is it half the length of that segment or more like the 1/3 / 2/3 split mentioned in the video? Does it matter?
 

Whatever feels right, mostly. Afish's chart is pretty fantastic reference, actually, and will likely help me codify a standard this year.

Upon re-reviewing it, I plan to use his layout, slightly shortening each of his lengths to make way for the extra section mine entails.

I'd like to have one of his to try out, actually. I'd be curious to see how much better his fishes. Trade ya, Tom?
 
gfen wrote:

Whatever feels right, mostly. Afish's chart is pretty fantastic reference, actually, and will likely help me codify a standard this year.

Upon re-reviewing it, I plan to use his layout, slightly shortening each of his lengths to make way for the extra section mine entails.

I'd like to have one of his to try out, actually. I'd be curious to see how much better his fishes. Trade ya, Tom?
Click to expand...

Gary,

No right or wrong in fishin'...just different. I mess around all the time with these things. I also do what you do at times: add another segment of single furled leader in a floro color for nymphing. Also the simple version shown on u-tube works too. All good stuff.
 

Its those 260" long strips that killed me, but I just realized you don't just take one 260" long strip and flip it over, but two seperate pieces of 260" line?

Do you have a problem with the trailing ends wrapping up on themselves, that's why I had to move away from your version.
 
gfen wrote:

Its those 260" long strips that killed me, but I just realized you don't just take one 260" long strip and flip it over, but two seperate pieces of 260" line?

Do you have a problem with the trailing ends wrapping up on themselves, that's why I had to move away from your version.
Click to expand...

When I do mine I attach the two tag ends to a clasp swivel that is attached to something like the back of a chair. That way you can furl without worrying about you tags end wrapping around each other. I did that a couple of times before I figured that one out.

You'll need to do that for either the afish way or the way posted in the YouTube video.
 
wsender wrote:
You'll need to do that for either the afish way or the way posted in the YouTube video.
Click to expand...

Incorrect, I do it the way the youtube video does, but without a swivel. Again, smaller lengths mean less tangling.

I could do 16'-20', in half then with a third flopped over again. It was a beast, but the key was to do it OFF something with some height so it didnt drag on the floor, the slide at the kids' park worked well.

But, it could all be lost when the bottom piece snapped, and it did.

 
Dry fly guy & pcray,

The leaders always flet like they performed well enough. I didn't think it mattered that much. I'll have to try adding an extra few inches like suggested. Thanks for the tip.
 
I like this leader myself

http://www.riseformstudio.tv/leader_formula.html - plus you never have to go below 5x with it.
 
have posted this before, but I'm not a big fan of maxima... and even though I like perfection loop to loop connections, it can be hell getting them through your top guide when you are using 12+ft leaders.

First, if you can find them at walmart, fairplay tapered leaders are a mere $1.96, and I never have problems with them.

Start collecting butt ends of tapered leaders off friends who just toss them when they get too thick. Pick yourself up a roll of 0x, 2x, 4x, 5x, and 6x. I prefer rio powerflex.

If you have 2 feet of butt, add 2ft of 0x, 2ft of 2x, 3 ft, of 4x, and if you need more taper, add as much as you'd like of 5 or 6 for small nymphs and dries. I use either blood or triple surgeons knots for these. It can take some time, but if you sit down a night you can bust out at least 10 of these in half an hour.

I like to fish 12-15 ft. leaders for my dry fly fishing, and this taper regimine along with the small knots does me well when I have to attach fly and relocate. A quick pull on the fly and few sudden stops, and all your leader will be free of the guides fairly easy.

A lot of my friends use the maxima approach, but I just don't like the taper in. Furled leaders would be my second choice.
 
stevehalupka wrote:
have posted this before, but I'm not a big fan of maxima... and even though I like perfection loop to loop connections, it can be hell getting them through your top guide when you are using 12+ft leaders.

First, if you can find them at walmart, fairplay tapered leaders are a mere $1.96, and I never have problems with them.

Start collecting butt ends of tapered leaders off friends who just toss them when they get too thick. Pick yourself up a roll of 0x, 2x, 4x, 5x, and 6x. I prefer rio powerflex.

If you have 2 feet of butt, add 2ft of 0x, 2ft of 2x, 3 ft, of 4x, and if you need more taper, add as much as you'd like of 5 or 6 for small nymphs and dries. I use either blood or triple surgeons knots for these. It can take some time, but if you sit down a night you can bust out at least 10 of these in half an hour.

I like to fish 12-15 ft. leaders for my dry fly fishing, and this taper regimine along with the small knots does me well when I have to attach fly and relocate. A quick pull on the fly and few sudden stops, and all your leader will be free of the guides fairly easy.

A lot of my friends use the maxima approach, but I just don't like the taper in. Furled leaders would be my second choice.
Click to expand...


Rumor has it, Mo hasn't bought a leader since the late 80's. I understand he collects them in the parking lots and along the stream in FFing areas and reties as you do. Great for the environment AND the wallet. Just sayin....
 
Afish- you might be right about the yinzer hick. I might also try to pick your brain on the leader at the gathering- if you can get off work that is.

steve- where do use 12-15 ft leaders at?
 
acrist...

I don't divulge all that info publicly, but I surely use them when fishing the yough, meadow and dunbar (late season, low water), and a few other local places. I just like long leaders... even use a solid 9 ft. for freestone wilds.

May I ask why you are so interested?
?
 
Because they seem long to me.
 
I'm not a fan of super long leaders, never found them necessary. I pretty much design for 9ft on the big waters, 7 ft ish on the little streams. I'll admit that in cases where I need it, I often add another foot or so of tippet beyond what the leader was designed for, and thus the actual lengths may end up a little longer than that.

As a side note, I think its kind of funny we discuss most of the real fishing issues on the beginner board. It's not a bad thing, it just shows that there's multiple ways to skin the same cat, and that the level at which our styles begin to diverge is right at the beginning. Whatever you decide to do, become good at it, thats the real secret.
 
Any recommendations then for material? I've got a few Cabelas bucks burning a hole in my pocket :-D

Mixed reviews on Maxima?

I see price wise, it's pretty decent. Since I'm going to have to buy at least three or 4 spools to make the leaders (8, 6, 4, and 2lb), I don't want to drop serious dollars, but at the same time, I don't want to cheap out, either.
 
Maxima chameleon is seriously stiff, and it has a lot of memory so it coils. But it also lasts forever, and is highly abrasion resistant. I personally think it is ideal for the thick sections of a leader, but would never consider it for the softer business end. I hold to the stiff butt end, soft business end philosophy of leaders.

YMMV.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
Maxima chameleon is seriously stiff, and it has a lot of memory so it coils. But it also lasts forever, and is highly abrasion resistant. I personally think it is ideal for the thick sections of a leader, but would never consider it for the softer business end. I hold to the stiff butt end, soft business end philosophy of leaders.

YMMV.
Click to expand...

So, what do you recommend for the end?
 
A copolymer, which covers most tippet materials. My favorite is Rio Powerflex, I've found it to be the softest material I've tried. That said, if a softer one comes along I'd drop Powerflex in a heartbeat.
 
Ok, so if I were to order materials, I would start with something like this?

8lb Mono (Maxima possibly) for the butt
Then what for the mid section?
The end would be, I'm assuming 4x or 5x Rio?

Then I would attach ADDITIONAL tippet (can I just use the same material as what I ended the leader with)?

Very sorry for the stupid beginner questions. :-D
 
First, they're not stupid beginner questions, pretty advanced questions actually, as evidenced by the arguments the experienced guys are having about it. There is no "right" way, and there's lots of perfectly solid opinions out there on how to go about this.

You would start with something like that only if you wanted to be exactly like me, and thats a dangerous place to be, lol.

And I keep forgetting that you want to furl, your 8 lb comment threw me because I use more like 40 lb test as my thickest piece on the butt end, unfurled, a single strand. So, sorry about that again, furled is a different ball game, and I defer to Afish on the taper and size of material, he's the resident furled leader expert. Several pieces of 8 lb furled may be very comparable to 1 piece of 40 lb. I don't know whether the stiff material like Maxima, or a softer material would be preferable, again I defer to Afish.

The "to furl or not to furl" question should only affect the butt end, though. Same idea still applies for the tippet end. I personally prefer soft materials. In my UNFURLED leaders, I use formulas found in books but they're roughly 1/3 butt, 1/3 taper, and 1/3 tippet. I go straight from Maxima to Rio somewhere near the middle of the taper section. YMMV.
 
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