Tying/ Making Leaders

[1stfly]

I have some leader questions, mainly on the size of various butt sections in relation to the fly line weight.

Knotted leaders -
1. Are there any guidelines to what butt size works best with a certain weight fly line? i.e. I have an 8wt and want to cast Clouser's what would be the better butt dia. to start with? or 5wt w/ a nymph?

2. Does everyone use "fly leader" material to construct the leaders? I ask b/c in Lefty's book "Fly fishing knots and leaders" he states he uses regular fishing line of different diameters to construct his leaders. Any success with this approach?

Furled leaders - I started making my own and have made a jig that works well, but I'm having trouble finding some formulas.


I know the above could mostly go trial and error, but with my beginning casting and limited time - I'm not certain if I could ascertain if my casting or leader are at fault.

Thanks

 

[tomgamber]

If you have Lefty's book you should have pretty much all the leader formulas for throwing different kinds of lies, no? And yes, fishing line, tippet material..all the same...if you plan on tying a LOT of leaders go with a bigger spool to save money...

 

[Acristickid]

I use Maxima for my butt sections. Just the way I learned- but might try the larger spooled material when I run out of this.

Here is a sample leader formula i use.
The last section is "tippet material".

9' 4x leader

.020 36 inches
.017 24
.013 12
.10 8
.008 6
.007 22

Again, just what I have used. Probabaly have'nt fished enough of the seeming limitless combinations to offer concrete comparisons.

Here is a link someone passed along to me from this site. Good luck, Paul.


http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/

 

[1stfly]

tomgamber - Lefty's book gives you a guide line of what to do once you have selected a butt size. I think his formula is start with the butt and step it down by 5lb test while halving the distance from the last section. My problem is I don' know what butt size to start at.

 

[tomgamber]

See if this helps...

http://cvff.org/leaders.html

 

[fritz]

For the 8wt bass leader butt--.020

For trout leader butt--.017

 

[beeber2]

Regular mono works fine for me, down to about 3x or 4x.

 

[Padraic]

The leadercalc link acristakid posted is really good. Check that out. I usually use Maxima Chameleon for the butt section down to about 2/3 of the length of the leader. Then I like Orvis Superstrong to finish the leader (and for my tippet). I just like the way this combo turns over. And the superstrong is well named.

If you are having problems with casting, I wouldn't recommend tying leaders. Once they get tangled up, a knotted leader is impossible to undo. Extruded leaders might give you more mileage. You can untangle them a little better.