I can remember sitting at my dining room table many years ago and making knotted leaders. Have not done so in many years. Preferred the smooth knot less leaders.
Wonder, except for furled leaders, if many fishers still make their own knotted leaders?
Yes, some of us still do. I like furled leaders but I always seem to come back to my own hand tied leaders. Have yet to find a factory knotless that I like as much as my own but I have always swum against the conventional wisdom so I don’t know if I do it out of crankiness or just to be different but it suits me and at this age I believe I shall stick with it.
Bikebum
Sure do, Byron. Knotless tapered leaders can do just fine in many cases, but not always. Example: The butt diameters on most of the 9 foot commercial ones tend to be about .023-.024". That’s just too big (stiff) for many of my fly lines, and causes hinging at the line portion of the line/leader junction. Also- I can build a leader of any length that I wish, not being limited to 7 1/2, 9 or 12 feet. And there are different tapers that can be tied also. I’m not knocking knotless leaders here. I often use them- but even then, I sometimes alter them a bit. Just my $0.02, I guess!
Chuck
Thanks,
The main reason I quit was to avoid the “bumps” if I reeled a fish in for landing and the leader went through the tip guide.
Isn’t that why they started making knotless leaders…in addition, I presume, to being cheaper?
I sometimes start out with about a 12" knotless tapered leader but invariably within three months it becomes a hand tied knotted leader sorta like Dolly Partons’ “Coat of many colors”.
But that fact aside, i do mostly tie my own with about 3 descending wt sections. My knots are so attractive that fish sometimes hit the knot and totally ignore the fly.
Mark
I have to say, in all the shops I go through, I very rarely see knotted leaders anymore.
Marco: I would be like you and the oat of many colors, except that I now just change leaders. I figure, given all I spend to GO fishing, a few leaders is a small price to pay for nice smooth leaders that turn over well and don’t catch algae on the knots…
The more I think about it, I think the debris may have been the bigger reason to abandon them
I do much the same as Marco, starting with a 7.5’ tapered 3X leader, add some 4X tippet, 5X tippet, and add more as necessary. This usually lasts for a few days of fishing. Once I start snagging too much debris on the knots, I start with a new taper leader base.
I am usually surprised at how much more supple a new leader is than the one that I retire.
Ted
I still have the Maxima kit to tie them and I carry a few of custom lengths with me but I haven’t used any of them in quite a while as I’ve been using furled leaders pretty regularly and have been pretty happy with them.
I also make many of my leaders. I put together my own Maxima leader kit and keep it in a big zip lock bag in one of the pockets of my large tackle bag.
I use a program called “LeaderCalc” made by Steve Schweitzer. It’s easy to use; just put in your selections for leader type, length, tippet size, and fly line weight.
It outputs a formula for each size of mono to tie up to make the leader. It also has a place where you can print out a label with the specs for that leader. I bought 1000 small zip lock bags off of eBay a long time ago. I put the leader and the label for that leader in a zip lock bag and put all of the leaders in a leader pocket in the front of my tackle bag.
It’s all very easy and simple to use. I always have a fresh leader when I want one. I used to hate tying blood knots but after a bit of practice and the right technique, they are no longer an issue.
Brian
I still tie leaders but mainly specialty leaders for nymph fishing. For dry fly fishing, I use a AirFlo poly leader. For streamers, I use a stout, short, commercial leader. For nymphs, I use hand tied leaders with short butt section, bright mono sighter and long, light tippet.
IMO, tying leaders is very helpful in learning about leader design and materials. This knowledge is helpful in purchasing and customizing leaders.
I tied my own mono leaders for 40 years until I tried furled leaders… not going back to tied mono leaders.
With you Fritz. I tied (and purchased) knotted leaders for lots of years. Not going back.
There is no doubt that hand-tied leaders work better for nymphing, either high-stick/Euro/whatever or with an indicator. I now tie all mine.
Basic formula for a ten-foot leader suitable for 5-7wt lines, which is about right most of the time around here:
4 feet of 30lb Maxima Chameleon
6" 20lb Maxima Chameleon
6" 15lb Maxima Ultragreen
4 feet of 1X standard mono
Tippet ring or micro-swivel
1 foot of 2X to 3X mono or fluoro. Shot, if required, go above the tippet ring/swivel.
I have also started playing with subbing two sections of Amnesia for the short tapered section to function as “sighters” for high-sticking. They work.
For big trout, Walter!
I rarely nymph anymore. The majority of my fishing fr many years was nymphing. Now days, I prefer lol dries…even if I catch fewer fish or “take a break” when nothing is working on the surface. Of course, almost all of my fishing is wade fishing. If I float, I often do a dry/dropper.
That’s a cool idea. Where did you get that case?
Never quite understood why leaders for subsurface fishing need to be complicated. Yes, you need the flies to turn over, but that is about all you care about, and the rest of the above surface presentation is superfluous.
I like to keep it simple with a stiff butt section nail knotted to the line, a cheater added on top if tightlining, then a straight section of 12# Maxima Ultragreen (6-9’), a swivel, and whatever I think I need after that depending on depth and what I want the final section to be, usually Maxima Fluorocarbon in 6#, 8#, or 10#. I might extend the butt section if fishing really deep in a lake where breakaway bobbers become necessary, but for stream fishing this formulation works just fine. For swinging streamers, same line just shortened so the overall length is about 6’, although if I’m feeling lazy straight leader works just as well.
So yes, I tie my own leaders for nymphs and streamers, but I keep it simple. Tapered leaders for dries of course, and I often try to get as much life out of them as I can, so the often end up looking like hand tied leaders by the end of the trip. YMMV.
Stiff butt section or not??
I once asked about furled leaders. Specifically, whether there should be a stiff butt section off the fly line…
Won’t tell you who, at this point, but, his pronouncement was that stiff butt sections are not needed…or actually functional.
Furled and twisted leaders do not roll over with the same properties required by single fiber leaders. Don’t ask me to explain it, but they just don’t. A furled leader will turn over a much broader range of flies and tippet lengths/diameters without a stiff butt section. They just work.
Cannot speak to the need with regards to furled leaders. I use a butt section of 25# Hal Jansen (clear Amnesia essentially) and it pretty stiff, but this is nail knotted to the line with a perfection loop for the remaining leader. If the line happens to have a loop, I tie the leader to the loop, often without a heavy butt section at all, so I may agree with your unnamed source. Both turn over nymph and streamer rigs well but considering the inelegance of throwing a big streamer, or three flies/split shot/bobber, have never notice much difference in the performance.