Introduction
Leaders in the modern fly fishing world seem to have become under-appreciated. Talking with fly anglers on a daily basis in the fly shop, we have a large sample pool to draw from and lately, it seems, the average angler is less concerned and possibly less aware of how the line, leader and fly work together to create an appropriate cast and presentation. This line, leader and fly relationship changes based on the kind of fishing and equipment being used, but there are some basic concepts and basic rules that will help many anglers become better anglers right out of the gate.
Why a Proper Leader is Important
The proper leader is important so that casting isn’t hindered and the presentation of the fly is as smooth and accurate as possible. There is more, however. A proper leader can also be the solution to problems like flies snapping off during the cast, or the fly spinning and creating a twisted leader, or breaking off fish, or worst of all, not getting fish to take the fly at all. Just a few concepts and basic rules can really help with all of these, although it is nice to have a few excuses handy when the fishing isn’t any good. In this case, “I had the wrong leader setup”, might be a new one the wife hasn’t heard yet.
Tapered Leaders
Whether you purchase knotless tapered leaders or prefer to tie your own, a taper on a fly fishing leader goes way back into fly fishing history for a reason. The leader’s taper refers to the change in diameter from the thick butt end of the leader, then tapering down to the thin tippet section of the leader where we’ll attach the fly. The taper transfers the energy of the cast from the end of the fly line down the length of the leader and allows it to “turn over” all the way down the to the fly. This transfer of energy results in the leader lying straight on the water and gives the angler an accurate cast while also presenting the fly in a delicate, controlled manner. The fly should also be almost a full leader length away from the end of your fly line to hopefully keep the fish from going into “super selective PhD mode” from the impact of the line landing on the water too close to them.
If your leaders aren’t turning over and straightening out on the cast, it could be caused by a few different things discussed in this article, or it could be a tough headwind, or it could be that your casting still needs some work to get enough energy coming off the tip of the fly line and into the leader. Try casting a shorter distance until you can get the leader to turn over and then go from there as your casting or the fishing conditions get better. It could also be as simple as your loop opening up too far above the water. Practice getting your loop to open up just above the surface of the water and that could be the ticket.
How to Choose Your Leader
For trout fishing, we can usually choose a leader based on just two factors, those being the leader's length and its diameter.
Leader Length – The most common lengths for trout leaders are 7.5-feet, 9-feet or 12-feet. The 9-foot leader is by far the most popular, but here are some thoughts on why it may make sense to go shorter or longer.
A shorter leader, such as a 7.5-foot leader, is more accurate when casting. A short leader is much easier to tame when wind is a factor. Shorter leaders can also make dramatic improvements when casting heavily weighted flies. Finally, shorter leaders will be better at turning over big strike indicators, split shot, and wind resistant flies like really big dry flies.
Use shorter leaders when…
- In small streams when making short casts
- When the wind is really bad
- When using large air resistant or heavily weighted flies
When nymphing. Put the strike indicator on the heavy taper of the leader and use a longer piece of tippet to get the length you need. The thin tippet allows the fly to sink more quickly while the heavy tapered section of the leader turns over the strike indicator for a smoother, more accurate, and less tangle-prone cast.
When using a sinking line or a sink-tip line. The shorter leader will get the fly down with the sinking line more quickly than a long leader (unless the fly itself sinks much faster than the sink-tip).
A longer leader, such as a 12-foot leader, may be required to fool spooky fish in very clear water or rivers with very slow, flat currents. The fish can simply see or sense the fly line landing too close and stop feeding. Turning over a long leader usually isn’t an issue with a good cast as long as the wind isn’t too bad and the fly isn’t too big.
Use longer leaders when…
- Very clear water, especially fairly deep, clear water when the fish’s window of vision above them allows them to see a larger surface area of the water.
- Water with a flat, calm surface when fish may sense the line landing close to them.
- Using small flies on calm, wind-free days in the scenarios mentioned above.
Leader Diameter – Leader diameter, or the thickness of the leader, can play a critical role in more ways than just making it hard to see for the fish. Leader diameter is also super important to the cast and presentation of the fly. The right leader diameter can help with a few of the biggest problems new anglers encounter, such as snapping off flies during the cast, constantly getting tangles and getting a good presentation to the fish.
Leader diameter is generally measured at the fine end, or tippet end, of the tapered leader. The diameter of the tippet end of the leader is referenced with a number followed by an ‘X’, such as 2X, 3X, 4X and so on. This X-number refers to a diameter in thousandths of an inch and is a standard in the fly fishing industry. For example, 4X means .007 inches in diameter while 5X means .006 inches, 6X means .005 inches and so on. A 4X leader should be the same .007 inches in diameter for any company that makes tapered leaders because 4X defines that diameter. Because of this, however, a 4X leader from one company might have a breaking strength of 6-pounds while the next company may have a breaking strength of 7-pounds. The breaking strength is not associated with the X number. It only refers to the diameter so breaking strength can vary from product to product. With leaders, a small X number like 0X or 1X is a strong leader of 12-15 pound test. A large X number like 6X or 7X is a fine leader of 2 to 3.5 pound test.
So, now we can apply the golden rule to choosing a leader diameter using the X number.
Fly Size / 3 = Leader Size (diameter)
This simple formula means that if I intend to use a size 12 fly, I can divide the number 12 by 3 and it gives me 4X. So a 4X leader is an appropriately sized leader for a size 12 fly. If I was going to then change flies to a size 6 streamer, (size 6 divided by 3 equals 2) I should change leaders of adjust my current leader to be somewhere close to 2X in diameter.
This simple formula may be one of the most valuable pieces of information you could give to new anglers. The reasons are numerous as shown here:
A large fly with too small of tippet diameter…
- will be much more likely to break-off during a bad cast.
- can allow the fly to spin while casting and result in seriously twisted leaders.
- can make it difficult to set the hook without breaking off.
- can make turning over the fly difficult resulting in sloppy, inaccurate presentations.
A small fly with too large of tippet diameter…
- may be difficult to fit the tippet through the eye of the hook.
- may cause the fly to appear artificial to the fish and move unnaturally due to being connected to too stiff of leader material.
- may not get as many fish to eat the fly
In summary, choose your leaders based on the length that suits your fishing conditions and choose a diameter that matches the size flies you intend to fish. These concepts can make a dramatic difference to the success rate for hooking fish and also for the enjoyment of the day, hopefully casting better and not dealing with as many tangled leaders.
Tippet
The word tippet refers to both the fine end of the leader and also the material we buy on spools to add to our leaders. People always get leaders and tippet confused so, in our Introduction to Fly Fishing Classes, we tell people to get used to saying, “tapered leader” and “spool of tippet”.
Spools of tippet are typically 30 yards of non-tapered leader material. So, if you buy a 5X spool of tippet material, the entire 30 yards will be the same diameter (.006”) throughout its entire length. Fly anglers always have spools of different sizes of tippet available because we use spooled tippet to mend our leaders and adjust them to the size needed. We may also use tippet to fine-tune how our leaders cast or fish the fly. Here is an example of each:
Tippet for Mending Leaders – Let’s say we started with a 9-foot, 3X leader. Throughout the day, we changed flies a few times, hung up on a log a couple of times, etc. Each time a new fly is tied on, we're cutting a few inches off the leader. Because the leader is tapered, it doesn’t take long to start cutting into the taper and now my 3X leader is a 2X leader, then a 1X leader and so on. Before we cut too far into the leader, we can tie on new tippet material from a tippet spool and mend the leader before cutting into the taper. A common scenario for new anglers is to keep cutting into the leader and not adding tippet. Each time they tie on a new fly to an increasingly thick leader, they don’t realize their likelihood of hooking a fish is going down with each cut further up the taper of the leader.
Tippet for Adjusting the Leader Size – When we discussed the golden rule of fly size and its relation to leader size, perhaps you thought, “Wow, I’m going to need to buy lots of leaders in every size”. Well, keeping a size assortment of tippet spools will alleviate that problem. If you have 4X leader on right now but are going to start fishing a size 16 fly, it may be worthwhile to go down to a 5X leader/tippet. Rather than taking off that 4X leader and putting on a 5X leader, just add 5X tippet to your 4X leader. Because 5X tippet is thinner than 4X, this will just taper your leader down to 5X in one quick step and you’re back to fishing. You could even put 6X tippet on that 4X leader and been fine, but we’d never put 3X tippet onto a 4X leader because we don’t want to attach a thicker diameter to a thinner diameter which would go against the idea of a tapered leader.
Tippet for Fine-Tuning our Presentation – The third way we can use tippet is to change the way the leader casts or fishes. The best example is when fishing small dry flies, adding a particularly long section of tippet, say 2 or 3 feet, to our leaders is a great way to get longer drag-free drifts. The simple fact that our tippet isn’t tapered means that the fly tends to land with a touch of slack between the leader and fly, thus giving us a better drag-free drift, at least for a few feet or so. The drawback can be in the wind or with larger flies where too much tippet can create a loss of turnover and accuracy.
Another use of additional tippet is to help us sink flies faster. When nymphing, a short, tapered butt section with a long section of tippet means those flies and split shot don’t have to sink down that thick, heavy tapered section of the leader. They sink much faster when attached to a longer, thin tippet section. So, maybe you start with a 7.5-foot leader, cut a foot off the butt and add three feet of tippet. Now you have a 9.5 foot leader but about four feet of it is tippet (including the tippet section already built into the tapered leader). This will not cast as smoothly but will get those flies down way faster and probably give you a better natural drift underwater. The tapered butt section you still have on the leader is plenty to help turn over and mend a strike indicator. Unfortunately, casting those weighted flies and split shot goes from bad to worse, but more time with your flies in the zone is probably worth the extra effort while casting.
Part II Now Available - Part II
See Part II of this article for additional topics like leaders for casting large or weight flies, fluorocarbon vs. nylon leaders, casting issues related to leaders, and more. Contact us if you have topics you'd like to see covered in those posts.
Good Fishing,
Michael