Lake leaders when pulling wets.

[Dave Westburg]

I do 90% of my beaver pond, low lake and high lake wet fly fishing with this very simple leader. It's easy to remember, easy to tie and perfect with a dropper.

3' of maxima 8 lb fluorocarbon. That's from the middle of my chest to the end of one hand outstretched,
3' feet of maxima 6 pound fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot or dropper knot with one end left 6 inches for the dropper.
3' feet of maxima 4 pound fluorocarbon.

I buy maxima one shot spools of fluoro (200 yards) every couple years. Tie up a bunch of leaders every winter and put them in plastic sandwich bags.

This leader also works just fine for swinging soft hackle wets. If I want a longer 12' leader I simply make the butt section 6' or add 3' of 2 lb floro to the end.

Curious what other people do. The Brits simply fish a level leader for most of their loch fishing.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

I use the thicker butt section of tapered leaders that get too short for dry lines. Most are around 3’-4’ then 4lb piece of tippet tied on. I like to keep it short so the fly stays down with the wet line and casting/stripping or trolling I think the fish aren’t as leader shy. My .02

 

[Northern]

I use the thicker butt section of tapered leaders that get too short for dry lines. Most are around 3’-4’ then 4lb piece of tippet tied on. I like to keep it short so the fly stays down with the wet line and casting/stripping or trolling I think the fish aren’t as leader shy. My .02

What he said, but usually 3 or 4X, not 4lb

 

[Bambooflyguy]

For trout Northern? If so.....I need to fish where you go!

 

[Northern]

For trout Northern? If so.....I need to fish where you go!

Lol! Just that the usual stockers aren't real leader shy, like you said. And occasionally there's one of these guys mixed in

 

[Chucker]

I do 90% of my beaver pond, low lake and high lake wet fly fishing with this very simple leader. It's easy to remember, easy to tie and perfect with a dropper.

3' of maxima 8 lb fluorocarbon. That's a two handed wingspan for me,
3' feet of maxima 6 pound fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot or dropper knot with one end left 6 inches for the dropper. 3' is from the middle of my chest to the end of my fingers with one hand extended.
3' feet of maxima 4 pound fluorocarbon.

I buy maxima one shot spools of fluoro (200 yards) every couple years. Tie up a bunch of leaders every winter and put them in plastic sandwich bags.

This leader also works just fine for swinging soft hackle wets. If I want a longer 12' leader I simply make the butt section 6' or add 3' of 2 lb floro to the end.

Curious what other people do. The Brits simply fish a level leader for most of their loch fishing.

Back when I used to fish in Britain, very few of the people I knew fished a level leader for loch style. We all used something very much like the one you do. For me it was usually something like 6’ of 10 pound, 4’ each of 6 and 4. The reasoning was basically that longer is better, but it’s hard to turn over the whole leader with more than 6’ to the top dropper, and you can’t have more than about 8’ between the top dropper and the point fly, because it complicates netting fish hooked on the point.

 

[Matt B]

I do 90% of my beaver pond, low lake and high lake wet fly fishing with this very simple leader. It's easy to remember, easy to tie and perfect with a dropper.

3' of maxima 8 lb fluorocarbon. That's a two handed wingspan for me,
3' feet of maxima 6 pound fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot or dropper knot with one end left 6 inches for the dropper. 3' is from the middle of my chest to the end of my fingers with one hand extended.
3' feet of maxima 4 pound fluorocarbon.

I buy maxima one shot spools of fluoro (200 yards) every couple years. Tie up a bunch of leaders every winter and put them in plastic sandwich bags.

This leader also works just fine for swinging soft hackle wets. If I want a longer 12' leader I simply make the butt section 6' or add 3' of 2 lb floro to the end.

Curious what other people do. The Brits simply fish a level leader for most of their loch fishing.

For that first section of 8 lb—a two handed wingspan is probably 6’ not 3’, right? So overall you have a 6+3+3 = 12’ leader? Or am I wrong?

 

[SteelHeadDave]

I was thinking the same thing. Especially considering that most people’s wing span is pretty close to their height. I don’t know Dave but I’m guessing he isn’t 3 foot tall.

 

[flybill]

I do 90% of my beaver pond, low lake and high lake wet fly fishing with this very simple leader. It's easy to remember, easy to tie and perfect with a dropper.

3' of maxima 8 lb fluorocarbon. That's a two handed wingspan for me,
3' feet of maxima 6 pound fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot or dropper knot with one end left 6 inches for the dropper. 3' is from the middle of my chest to the end of my fingers with one hand extended.
3' feet of maxima 4 pound fluorocarbon.

I buy maxima one shot spools of fluoro (200 yards) every couple years. Tie up a bunch of leaders every winter and put them in plastic sandwich bags.

This leader also works just fine for swinging soft hackle wets. If I want a longer 12' leader I simply make the butt section 6' or add 3' of 2 lb floro to the end.

Curious what other people do. The Brits simply fish a level leader for most of their loch fishing.

I've done more like a 40% / 30%/ 30% for a 9' leader. I have some leader calc's that I got while I worked with Aaron Reimer for many years and will see if I can find them. It's in a book, and I may be able to find it only or will post here if interested.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Tom Butler]

Where I ended up last summer, over 50 days on the same lake experimenting, I was running a similar leader to Dave's for the full sink, intermediate/sink tip and floating line presentations from a float tube. I had 3' 8# (used a 4 or 6# 6" dropper here), then 3' 6# (6" dropper) and 3' 4#, all in ultra green. I'd started about 20" apart like in a river but I think they were too close. I found the ultra green had a touch more body than the 3x tippet I'd been using, and it reduced tangles. Tapering it cast better than a straight run of 6# I felt.

 

[Dave Westburg]

For that first section of 8 lb—a two handed wingspan is probably 6’ not 3’, right? So overall you have a 6+3+3 = 12’ leader? Or am I wrong?

Ooops Matt and StealheadDave. Meant to say 1 wingspan or 3' for the normal leader. 2 handed wingspan for the 12' leader. Correcting the original post.

 

[Matt B]

I was thinking the same thing. Especially considering that most people’s wing span is pretty close to their height. I don’t know Dave but I’m guessing he isn’t 3 foot tall.

Was almost a close call.

 

[Burt Dagger]

I do 12’-8’-5’ Maxima because it’s what I have laying around. I’m not very consistent on the relative lengths. I haven’t seen enough of a difference to dial that part in. Sometimes I just tie on a longer section of 8’ and that works too. But I actually really enjoy tying blood knots, so I usually go the extra mile.

 

[troutpocket]

The deeper I fish, the shorter and heavier I rig my leader.

My typical setup for a type 7 full sink is 2’ of 12lb maxima UG or chameleon and 2’ of 1x or 2x fluoro (10-12 lb) connected with a triple surgeons knot. I prefer to bend out hooks than break off the fly and I almost always get my bug back out from rocks, sunken logs, etc. This setup usually has a large leech or booby pattern that I want on the bottom in 15+’ of water.

My type 5 line gets a similar leader, just a bit longer; usually 3’ of Maxima butt section and around 4’ of 2x fluoro tippet. If I fish something smaller than #10, I’ll drop down to 3x tippet. This is my bread and butter cast and strip setup for 8-20’ of water. Count down double the depth in feet.

My clear intermediate line gets a 9’ nylon 2x tapered leader + 4’ of 3x fluoro tippet. I’m generally casting to shallow water or rise forms with this setup where a quiet presentation actually matters. I fish a lot with callibaetis nymphs, unweighted chironomids, and olive Willy - type stuff with this setup.

 

[ifsteve]

I do 90% of my beaver pond, low lake and high lake wet fly fishing with this very simple leader. It's easy to remember, easy to tie and perfect with a dropper.

3' of maxima 8 lb fluorocarbon. That's from the middle of my chest to the end of one hand outstretched,
3' feet of maxima 6 pound fluorocarbon tied with a blood knot or dropper knot with one end left 6 inches for the dropper.
3' feet of maxima 4 pound fluorocarbon.

I buy maxima one shot spools of fluoro (200 yards) every couple years. Tie up a bunch of leaders every winter and put them in plastic sandwich bags.

This leader also works just fine for swinging soft hackle wets. If I want a longer 12' leader I simply make the butt section 6' or add 3' of 2 lb floro to the end.

Curious what other people do. The Brits simply fish a level leader for most of their loch fishing.

The problem is your post is too generic to really answer. It depends on what waters you are fishing and what size targets you are after. For small brookies in beaver ponds that might work fine. But in any event no matter where I am fishing I am using a much larger butt section than 8#. Can't imagine that turns over worth a crap unless you are using 2wts. Most of my lake stuff is 6wts so my typical leader would be 3ft of 30#, then a 7 1/2 or 9 ft tapered leader in 3X. Add a 4x tippet if need be.

 

[Dave Westburg]

I am using a much larger butt section than 8#. Can't imagine that turns over worth a crap unless you are using 2wts.

Almost all my lakes fishing is with 5 and 6 weight fly rods in conditions like this...




I generally don't have a problem turning over the leader with two size 8-14 wets but I'm usually in a float tube with the wind at my back.

I use that same leader to swing soft hackles on rivers like last fall on the Snake...

 

[Greg Armstrong]

Hey, I recognize some of those spots.

I can personally attest that Dave’s leader setup/system works very well!

 

[wetline dave]

I keep it verry simple and easy. I start off with a 9 foot 2X tapered leader and then add 18 inches of 3X. If I want to go smaller I cut back to 12 inches and add 18 inches of 4X to the shortened 3X.

I rarely go lighter than 3X and will often stay at a 2X leader as I fish deep generally and even in clear lakes that is not a problem. I don't think fish are all that leader shy on a moving offering. In the top 4 or 5 feet maybe and emergers are in the film and 2X leaders are damned tough to tie on a size 14 or 16 fly 4X is the go to.

An ambitious person could write quite an essay and maybe even a book on current thinking on leader lengths and applications.

Dave

 

[Bambooflyguy]

I use the thicker butt section of tapered leaders that get too short for dry lines. Most are around 3’-4’ then 4lb piece of tippet tied on. I like to keep it short so the fly stays down with the wet line and casting/stripping or trolling I think the fish aren’t as leader shy. My .02

Another reason I don’t use heavier tippet is I fish with bamboo......I want the tippet to break before the rod!

 

[Tom Butler]

Looking back I got a foot or so of 20# chameleon leader base, then the utragreen. I just had 8#, 6# and 4# in the tube by the end of the season, and one made up stored in case I got a big tangle. I've been fishing multifly rigs in streams for years, it's just so productive. When, I believe it was you Dave, posted about Loch fishing and these setups last summer I felt it would work for how I like to fish. It may look like a mess waiting to happen, but really the only time it tangles is when I try to make a hero cast, and occasionally the fish will bugger it up.

I like that you can use a floater, and present to different depths with different flies, one near the surface, one 2-4' down, and another 2-4' below that. Or let it all sink for a bit to get deeper, fish like a fly on the fall too.
or even on the full sink to pull a set of leaches to find the preferred color or play with patterns at nearly the same depth.

I've been enjoying the site Scottp shared as Rob talks a lot about altering flies for various dropper positions. Such as using cock hackle for a top fly for float and retrieve resistance to keep it up, or hen hackles for lower positions and material movement, and color for the conditions. Lots of stuff to think about and play with, keeps the fishing fun and interesting. I feel learning to fish these multifly rigs well will really up the odds when searching for fish.