Tapered leaders?

Tippet rings sure saves on leader waste, pretty much use them on every set-up other than dry midges on the river. Really like these Japanese oval ones. When dry fly fishing the lakes, use them on tapered leaders with just the barest swipe of flotant gel, can go all season on the same leaders.
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Pescaphile said:
RE: Measuring tippet diameters.

Use a micrometer if you have one, but there's no need for that kind of precision (1/10,000"). A caliper is more than adequate for measuring tippet (1/1,000"). Neither instrument is something I would want to carry with me on the stream. There are slotted gages, like used to measure wire diameter, that are marketed for flyfishing that are much better to carry and perfectly adequate for measuring to 0.001". I have one called a "Mike Rite."
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I'm not gonna actually use it...just want to hang a small one on a PFD zinger for appearance. Us stillwater flyfishers are all about stylin' and impressing the powerbait chuckers at launch points.
 
Never go on the water with a micrometer! In fact, store them in a warm dry place away from any humidity. They are precision instruments and water and moisture are their enemies. Measure your tippet at home, label the spool with the correct diameter and you won't need a mike on the water.

I probably own about 10 micrometers, some almost 100 years old by now. For around 90 years they have been stored in the same Gershner wooden tool box and most are in like new condition. The box itself was built in 1918 and still looks good, I used it for almost my entire 40 year career.

My favorite tippet mike is a Mitutoyo 0-1'' combi model that reads in inch on the barrel and has metric readout in a digital format, automatically converting inch to metric or back as you turn the barrel. The last 18 years of my career was done in metric so this was a valuable tool.
 
Brian in OR. said:
Bought a few different ones to try out from SA and was surprised to see the variance in diameter sections.
Will fish them this spring and see if i can tell a difference .....


View attachment 137060
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Dandy chart. Just be aware butt dia. on SA tapered leaders will vary with the x, for example 1x is .023-.024 and the 3x and 4x usually mic out at .020-.021, which I find better for flies sz. 6-16 on 5-6wt, lines. You can also trim off some of the fat end and put in a new perfection loop if you don't like the leader to enter your rod tip, or nail knot the butt on.
 
I listened to a talk by Rich Osthoff, a local guide and author. He said he likes hand-tied leaders exactly for the reason you don't, because they attract weeds. In his case, his logic was that weeds that get stuck on the knot aren't sliding down to the fly itself.

Like Rob, I'm too lazy to use them but realize they're better. I hand-tie to this extent: With a new, typical 9' 4X tapered leader, I'll cut 12-18" off the fly line side and add about the same in 4X or 5X to the hook end. For me, this makes the casts a bit gentler and useful for Driftless streams. I learned this trick somewhere, but don't remember. That's the extent of my fly leader tying.
 
Driftless Dan said:
I listened to a talk by Rich Osthoff, a local guide and author. He said he likes hand-tied leaders exactly for the reason you don't, because they attract weeds. In his case, his logic was that weeds that get stuck on the knot aren't sliding down to the fly itself.
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His Bobbing Baitfish pattern is a winner. I’ve caught some nice fish on it.
SF
 
iveofione said:
Never go on the water with a micrometer! In fact, store them in a warm dry place away from any humidity. They are precision instruments and water and moisture are their enemies. Measure your tippet at home, label the spool with the correct diameter and you won't need a mike on the water.

I probably own about 10 micrometers, some almost 100 years old by now. For around 90 years they have been stored in the same Gershner wooden tool box and most are in like new condition. The box itself was built in 1918 and still looks good, I used it for almost my entire 40 year career.

My favorite tippet mike is a Mitutoyo 0-1'' combi model that reads in inch on the barrel and has metric readout in a digital format, automatically converting inch to metric or back as you turn the barrel. The last 18 years of my career was done in metric so this was a valuable tool.
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Grainger sells a titanium micrometer for a bit over $400...that would resolve corrosion issues.

Abel could label, anodize, create a Grateful Dead version and mark it up to $800.
 
krusty said:
Grainger sells a titanium micrometer for a bit over $400...that would resolve corrosion issues.

Abel could label, anodize, create a Grateful Dead version and mark it up to $800.
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I'll take 2...
 
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