Tapered leaders?

[iveofione]

For years I have been trying my own leaders and usually inspect and repair them before every trip. In the coming year I am thinking about changing back to tapers and need some suggestions on what is the current favorite. At one point I bought some bargain leaders but they behaved more like picture hanging wire than monofilament, I don't want to do that again. Surprisingly, this change has been brought on in part by climate change. In the 25 years I have lived and fished here on the Frozen Tundra the local lakes have become ever more weedy and more prone to algae infestation. Lines with lots of knots are magnets for that stuff and I want to fight back however I can.

What are the current favorites and how do they rate in terms of cost, suppleness, lack of memory, etc? Is there a quality product between the high priced name brand stuff and the kinky garbage that you are happy with? Primary use is for lakes.

 

[Shad]

I'm happy with Scientific Anglers trout leaders. I imagine there are others that are more expensive/marginally better, but the ol' tried is still true for me.

 

[Tom Butler]

I'm happy with Scientific Anglers trout leaders. I imagine there are others that are more expensive/marginally better, but the ol' tried is still true for me.

Me too. I just posted a shot of my leader in the vice thread. I fish them straight out of the package with my 8' rods, no indicator section added. When the tippet gets a bit short for your taste put a 2 or 2.5 mm ring on and just add tippet the rest of the season.

 

[krusty]

Me too. I just posted a shot of my leader in the vice thread. I fish them straight out of the package with my 8' rods, no indicator section added. When the tippet gets a bit short for your taste put a 2 or 2.5 mm ring on and just add tippet the rest of the season.

Once you learn a few tippet ring tricks they provide incredible tapered leader butt longevity and greater choice of tippet material/length.

The tricks...(mainly consist of simple steps to control that little sum' bitch of a ring)...

1) keep the ring on the 'tippet ring' safety pin while you tie the butt end to the ring. NEVER take a tippet ring off that safety pin (some just look like a swivel) unless you've got it secured to the leader butt end.

2) select the tippet ring closest to the opening of the mfg 'safety pin' so you can slide the ring off the safety pin with it secured to the end of the leader butt.

3) grasp the side of the tippet ring (already knotted to the leader butt end) with a locking forceps tip..and knot the tippet to the ring.

4) every time you want to change tippet carefully grasp the side of the tippet ring with the forceps tip....taking care not to mash the knot attaching the leader butt to the ring. The forceps allow you to hold the tippet ring so you can easily tie in tippet and cinch your tippet knot of choice down.

The whole operation is as easy as knotting on a fly.

The tapered leader butt section lasts so long because you're not continuously losing it to subsequent changes in tippet material. That butt section knot to the tippet ring is thicker than the tippet material and may last an entire season.

Tippet rings seem to 'turn over' a fly about as easily as an intact tapered leader as long as the whole combination is adequate for the fly type and weight.

Finally...don't buy 'bargain basement' tippet rings...they're often poorly finished and rough enough to damage leader material.

 

[Tom Butler]

I like to use a micrometer to get a point in the taper in which to place the ring. In the summer I usually put the ring on at the .008 point and build a taper 3x, 4x, 5x down for my softhackle droppers. I've found it help turnover of long end sections.

 

[krusty]

And if you're fishing a very long tippet under an indicator you really aren't going to be worried about turn over anyway.

I'm just happy to get the whole mess out there a little bit and slowly back away from it!

 

[Stonedfish]

I another option to consider if you aren’t dead set on needing a tapered leader.
Just use a straight shot of 6-7’ (or shorter) of Seagur blue label fluorocarbon which turns over fine when tossing or trolling streamers in lakes.
Simple, cheap and easy with no knots other than at the fly and fly line. You can get a lot of leaders out of a 25 yard spool.
SF

 

[krusty]

I like to use a micrometer to get a point in the taper in which to place the ring. In the summer I usually put the ring on at the .008 point and build a taper 3x, 4x, 5x down for my softhackle droppers. I've found it help turnover of long end sections.

I gotta get me a micrometer so I can impress @iveofione with its use....just gotta stay far enough away from him on the lake so he doesn't see I don't really know how to use it.

 

[Tom Butler]

I gotta get me a micrometer so I can impress @iveofione with its use....just gotta stay far enough away from him on the lake so he doesn't see I don't really know how to use it.

I just use it at home. I still run a unit at school on how to use and read one.

 

[Guy Gregory]

I like furled leaders…(flame me now). They turn over flies nicely, come with a tippet ring, and I think they absorb shock of the massive strikes provided by the trophy fish I commonly attract…. I used to get them from the fly shop in Lacey, they’re gone now. New to me supplier is cutthroat furled leaders. You might try one ot two out.

 

[iveofione]

A micrometer is a good idea, especially for you guys that dry fly fish a lot. Every spool of tippet material I use gets miked and then the actual diameter is noted on a piece of tape and attached to the spool. What is printed on the spool is not always what the line measures and if you are doing delicate dry fly presentations that can make a difference. I find that the actual diameter is usually greater than what is printed on the spool, I have never seen one that is less. Maxima has always been notoriously wrong about diameters, hopefully they are doing better nowadays.

So why does it matter? Well if your spool says 4X but your leader diameter is .0015" more you are actually using 3X instead. It doesn't make a helluva lot of difference on the larger stuff like 1X or 0X but when you get down into the 4X-5X range an error of .001" is a large percentage of the advertised diameter. The last batch of Trouthunter Floro I bought had two spools of exactly the same diameter but one said 3X and the other said 4X. I started checking this stuff years ago when I was steelheading and hand tied all of my leaders with blood knots. At one point I discovered that the final tippet section was bigger than the section just above it and have paid attention ever since.

 

[Rob Allen]

Stick with your hand tied leaders. Store bought tapered leaders are barely good enough.. I only use them because I'm lazy.

 

[SurfnFish]

9' quality tapered leader (SA or RIO) tied to an oval micro tippet ring, just a drop of UV cure on the leader knot to cover it, debris will slide off instead of grabbing. Barring some mishap, leader will last dozens of tippet changes.

 

[RCF]

I use tapered leaders a lot. I always buy a next length shorter and one or two sizes larger, then a tippet ring. Final tippet then is tied on.

 

[RCF]

9' quality tapered leader (SA or RIO) tied to an oval micro tippet ring, just a drop of UV cure on the leader knot to cover it, debris will slide off instead of grabbing. Barring some mishap, leader will last dozens of tippet changes.

I like the idea of coating the knot. Maybe using locktite would save a step in the process and be able to do in the field too.

 

[clarkman]

I love tapered leaders....ones I tie myself.

 

[RCF]

I love tapered leaders....ones I tie myself.

Those of us that have arthritis and/or visual challenges being old farts look for alternatives for a choice that are no longer viable.

 

[Tom Butler]

When fishing subsurface in lakes I run my tapered base leader to a size slightly larger than that of 8# maxima (.010), so .011 and put in a ring. Then I can run 8 or less. Usually it's 6, 5 and 4# pound, and it will turn over even this leech rig with 3' spacing at plenty of distance. I find it collects less debris than a hand tied tapered leader.

 

[clarkman]

Mine are actually rather simple. 2 knots. 4' 25, 4' 15, 4' of class tippet. Sometimes 6' there. That's it. Never have an issue with turnover or delicacy. I'll often go with 20 for the butt section.

My bobber nymphing leaders are different....mostly just shorter.

 

[Pescaphile]

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."