Fly Fishing Leaders/June 2011
One of the most important pieces of fly fishing equipment is your leader. There are two basic choices of material, either monofilament or fluorocarbon. Monofilament is less expensive, has more stretch, is more visible and knots better. Fluorocarbon is more durable, less visible, costs more, and because it has less stretch it has less impact resistance and slightly lower knot strength. I do not advise knotting mono to fluorocarbon, in some cases it does not hold well.
When fishing for line shy fish in clear water on bright days fluorocarbon is a good choice. For most of my dry fly fishing for trout and all of my sight casting I use fluorocarbon. For both types of fishing a knotless tapered leader works well. Unless you are fishing a very small stream a 9-foot leader works best and if more length is needed just add on tippet.
Mono works well fishing in low light, in discolored water, or if impact resistance is important. When fishing shorter leaders the stretch in mono gives a buffer. High impact on the leader can occur when a fast swimming fish takes the fly and bolts away quickly creating a hard, fast shock. This can be an issue if fishing for hardtails when the angler is caught off guard on a fast strike. Most of this fishing is done with leaders under 5 feet long using an intermediate or fast sinking fly line. If you can tie a Bimini Twist the construction of this knot will help buffer some of the shock. For hardtail fishing it’s a toss up--mono for impact or fluorocarbon for less visibility.
Building leaders with a shock tippet can get involved. The best system is tying a Bimini Twist on both ends of a section of tippet. A Spider Hitch is a decent alternative. Into one Bimini loop form a Surgeon’s Loop, to the other Bimini loop tie in the shock section with a Surgeon’s Knot. In some cases an Albright Knot or Huffnagle Knot might work better but the Surgeon’s is more widely known. If a bite guard for toothy critters is necessary use the Surflon Micro Ultra type material that knots like mono. This allows the angler to use a Surgeon’s to tie the bite guard to the double line loop of the Bimini or even to the end of a tapered leader. Always check
Regards,
Lou Tabory and the Albright Pro Staff
