Troutnut Forum > Fly Fishing Discussion > Leaders?
| Troutster | May 13th, 2008, 2:36 pm | |
| Posts: 4 | I'm a long time reader, first time poster. I live in south central PA and have fallin' in love with fly fishing recently, I've only caught one trout on the fly rod (I'm a converted spin fisherman from way back) but I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time till I get the hang of it. I have a burning question that I can't seem to find the answer to anywhere, I'm hoping you guys can help. Can you use regular old mono line (trilene, stren, etc) to build effective/quality leaders. It seems that it would be more cost effective to use regular old mono than mono designated as leader material. Any asnwers would be greatly appreciated. | |
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| Taxon | May 13th, 2008, 3:28 pm | |
| Mercer Island, WA Posts: 508 | Troutster- Fly fishing leaders need to be tapered in order to properly turn the fly over, particularly when dry fly fishing. Manufactured fly leaders are smoothly tapered in the production process. However many fly fishers build their own tapered leaders by knotting together short lengths of successively smaller diameter mono. These are called "knotted" leaders, and many formulas exist for the respective diameters and lengths. | |
| Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com | ||
| Troutster | May 13th, 2008, 3:49 pm | |
| Posts: 4 | Sorry I should have been more specific, I know they need to be tapered, I meant to use regular mono tapered just like you would use maxima ar whatever. | |
| LittleJ | May 13th, 2008, 10:28 pm | |
| Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 143 | yes you can, and in fact i use yellow stren as a strike indicator on my leaders. The trick is finding the right diameter line. the following is a basic formula for a standard george harvey 5x leader. 10"-.017, 20"-.015,20"-.013,20".011,12"-.009,10"-.007,28"-.006. I use maxima (or whatever you can find in the correct diameter)up to .009 and a soft tippet for the rest. jeff | |
| Troutster | May 14th, 2008, 7:39 am | |
| Posts: 4 | LittleJ thanks for the answer, how do you use the yellow stren as a strike indicator, that sounds like something that I could really use. | |
| LittleJ | May 15th, 2008, 2:34 pm | |
| Hollidaysburg Pa Posts: 143 | It use it for short line nymphing. I build my leaders w/ yellow stren and red & green amnesia(not the running line) in the butt sections. The yellow stren I use is .013 and I use 10" of stren and 10" of maxima to make up the 20" .013 section per the harvey formula. The main reason i use different colors is so I know roughly what depth i'm fishing. I also add a very small dab of bio strike further up the leader so should the need arise I can long line nymph as well. Hope this helps. Jeff | |
| JOHNW | May 15th, 2008, 11:22 pm | |
| Chambersburg, PA Posts: 168 | Troutster, Another option for building strike indicators into your leader is to take a contrasting color of permanent marker and put one inch bars down the leader. The real trick is creating points of contrast for your eye to pick up. JW P.S. Where in South Central PA are you? | |
| Angler by Genetics | ||
| Martinlf | May 16th, 2008, 7:56 am | |
| Palmyra PA Posts: 946 | Or just use small dots of Orvis Strike Putty. A little dab will do ya. I typically use two to three tiny bits rolled on several feet apart where I think I'll need to be looking. | |
| Louis Is it not an art to deceive a trout with an artificial fly? A trout! that is more sharp-sighted than any hawk . . . and more watchful and timorous than your high-mettled merlin is bold! --Izaak Walton The Compleat Angler | ||
| Troutster | May 16th, 2008, 8:08 am | |
| Posts: 4 | Thanks guys for all of the suggestions, if you put marks on the leader with marker would the trout be able to notice it on clear spring creeks (I'll be fishing the Falling Springs). JohnW, I'm also from Chambersburg.... could they be doing any more bridge work on I-81!! Do you fish the Falling Springs much, I fished it for the first time last Saturday, what a beautiful stream , even thought I didn't catch any but I plan to keep trying. | |
| JOHNW | May 18th, 2008, 12:36 pm | |
| Chambersburg, PA Posts: 168 | Troutster, I porbably wasn't as clear as I could have been. When using the marked leader technique it is only on the butt and taper sections. the tippet is left as is. This is more frequently because I frequently switch from nymph to dry without changing the entire leader. Will the trout be more apt to see the barring? I guess they might however not any more so than any other form of strike indicator and probably significantly less than most. I think you will find most trout generally more approachable than some would have you believe. I seldom crawl up to the stream but I do move very slowly and pay close attention to the sun as a shadow will send fish scurrying as quickly as chucking a rock in the stream next to them. As for Falling Springs in general it is a wonderful little stream decent hatches, fair populations of wild fish in the upper waters and easy access. The only drawback is it flows through a very residential area and as such you are frequently fishing in peoples back yards. JW | |
| Angler by Genetics | ||
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