It's been a little bit since my last post but schoolwork and engine work has consumed my life for the past week or so. Since I haven't been fishing at all this post will be more geared toward a fly fishing topic rather than a recent experience on the water.
The topic I'm going to talk about today is leader setups. I get a number of questions about how I rig my leader for various water conditions or for different tactics. I'll start by telling you guys that I do not make my own leaders. I will buy tapered leaders in a variety of sizes for different fish, water conditions, etc. and then use corresponding tippet material. Now many stores sell fly fishing specific tippet material in small spools of line which is all fine and good however it is much more cost effective to buy larger spools of either monofilament or fluorocarbon and either carry the whole spool with you, or find a way to carry a smaller amount so it's not cluttering up your vest. For monofilament it's not a huge difference in price per yard (although the big spool is still cheaper per yard) but when it comes to fluorocarbon buying a big spool is about a tenth of the cost per yard!!
In my case (since I buy pre-made tapered leaders) as I switch flies, break off, etc. my leader gets shorter than the original 9ft. When I lose about 1.5-2 ft is when I break out the tippet material and tie on enough to get me back to 9ft. Now tying knots shortens the leader even more and by the time you want to replace your tippet section, the original leader is even shorter than when you tied on your first section of tippet. By the time the diameters of your mid/butt section (of your original leader) and your tippet become too unsimilar is when I decide to break out a new pre-made leader.
This brings me to the knots I use on my leader. I use four main knots on different sections of the leader. The four knots are the Albright Knot, Nail Knot, Surgeons Knot, and Improved Clinch Knot. The Albright and Nail Knots are the knots that I will use to tie the leader to my fly line. I know that most fly lines and preformed leaders come with a loop on the ends of the line but I've never trusted that so I snip those off and tie my own knots (either the albright or nail knot). To tie my fly onto the line I generally use the Improved Clinch Knot (sometimes known as the Fisherman's Knot). Lastly the Surgeons Knot is a great knot to tie your leader and tippet sections together. However like I mentioned above, when the diameters of the tippet and leader become too unsimilar, it's time for a new leader.
Many people wonder about the differences between monofilament and fluorocarbon since they can look exactly the same. The first difference I will talk about is density. Fluorocarbon is more dense than water (sinks), where mono is less dense than water (floats). This can be useful knowledge if you are fishing flies that are depth sensitive like dry and topwater flies. Using fluorocarbon when fishing these types of flies can be counterproductive and at times frustrating. The reason mono floats is because it is permeable by water. Now since water can permeate mono line it weakens the line overtime but this permeability also gives mono the quality of excellent shock absorption. That being said fluorocarbon maintains its strength since water does not permeate the line itself. As a general rule fluorocarbon is more abrasion resistant and stiffer than mono as well. Those two qualities make it more resistant to UV rays than mono line. Also the stiffness of the fluorocarbon gives you a more sensitive line. The last quality I'll talk about is visibility. In my opinion fluorocarbon is less visible in the water than the monofiliment equivalent (assuming the mono is the same color as the fluorocarbon since mono can come in a wide variety of colors). So the question you might be asking is "well what do you use?" and that is a valid question. Unless I am fishing topwater flies (poppers, dries, etc.) I will be using fluorocarbon especially if the water is clear.
Another question people ask me is how do I know what pound test to use for my tippet? The answer is the heaviest test I can get away with. Now I'm sure I could use 30lb test tippet for the salmon I catch in the streams but it would be too thick to tie a fly on and it would be overkill. Now on the opposite end of the spectrum I could use 2lb test for the salmon but it wouldn't be nearly enough to land the fish. So the more in depth answer to the question is it depends on the water conditions and the size of the fish I expect to catch. The water conditions are more important than the size. You can play and baby a fish after you hooked it but if your tippet is too big (and spooks the fish) there is no way to even get that fish on the line. A good example of how sensitive some fish are to line is how Steelhead behave in gin clear water. I remember I was fishing at the Oak Orchard River last spring and I was working a pool and had 6lb fluorocarbon for my tippet. After a couple hours of working the same hole I decided to downsize my tippet (just like you might downsize the size of your fly) to 4lb test fluorocarbon. Not 5 minutes after I made the switch I hooked up on a nice fish and landed it. One after another I hooked, some I landed and some broke off.
I seemed to have gotten a little long winded again and if you made it this far thanks for reading it all and I hope this information was useful in helping you get started or maybe refine you leader choices. As always the stream conditions are posted below and tight lines everyone (especially for my Uncle and Brother in Florida on vacation)!
Current Stream Information:
Watch for a slow retreat to water flows in all tributaries and maintaining about 1-2ft of visibility.
Sandy Creek (Hamlin): March 14th, 2016
Free of ice
Light to no fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows. (CFS unknown)
Oak Orchard (Albion): March 14th, 2016
Free of ice.
Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows (CFS unknown)
18-Mile Creek (Burt): March 14th, 2016
Free of ice.
Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows.
209 CFS
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