Leader material question

[Muddog]

From the book Practical Fishing Knots By Mark Sosin and Lefty Kreh.

the butt section (A) of the leader will be slightly less then one half the leader length. for most assignments mono testing not more then 25 lbs. the second segment (b)of 20lb test will be half the length of the butt section(A). drop to 15lb test for the third section © and make it one half the lenght of section (. Now add a two foot tipit.

This set up should roll over well.

[KJC]

Let me preface this with the fact that I'm brand new to the sport... I picked up a spool of 40lb Maxima Chameleon at SW in Coon Rapids. I had hoped to use it to make a looped connector on the end of my fly line. But found it too stiff to make a good nail knot connection to my fly line. I sense bought some braided line that I nail-knoted beautifully but fill that it is likely to be too limp and create a problem itself.

Any suggestions on good materials for making a home-made loop connector (or how to get a good nail knot out of the stiff Chameleon line I have) would be appreciated.

Does anyone use furled leaders ? I have practiced making a few, and feel like I just need to get better at finishing the ends. But like I said, I have little practical experience (will be getting some stealhead work though in the next couple of weeks), so looking for any thoughts.

Karl

[turiprap]

40 lb. is pretty stout stuff, but I have needle knotted it to 7 and 8 weight fly lines without undue problems. For lighter fly lines, you may want to drop back to 30 lb.

[Muddog]

Get the book Practical Fishing Knots By Mark Sosin and Lefty Kreh. I found my a Cabela's.

Just fold back the end of fly line hold it in place with two nail knots. trim the fly line at angle, coat both Nail Knots with rubber-based cement. I think there are 2 or 3 more ways to do this in the book.

[turiprap]

Quote:

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Get the book Practical Fishing Knots By Mark Sosin and Lefty Kreh.

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Some of the best advice in this excellent thread. The book is filled with great instructions and illustrations. It will also set you to thinking about the overall importance of well-tied knots in any kind of fishing.

[Katman]

Thank you guys for all the great links and information! I tied my first few leaders and ACTUALLY even caught my first trout on my own leader this Sunday! It was based of the link JP sent me. I tried a few with shorter, longer, tapers of the mid and butt sections and I finally see a difference in the way the fly lays over and perform. This has been VERY informational for me. I hope you guys got something out of this too!

I was wondering what You guys prefer for Steelies leaders? I was thinking similar somewhere around 0x and 2x?

[DinkADunk]

For casting a floating line for steelhead I like normal Rio leaders (i.e.2x-4x) or Maxima leaders (chameleon butt, ultragreen tippet, 0x-2x). For sinktip lines and chuck and duck (a very heavy piece of sinking line like leadcore attached to shooting line) I prefer to tie my own using Chameleon/ultragreen or Chameleon/clear, and I'm going to try a few made with a Rio Hard butt and Rio Powerflex tippet. These are usualy 5' leaders. For using a shooting line with a slip sinker I like just plain mono (usually Maxima ultragreen or clear). For high sticking/drift where you make tuck casts I'm going to try a couple of different leader formulas.