Hi, stupid newbie here.

I posted this on the "flurocarbon or nylon" thread but didn't want to divert from the specifics of that particular issue.

So . . . .

I've been using tapered leaders from The Essential Fly website but as I only fish wet (mostly nymphs) I think I don't need the tapers.

So then I switched to a straight-through leader using some monofilament (4 lb / 0.16 diameter) from my spinning reel, but it seems from reading some of the posts and threads here I think I really need some flouro or co-polymer. Is that right? Or not?

If it is, what's the best diameter / bs? I'm on a small river, after brownies around the 1 lb (occasionally up to 1.5lb).

Basically, what's the best leader for light-tackle (#3 or #4 line on a 7' rod) nymphing on a small river?

Thank-you - this forum has been fantastic, only been doing this a month and already had a few fish (mind you, I've been doing it ALL day EVERY day for a month!)

You will read a lot of technical stuff on leaders which makes it sound very complicated. What works for me - and I fish small streams at least 30 days a year and catch my share - is a nylon tapered leader -4 or 5 lb point. I add some nylon of similar strength and tie on a tippet of 18" of Riverge Grand Max 4'75 lb bs fluoro- strong , thin and sinks(ish).I use a 7-6 rod and leaders are usually 9-10' even on small streams.Grease up most of leader to watch for takes. Or make it MUCH easier and klink n dink.

Thats better....

As I said on the other thread, my preference is for Ultima Power Match copolymer (meant for carp). Have used rio fluro, double strength, drennan sub surface, maxima, fulling mill copolymer, sport fish copolymer, hardy copolymer, etc etc but have come to like the Ultima.

I mainly dry fly fish spate rivers (which vary from liquid mud to gin clear) and Scottish Lochs and have never had any problems with copolymer (including sea trout and herling on dries in day light).

To be honest, the tippet material is not so important as it's diameter and the drag on the fly. Fish ignore 'natural' features which go with the current and show no 'unnatural drag'. The thicker and stiffer the tippet, the more likely there is to be drag, which may be invisible to you, but at 2 inches, the fish can see it and runs for cover. Therefore the higher the b/s to diameter usually the better.

For a #3 rod and a single fly, 4lb tippet is okay, if you are fishing a team of wet flies/nymphs, you need to go up to at least 6lb to account for the effects of the knots for the droppers.

While a team of wets can be fished on a level leader, I always taper the leader to a least a degree. For a team of wets, I will still do the four feet of 15lb and then 2ft 7lb to first dropper, then three foot of 7lb to tippet or next dropper.
For a single dry/nymph, I will do four feet 15lb, 3ft 10lb, 2ft 7lb and then a tippet of 3 feet of 4lb.

If you get 4 spools of copolymer tippet (15lb, 10lb, 7lb and 4lb) that will see you through 99% of your fishing needs.

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Just My Tuppenceworth!!