Hi there,

Probably the wrong section so apologies if so.

I am fairly new to fly fishing but of late have been fishing the resovoirs a lot lately.

I have a 10ft greys rod, with Wychwood reel #6/7 and 6#7 floating and intermediate.

Now the bit that confuses me - leaders....tippets....6x....4x....2lb.....4lb....23mm.... tapered~?????

Attached to the fly line have added a braided loop and then have just been adding 9ft of Monofilament straight through (6lbs) and the fly around size 14-18.

I was catching quite a bit (on lures) but not anymore (turned to buzzers and nymphs, beetles more)The turnover is poor however this might be down to my casting.

I wondered what would be the simplest formula to use regarding leaders. I dont want to be spending all my time on the bank getting out birds nests or tying loads of knots even though i do need to learn them knots.....as thats part of the game


I was thinking a 9ft Mono leader with a taper ring then a tippet of 18" 5X as long as a tapered leader is not totally neccesary.

How does this sound and what breaking strength for each (Leader and tippet) if catching 2lb - 10lb rainbows?



Hope this makes sense and thanks for any responses

Hi Blaser,
This might sound like a cop out but it will save you lots of time, money and fish.
Book a lesson with a casting instructor and you will see it all fall into place
You will be turning over a fly on 12'+ before you know it with the correct instruction.
Tightlines
Scotty

__________________
i was walking far from home, where the names are not burned along the wall, saw a building, high as heaven, but the door was so small

Blaser with heavily weighted fly such as lures, gold heads ect turning over is helped due to the weight of the fly, with the likes of a dry fly it actually slows the tippet speed, there for poor turn over. Tapering your leader will assist in this. A shop bought taper then attaching your tippet (making sure it's THINNER than the end section) will help hugely.

Welcome to the forum....

Oh the joys, everyone will give you a different answer for this one.

For your set up ( and the one I would use of my 10ft #7 rod for sea trout and grilse), for a single fly with the trout size you are targeting, leader should be made up as follows (according to what mono you have), first number being the lighter weight set up and second for a heavier set up: -

Main Fly Line
Five Foot 15-20lb
Four Foot 10-12lb
Three Foot 6-8lb
Hook

Only 2 types of knot needed, 3 turn water knot for nylon to nylon joins and Pitzen or 5 turn tucked half blood from line loop to nylon and nylon to fly.

Tippet diameters in American are quoted as 1x, 2x etc where the diameter is based on the 0x (0.011inches), 1x (0.010''), 2x (0.009'') etc.

Due to the many different materials and mixes lines are made from this has less and less relevance to breaking strain. Best to look for the best bs per diameter.

I use Ultima line as it is cheap but up there with the best. Ultima Power Match - Maximum Strength Pole & Rig Mono - Ultima UK.

Start with that general set up and then experiment, but don't go less than 6lb with such a heavy outfit as you will get broken as the rod will not adequately protect the tippet from shocks.

It takes me roughly a minute to make up that leader and as the tippet gets shorter as I replace flies, the 6-8lb tippet needs replace roughly every 8 flies. You can also run a dropper of the 10-12lb tail of the joining knot if you so wish.

It will turn over anything from an 8 salmon hook to a size 18 buzzer in the wind and tends not to tangle (poor casting excepted).

__________________
Just My Tuppenceworth!!

Dry Fly 'Expert': Leader linguistics, tippet talk and tips...

should help you.

Breaking strenghth is not to do with the weight of the fish. It's to do with its thickness and the size of fly you are using.

richard

__________________
Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

Some of the above is way over complicated IMO. For a single fly on the reservoir a level leader of 6lb is fine. You might find using slightly heavier flies (size 10/12 or with a bead head) will help you turn over the leader. If you're having trouble getting good turn over though its down to your casting and I would advise getting some lessons. My advice is to keep things simple. That way if you do get a tangle its easy to just replace the whole leader and get back fishing.