Hi Folks,

I've recently started fishing upstream dry on my local river after years of down and across wet with some success but i feel my leader set up leaves alot to be desired causing the presentation to be pretty poor at times obviously with this type of fishing presentation is everything I'm looking for some advice on what the best plan of attack is for small river fishing ie..

1. What is the best length of leader to avoid drag?
2. Are shop bought tapered leaders the way to go?
3. If i'm making my own leaders how should i best taper them ie.start with 12lb taper to 3lb
4.What is the best knot to join each section
5. How far should i be casting to avoid drag i realise you shouldn't be casting a straight line for miles upstream as drag will take hold very quickly.

Any Help would be great.

Would be interested to know some of this myself!

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Confusious Say: "Upon seeing the shadow of a pigeon, one must resist the urge to look up"!

This aint going to answer your question but i will try:-

1) 7' 6'' ft to 15 ft plus tippet depending on the water in question.

2) For just now yes, worry about the hand tied jobs once you get the measure of what you are doing.

3) Search the internet for "leader calculation" and the answer is there. I am currently doing the same. I suspect you need to start way above 12lbs but from what i can gather its about thickness as opposed to breaking strain.

4) Everyone has their favorite, i use a two turn water knot.

5) Anything from 6ft to 40 ft depending on the river, where the fish are, the current and your position.

You must have mates on here that will show you the way with a dry? If so i would suggest you tag along one day and watch what they do. Failing that there is always the guide option.

GH, have a chat with Phil Baily, flyfishwithme, he is a knowledgable chap re leaders. S.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

Most definitely Philip is the man.
I also dredged up this post from the Winston forum which contained formulae from Bo Cash who had been perfecting them for over 30 years.
I stuck to his formulae except for using Frog's Hair for the light sections instead of Rio and Maxima Chameleon for the butt sections.
http://www.winstonrods.com/forum/vie...ghlight=leader

WHO..., aint he a photographer

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

Hi Grayling hunter

A long leader will help avoid drag and the shorter the cast, the less currents the line will cross, so this will also help with drag.

For small streams though,going too long will make it difficult.A balance is therefore needed.Furled leaders are a good choice for small rivers,I use one of 5 feet,just adding a tippet to it.They give a good presentation for dry fly fishing generally the more open the river,the longer the leader,the more overgrown the river,the shorter the leader.Some I go to 15ft and others 6-7ft.

Just when you learn to cast a nice straight line,its time to throw slack line casts the sexyloops website has a few to look at.

Hope this helps

CF

Number 13 floats my boat.
Thanks for that Steve, just what i have been looking for.
Mark

As another relative newcomer to upsteam dry fly fishing ive been trying a few of the different shop bought tapered leaders. The best for me by far are the varivas specialist dry fly leaders, they have made a big difference for me this season.

Here's a cut-and-paste from one of my earlier posts on this very subject.

All you need are:

Spool of cheap 22lbs BS monofilament like Bayer Perlon
Spool of 15lbs Maxima monofilament
Spool of 8lbs co-polymer
Spool of 5lbs co-polymer
Spool of 3lbs co-polymer

A needle
A lighter
A pair of scissors

Knowledge of tying: Needle Knot; Four Turn Water Knot; Grinner Knot

Tie one to two yards of the 22lbs monofilament to the fly line using the needle knot. This is the sacrificial butt of the leader.

Tie to the butt another one or two yards of the 15lbs Maxima using a four turn water knot.

Tie to this another one or two yards of 8lbs or 5lbs co-polymer using another four turn water knot. This is the tippet.

If you need to make a finer tippet, use one yard of the 8lbs co-polymer and then tie a tippet of whatever length you want of 3lbs co-polymer to the 8lbs using another four turn water knot.

Decide on tippet thickness based on the fly size: 8lbs for Drakes, Spent Gnats, Daddy-Long-Legs and big Sedges; 5lbs for flies from 12 down to 16; and 3lbs for 18 down to 26. You want the thickest line that doesn't interfere with the fly behaving as if attached to nothing. Too thick and it will push the fly about, too thin and it will break off at the knot through fatigue.

This method means you always have perfect leaders. It is a few moments work to make a new one. You can fine tune them to suit the conditions on the day. If you can get used to managing longish leaders, over time, you will catch more fish.

Sometimes a leader and tippet of only a couple of yards can be necessary especially into a violent gusting headwind...BUT

You could find yourself using a leader and tippet 6 or 7 yards long on the same windy day.

You may keep your leader and tippet shortish to around 4 yards so that you can get a perfect turnover...BUT

You may again use a leader with a very long tippet to a total length of 6 or 7 yards simply to avoid a perfect turnover in the interests of a longer drift before drag sets in.

The scope is almost limitless. If you are starting out at this and want to get used to the whole fly fishing in rivers bit, try to use a leader and tippet total length of the length of your rod plus a yard or so to allow for holding your arm up high. This will soon become manageable for you and then you can start experimenting as above.

richard

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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..."