Hi Guys
Just getting some kit together for my 1st year of fly fishing and having some tackle issues.

Issue1, If using a tapered leader do i still need to use tippet material or can i tie the fly straight on the end of the tapered leader ?

Issue2, Having brought some tapered leaders without loops is there a suitable knot or preferred method of attaching the leader to my fly line ?

Issue 3, Can anyone recommend a good beginners book for Trout fishing on Lakes ? I have one book but it is US based and more on Rivers than lakes.

Many thanks in anticipation

Paul

Hi Paul and welcome, if you put where you are from some of the guys from your area might be able to help you with where to fish ect..

Debs

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"Fly-fishing is the most fun you can have standing up."
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hywel morgan still water dvd is a very good and imformative and explains your answers.
if you have a braided loop at the end of your fly line then a simple water knot is enough to attach the leader.
depending on the end strength of your tapered leader and the length, a 9' leader coming into say 3lb i usually tie straight onto the fly.
you could add more if you wanted to.if your leader tapers down to say 3lb then you ideally want to tie tippet of equivelent or smaller size.
tippet is a bit of an american term,cast,gut,leader exactly the same.
hope this helps

Welcome Paul ... from another newbie - strange thread title for a first post?

welcome to the forum.
a really good book to get imo would be "trout from small stillwaters"by peter cockwill.
that should give you a good start without complicating things
regards
YC

Hi Paul


Hope the below helps



Issue 1


You could tie the fly directly onto the end of the tapered leader but you may find you get more success by adding a few feet extra tippet onto the end using the below knot. I would suggest using line around 6lb breaking strain if you will be fishing with lure style flies and/or nymphs and buzzers. If you are fishing with dry flies then you may wish to drop down a bit.

Tapered leaders are usually around 9' in length so look at adding another 3' or so.

Issue 2


The below is a common knot for joining two similar diameter lines though can be problematic when trying to join two majorly different diameter lines or lines made from different materials such as copoymer and flurocarbon.

The Blood Knot



Issue 3


Peter Cockwell's book is a good place to start




An even better place to start is booking yourself a lesson with an instructor as he will be able to teach you more than any book can




Best of luck



Ben

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Welcome to the Forum.


Right - stock reply out of the way. I'll tackle question one.

If you have bought correctly: use straight from the packet. After use and changing flies you can tie further lengths on. This is your 'tippet'. It can be longer or finer or even a different material from your knotless leader such as fluorocarbon. The term tippet probably started when people constructed their own knotted leaders years and years ago.

Paul, that was just to add to SKB's excellent post that I missed; I'm sure you'll pick up the other answers, and so much more on here.

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Save the softmouth trout

I,m from Beckenham, Kent

What I, and others, do is tie a 1.5 or 2 mm tippet ring the the end of the tapered leader, the expensive bit, then tie whatever length and strain of tippet to that. You can add a dropper to the same ring if required.

Brilliant, what a source of knowledge you all are, many thanks Paul