I've never had any joy with buzzers and I'd like to put that right.

I fish mainly small stillwaters of depth 8 to 12 feet. Lets say I'm trying to fish a team of 2 buzzers on a floating line, and I'm trying to fish 4 feet under the surface- what leader length should I be using? I often see or hear of leader lengths of 12 feet and more. If I had a 12 foot leader would the buzzers just make their way to the bottom? How do I get my buzzers to hang at the depth of my choice? (without using bungs or floaty flies). Do I simply decrease the lengths of my leader drastically?

Thanks.

therealijn.

I have been using an 18 foot leader recently for buzzers, and have heard that it isn't advisable to go below 15 foot.

15 feet or more gives you plenty of space to fit a point fly and 2 buzzer droppers 5 feet apart.

Other people may have different opinions, but that's what i do

The depth vs leader length depends on an awful lot of variables.
As a rule of thumb though, unless you're fishing a varnished buzzer under a bung in a flat calm, you're probably only fishing half the depth you think you are.

The best way of fishing static without using a bung is to use a 3-5 foot tippet with the water knot greased like mad with mucilin. Also grease the rest of the leader up to the line, just leaving the tippet un-greased. I would then actually add a little sinkant to the remaining tippet.
You should be able to see the water knot "blip" when the fish takes, then tighten accordingly.
Unfortunately this method only works in a flat-calm & only at quite short range (for me at least!).
In a slight breeze or greater & with any kind of distance you may well have to resort to a bung to get static presentation.

You have a number of options as far as I see it.


1 - place a sight bob/bung/big dry fly at the end of your tippet and then 5' - 7' down tie on your buzzer or a team of buzzers. Remember, your line does not lie straight down from the indicator as it lies at an angle so you need to tie it on a longer line to get down to your required depth

2 - have a long leader with a team of buzzers (say 2 - 3 or even 1 if that is your preference) and then, at the end of your leader, tie on a booby or big dry fly. Your buzzers will then sink under the surface and will be supported either end by your floating line and bouyant fly. This is called the 'Washing Line' method.


3 - Use flurocarbon to sink your buzzers quicker and then retrieve them slight quicker quickly after they have landed - your buzzers will likely be in the 4' region under the surface.


4 - Try a Neutral Density line wich is, in effect, a very slow sinker. Begin retrieving soon after the flies have landed and, again, you will likely be in the top 5' of water. This method also works well with the Washing Line method as above. The Pirate sells a great Neutral Density line for less than half the price of the 'usual suspects'


5 - Try an Intermediate line or Di3 and the washing line method with a slow retrieve and you will, again, be in teh top 5-2' of water.



Have fun and hold tight for some thudding takes



Ben

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But how do you target the depth of water you want to fish in (4 feet down in my example)? Won't static buzzers on a 15 foot leader gradually sink all the way down?

Cheers.

Yes, they will gradually sink further down but you can also try and grease up the first 6' of leader to keep it higher in the water (if using standard nylon and not fluro)

a steady but slow retrieve also works with buzzers and will keep them higher in the water than if left static.

If you want to fish them static then use a sight bob/indicator/big dry fly etc.


There are those who will also advocate using a shorter leader, say 6-7' to you first buzzer which may work but many prefer a much longer leader to their first fly.


Ben

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If you fish your buzzers in a cross wind, the effect of the ripple bringing your flies round will prevent them sinking too deep, however if you do want them to sink deeper, putting an upwind mend in your line will allow this to happen, obviously the more mends you put in, the deeper it allows your flies to sink.

Also, fishing this way you don't actually retrieve the flies, merely keep in touch by taking up slack line. This keeps your flies moving in the same direction as the naturals.

Cheers

Mat

Good advice - this is how I retrieve my own team of buzzers much of the time.

I hardly ever fish with a leader less that 15 feet, sometimes double the length of the rod and that means 20 feet. Don't try this with a gale blowing in your face however.

Liked Steves tip about the depth, in sunlight I tend to go with a 15 foot leader with a weighted one at the tip, I never fish them static and give them more than the occasional tweak and long pull to let them rise up and drop back through the water layers.

One thing it took me a long time to register is not to feel the takes but to watch the line between the rod tip and the water as takes can be the smallest of tweaks.

Many differing opinions and trial and error is best, depth is vital though.

Some might say i get all my fish on buzzer but if it works use it i use furled mono leaders i attach a piece of 15lb mono to that of around 18-24 inches, then goes on the tippet of 10ft of 6lb fluro, i then space the buzzers as equal as i can , but due to the fact i tend to know the depth of the feeding fish i can adjust the setup even to just 2 buzzer, the added 15lb of 18-24 in helps to get them alittle deeper if i need it, yes i do use an indicator and the 15lb mono helps keep it on , i love watching it fly away, so dont be afraid of using one, its about catching fish not being pc.give yer buzzers a tweak every now and then even in windy conditions, even retrieving can get takes
PS dont stick to one depth adjust it till you hit the right point and if they takes stop adjust again

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