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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 7:29 am • # 1 
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Hi
I havnt fished with leaders shorter than 9ft before so im wondering if you guys could help me with a leader setup for my 1wt.
Do i buy a 9ft tapered leader and cut it down?Im not sure lpls assist.
It will be mainly for a dry dropper setup or indicator weighted nymph setup.

thanks...


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 8:29 am • # 2 
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Boy is this a loaded question that I'm sure will bring many comments. Here are just some of the options available.

For fishing with a weighted nymph and indicator I would suggest using straight mono/tippet in the size you prefer. Reason is the thinner straight mono/tippet will drop straight through the water column better than a tapered leader. This allows the fly to get where you want it faster and will take on less of a bend in the current.

For a dry dropper setup you could use a tapered leader. If you have none then you may think about a furled leader butt section and adding your tippet to that. They come in different sizes based on rod wt. and you will end up with a 7' to 7.5' leader that will keep the junction of the leader/line out of your top tip when landing a fish.

If you already have a bunch of 9' tapered leaders then I would cut off about 2' of the butt section and re-tie a perfection loop. Since most leader manufactures make their tapered leaders to work with the more common 5/6 wt. rods, the butt is actually heavier than you need to have on a 1 wt. tapered leader. Again by taking off about 2' you keep the line/leader junction outside of your tip while landing fish.

Good luck and let's se what others have to say on the subject.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 8:32 am • # 3 
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thanks joe that does help me out


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 1:46 pm • # 4 
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It totally depends on where you're fishing. I have nymphed with both 7.5 and 9 foot leaders (not counting the tippet that I add); these days, I usually just get a 9' and move my indicator according to conditions. As far as size (3x,4x,5x, etc), that also depends on what and where I am fishing. Basically when your are nymphing, you will be adjusting your indicator height depending on the current hole/section you're fishing. As far as a dry dropper rig, I typically just use a 9' tapered leader in the heaviest size I can get away with using for the place I am fishing.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 12, 2015 1:14 pm • # 5 
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Pretty much what Sasha says for me too, but I rarely fish a leader (tippet included) longer than the rod unless the water is very low and slow and the fish particularly spooky.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 12, 2015 10:59 pm • # 6 
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Not sure how much this helps, but I ditched factory tapered leaders on my 2 weight because cutting down a factory leader seemed like a waste, and no one makes a factory tapered trout leader shorter than 7.5' (Cabela's has some bass leaders that are 6' long, and are knotless tapered, but these are heavier stuff meant for bass bugs)

So what I did is thus:

I snipped the loop to loop connection off. I nail knotted a 20" long piece of 20lb test mono - this is about the same thickness as the end of the fly line. Then I blood knotted on a 10" piece of 0X, 1X, and 2X test, followed by 20" of 4X - this gives me a leader about 6' long - the same length as my rod. It turns over a size 8 Dave's Hopper, it works with wet flies, nymphs, and larger dries. If I need to go finer, say to 5 or 6X I can knot on 12 or 15" of the thinner tippet and still have a usable leader, though I prefer to keep my leader about the length of the rod on anything except my spey rods. Essentially though, this gives me 1/3 leader butt, 1/3 taper, and 1/3 tippet. You can fiddle with the numbers to match your rod length, or give the formula above a whirl and see how it works.


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:25 am • # 7 
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thanks to all,some great advice i will try all the suggestions


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:25 pm • # 8 
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I'm taking the 2wt out this weekend and want to throw an indicator (small) and some bream bugs for Roanoke Bass. I was worried I couldn't turn over my current leader so I think I'll tie yours and let you know how it goes.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:03 am • # 9 
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saflyfish1 wrote:
Hi
I havnt fished with leaders shorter than 9ft before so im wondering if you guys could help me with a leader setup for my 1wt.
Do i buy a 9ft tapered leader and cut it down?Im not sure lpls assist.
It will be mainly for a dry dropper setup or indicator weighted nymph setup.

thanks...


It's nice to keep things simple, so I simply use the old 60-20-20 formula. It works like this: 60% butt, 20% taper, and 20% tippet. The diameter of the butt section should ideally be 2/3 that of the line tip. For a 3-weight or lighter tapered line, what works for me is .013 soft nylon, like Maxima.

To keep the 60-20-20 calculations, I usually start with 100 inches and break that down, by first nail-knotting 60 " of .013 nylon to the line tip, actually adding on a couple inches more fot the knot. Then comes the taper: 10" of .010 (1X) nylon and 10" of .008 (3X). Then comes the tippet, 20" of .006 (5X). That adds up to 100", or 8'4". To make the dropper, I simply leave the tag end of the tippet longer when tying the last blood knot, which makes the tag stand out at 90 degrees from the main part of the leader. If the nail knot is smoothed out (I use epoxy, but many are now seemingly using something called Knotsense), so it easily goes in and out of the tip-top guide on the rod.

If you really want the leader to be shorter than the rod, you can use the same formula with 48" butt, 16" of taper, and 16" of tippet for an 80", or 6'8", leader. So that's 48" of .013" nylon, 8" of .010, 8" of .008, and 16" of .006 (5x) tippet. The double surgeon's knot is easier to tie than the blood knot and is more forgiving when it comes to differences in diameter, but the blood knot is more nicely symmetrical. With the double surgeon's knot, to add a dropper, you can leave the tag end of the tippet longer, then use it to tie a half-hitch around the next thicker section just above the knot, which makes it stand out at 90 degrees.

You can use the 60-20-20 formula for leaders between 6 and 12 feet by simply calculating the lengths required for each section. Such a leader turns over nicely. Once you get used to using it, you can change the lengths of butt or tippet and come up with what you want.

I hope that helps.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:06 am • # 10 
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great info there thank you!


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 4:51 am • # 11 
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If you really want a 7 1/2 foot leader, you could also think about this. Since 7 1/2 feet = 90 inches, 10% of 90 = 9. 60% = 54, the 18" that represents 20% of taper can be divide into two 9" section of .010 and .008" mono, finished off with 18" of 5x tippet.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:00 pm • # 12 
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Myself I have not used a factory made leader in over 5 yrs I guess. I use mostly a furled leader. And can get them in just about what ever you need.


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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2020 10:55 am • # 13 
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Bumping this old thread, I've made a few furled leaders over the years out of tying thread and they turn over great, but always feel like they overload light rods once they pick up a bit of water, and when I have to pull free from a snag they invariably rat's nest. Am I doing it wrong? I think the ones I tied were of 6/0 uni thread and were 5-7' or so. I did like them and may try again, but the past couple years I've been back to just tapering them with blood knots and mono the old fashioned way.


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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2020 10:02 am • # 14 
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I believe, the tighter a leader is furled, the less likely it is to rat-nest when it releases from a snag. Also a tighter leader doesn't absorb water as much as a looser furl. Are you greasing your leader with something like Otter Butter or Mucilin ?


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:27 pm • # 15 
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I had the same problem. Now I cut off a little more than a foot at the butt end (maybe 16 inch) and 2 feet off the tip end so that it is like 5"8 long and then I knot on a tippet ring and like 1.5 feet of tippet so that it is about 6.5 or so feet long.


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