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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:36 pm • # 1 
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The only time I use tapered leaders is when I am coldwater trout fishing. When warmwater fly fishing I use straight mono - 17# for largemouth and hybrid stripers and 8-11# for bream, crappie and sandbass. I don't worry about the fly turning over properly because warmwater fish are attracted to something hitting the water and making a splash. I prefer to use #1 tippet material when using my 3 or 4-wt rods because it sinks faster, and when I am bream or crappie fishing I want my flies to sink fast and get down deep. 


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:31 pm • # 2 
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I just use a straight 6 ft piece of 4lb mono 'cause all I fish for is 'gills... They don't seem to care much about presentation. Image


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 7:56 pm • # 3 
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I use tapered leaders, and have dabbled with just about all of them. For quick and "hassle free", I make a Singapore twist out of mono. When I feel like experimenting, I hand tie mono, and if I'm feeling really ambitious, I pull out the furling jig. On a PVC line I tend to prefer a leader made of mono. On my silk line, my favorite leader (thus far) is one I furled with some silk thread. It's only 4' in length, and I add 2-3 feet of tippet to it. (I rarely use a leader/tippet that exceeds 7 feet, and often they are 5-6 feet in length. I just haven't found the need to go longer.) With the small diameter of the silk line, I felt it needed a leader to "match". So I furled a leader that is only ten strands at the butt and tapers to six strands at the tip. I wouldn't want to try to turn over anything big (heavy) with it, but for the small (typically size 14 and smaller) flies I use, it works better than anything else I've tried.

I still worry about presentation, (even though like you I probably don't need to) and I always cringe when my fly goes "splat", unless I intentionally wanted it to do so. (A carry over from my cold-water days I guess.)

I did experiment with straight mono on the silk line. I tried it with 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 pound test, in lengths from 6 to 10 feet. With and without tippet. None of them worked near as well as the furled leader. So for now, it's typically a Singapore twist on my PVC lines, and a furled silk leader for the silk line.

---David


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:41 am • # 4 
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 I've been using straight mono for several years for all my fishing from brookies to bass nobody seems to care & its a lot easier on the wallet than tapered               Dennis


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:16 am • # 5 
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As a rule I used leaders furled or tapered. I do like my Climax camelion knotted tapered leaders as they lay out straight a roll well to the destination. While at a tying group last week we took a length of mono and created a home-made furled leader. I think in a pinch these might work fine- I need to build a couple in UL weights.

Les


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:16 pm • # 6 
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Tapered leaders FTW!


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:03 am • # 7 
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  Tapered leaders......However I am experimenting with straight braided line for leaders.  (the jury is still out).....................Don S.


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:33 pm • # 8 
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I may try the mono thing I have been going through tapered leaders like crazy or then I start adding tippett and have a knot that looks bad and is a week point I would rather tie a fresh leader a couple times an outing. The trout I fish for in Iowa donT seem that picky anyway


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:12 pm • # 9 
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I tried the mono over the past few days it is cheap so I don't need to splice in tippett. Also I had a tendency of keeping tapered leaders past there prime they would get bent and have knots from tippett and land sloppy. I use suffix mono on spin reels. This stuff is good line it does not tangle like berkly I used to use. These suffix leaders landed smooth and straight on both 0 and 6 wt I caught plenty of fish on #10 spiders wooly bugs and streams


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:55 pm • # 10 
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Location: Canton, Ohio
I use a 5' furled leader & attach via loop to loop a 3' length of 4 lb test clear blue Stren for my 'gill fishing.
Mikey


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:18 am • # 11 
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Agree with ohiotuber.  Put a little floatant on the furled leader if using dry flies.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:48 am • # 12 
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I make various furled leaders for dry and wet fly. Nylon for dry and nymph and fluorocarbon for wet.
Basically I'm using heavy fluorocarbon for wets to get the fly down deep off a floating line. It is heavy enough to sink a few metres of floating line so I guess I'm getting 3 or 4 metres down sometimes. I change leaders because it is quicker, easier and need to carry less gear than any other way. It allows me to quickly respond to changing waters as I go along.

The dry leaders are a very thin high strength copolymer called Mazzaferro Trilon with 8 strands of 10lb (0.23 mm) in the butt and 2 strands (furled loop) of 5lb (0.16 mm) in the tip.  I drop 1 strand at intervals to make a taper.  That is equal to a tapered mono leader 0.65 mm to 0.23 mm.

Generally I only fly fish fresh water but even on my 11wt, I still use a simple 4 strand furled leader because it's nicer to turn over than just a straight tippet so less bounce = longer casts and less tangling at the business end.

Regards,
Ken


Last edited by kenwstr on Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 5:53 pm • # 13 
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Tapered leaders for me. I usually use a ready bought tapered leader with an extra tippet. But also carry hand knotted ones and some spools of nylon for making them. Sometimes an alteration to your leader can transform a days fishing . If the wind gets up or the fish are ultra spooky you need to be able to modify your set up.

Andy


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:33 pm • # 14 
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It's always furled or tapered for me in mono or fluro. Sometimes I spend so **** much time worrying about each and every link in the system that I forget to just have fun fishing. The exception is having fun with Gills and simple leaders. I guess that using 0-2 wt rods tends to cause more emphasis on the leaders.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:25 pm • # 15 
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willie bob wrote:
It's always furled or tapered for me in mono or fluro. Sometimes I spend so **** much time worrying about each and every link in the system that I forget to just have fun fishing. The exception is having fun with Gills and simple leaders. I guess that using 0-2 wt rods tends to cause more emphasis on the leaders.


Coldwater trout fishing almost always requires tapered leaders, except when using a streamer. Warmwater on the other hand rarely requires a tapered leader. In fact, I don't own any tapered leaders since I haven't been trout fishing in several years. Bass, bluegill, crappie, catfish, etc. are not leader shy, so I don't waste my money on tapered ones. I use straight mono.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:53 am • # 16 
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Location: Longmont, Colorado
Cliff Hilbert wrote:
willie bob wrote:
It's always furled or tapered for me in mono or fluro. Sometimes I spend so **** much time worrying about each and every link in the system that I forget to just have fun fishing. The exception is having fun with Gills and simple leaders. I guess that using 0-2 wt rods tends to cause more emphasis on the leaders.


Coldwater trout fishing almost always requires tapered leaders, except when using a streamer. Warmwater on the other hand rarely requires a tapered leader. In fact, I don't own any tapered leaders since I haven't been trout fishing in several years. Bass, bluegill, crappie, catfish, etc. are not leader shy, so I don't waste my money on tapered ones. I use straight mono.


You are correct on that one Cliff. Living in Colo it's mostly trout although there is some good warmater fishing to be had. I often miss the fishing in Texas (home state) and the lack of fussy equipment needed to just have fun fishing. We tend to get way too technical with these fussy trout! I'm really trying to simplify in my old age.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:10 pm • # 17 
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Great post. From what I learned here and on the Power Pro as a leader post I'll never have to buy another leader again.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:00 am • # 18 
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Nylon furled leaders and you will abandon mono forever.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:10 pm • # 19 
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I saw a YouTube video a couple of years ago about hand-twisting mono to make a furled leader (not a "true" furled leader depending on who you ask). For my 3wt I use either #6 or #8 to make a 7' permanent leader section this way (I didn't like #4 mono I had), then simply attach a tippet material to cover the rest.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:10 pm • # 20 
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I like the mono furled leaders from Feather Craft. Extremely well made and fool proof.


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