Attach a hook to the tippet ring.[/quote]

Great idea, Eric!!

These are the only leaders my son ever uses, and we've played around with these quite a bit. Depending on the material you are using, you can make them quite "stiff" or very "limp". So I really don't have any direct advice to give you regarding what diameter line to begin with. I'll simply state that since the line ends up "doubled" where you are going to attach the tippet, I usually use a line the same size or "one size" thinner than the predominant tippet size I plan on using. That way I end up with a continuous taper, and the "step" at the end isn't so great that it makes it difficult to make a gentle presentation or imparts a "hinge" in the leader.

How much line you need to begin with depends on how long you want each section of the leader to be. In my case, I like the butt section of these leaders to be two-thirds of the overall length. So if I was shooting for an overall length of 6 feet I need to begin with a length of mono that is AT LEAST 20 feet in length. The easiest way for me to figure this is: Overall length of leader plus length of butt section times 2. Or as an algebra equation:

2(x+y) Where x = the desired length of the leader, and y = the desired length of the butt section.

In reality you'll need a little more than this for tying the knot at the end. But I'm not quite that accurate (or ****). I always just give myself a little extra line, "fold" the butt section over at the finished length I'm after, and then just twist the butt section down to where I want it to end. Then I tie off the knot and trim away the excess line.

I have found these "Singapore Twists" work quite well and they will last a very long time. In fact, I never carry extra leaders anymore, knowing that if I need a new leader for some reason, I can quickly (and easily) twist one up in the field with the tippet material I carry. They do have a lot of stretch, so if you need a strong hook-set and are used to fishing with a tied, straight, or tapered mono leader, then you may have to impart a bit more rod action.

One other note of "caution"... Keep the tag ends away from each other when twisting these up, otherwise they'll twist together too. When I was experimenting with these and making quite a few of them, I hung the tag ends off the upper landing of my stairs and between separate balusters (a few apart) to keep the ends separated. This sure came in handy when I made a couple of nine footers (30 plus feet of line). But even with short ones, it was nice to have the tag ends "dangling".

---David

That's the system I have been using for about two years. I use about 21' of mono. I didn't know this has a name. After 200+ hours of use on my 3wt, it's still going. It's good for my kind of backyard fishing. You know what I catch

Great topic and i learned a lot of it.
This morning i twisted my first leader started with about 16' 5lb Drennan mono.
The twisting worked great but you have just to take your time for it.

But thats for all the items regarding flyfishing isn't it?

I have to agree with Cliff here -- I see little to no benefit to using anything other than a straight section of 4-8 pound mono for almost 100% of my fishing, including trout. I just use a non-slip mono loop in the "butt" end of the mono leader so that I'm reasonably certain that if I need to break off, I won't lose my whole leader but just the fly-end knot (because the non-slip loop is stronger than what I use on the fly end).

Splat is fine for most warmwater fish, and I mostly fish under the surface. Heck, I've even fished a lot of dry flies for trout using a long straight leader of maxima 4lb and it did great. The cast itself is more important to me than the leader. I don't find that this kind of leader hinders me in any way.

Tapered leaders would probably provide a more gentle landing for dries if I were fishing a very clear, shallow waterbody and needed it....but I doubt I'd even tie one then to be honest.

Sometimes I'll fish a 2-part leader of 8-pound butt, and 4-6 pound tippet if I know I'll be pinching split shot on the 8-pound section and don't want to "kink" up my lighter 4-pound, but that's about it.

Additionally, though it probably makes no difference, long level leaders are theoretically less visible to the fish than tapered leaders (since there is no heavy butt section) and are also more simple to tie on . They sink more quickly too.

To solve the ends causing a problem I followed the tip given on a similar forum of clipping a hackle plier on each end and suspend the two pliers apart over (in my case) the back of my recliner, the suspended pliers spin as you twist the leader, the weight of the pliers keep the lines in place, no tangling.

Eric, I may have to give that a try. However, I've not had a problem with the pvc tubes. There were a lot of posts on this subject, and actually there is a distinct difference between a 'furled' leader and a 'hand twist' leader. I've used both, and the main difference I've found is in most of our southern water we have a lot of weeds/moss, and the knot in the hand twist does pick up more than the knotless furled.

I use straight mono. But, I have only been at this for a few months. I am catch fish with it.