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TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER
Recent I have spent several days inventorying the books here at FAOL. There is a vast collection of fly-fishing books; most of them plough the same ground with a new plough. This started me to ponder what is the most profound advancement that has been made in fly-fishing in the last 50 or so years?
Well said Neil. My first fly rod was a $9 fiberglass rod from Herters. It is a little heavy but it casts fine. I got it out the 6 months ago and lawn cast it and was suprised how well I could cast with it. When i started flyfishing the lines were the the 3 letter designations. These lines cast fine but they were not any where as slippery or didn't float as high or as long as modern lines. I tied my first leaders out of spinning mono. There may have been tapered fly leadrs then but if there was I was'nt a where of them.
The internet while not directly a part of flyfishing has greatly lowered the learning curve of someone getting started as this site attests to
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Great article. I have also been reading a bunch of older flyfishing books recently and what always hits me as the "most profounds" advancement in the last 5 decades is the deep acceptance of the catch and release philosophy that flyfishers have accepted. I largely fish cane rods based on tapers that were old back then and reels that were made back then. While I am very glad to use modern lines, leaders, and tippets, I probably could still use silk and 1960 style nylon monofilament. I wouldn't like to but I could do it. But when I read those old stories about someone stalking a wild trout for days and then finally getting it to rise to a fly only to bonk it on the head to take back to the hotel for someone to cook for them - I just could not do it. A trout that could give me that much pleasure certainly is worth sharing with my fellow fishermen.
David
Dave,
I concur with your evaluation that sporting ethics have changed drastically over the last century or so. Our angling ancestors were as interested in filling their creel as they were in fooling a fish with something tied from fur and feathers. I also concur that I could still be using the rods, reels, lines and even leaders - silk lines, gut leaders, or even the spring-steel mono that we used when I started fly-fishing - and that I could still have a quality fly-fishing experience however, the one real advancement that has improved the overall fly-fishing experience is that thing we attach to the end of our fly line. I lose far fewer flies to the fish due to the increased breaking strength, I can land and release fish quicker because of this increased leader strength, I can present flies more naturally, and I can use smaller flies because I can obtain tippet material that is small enough to accomodate their use.
Hurray for catch and release, and Hallelujah for modern leader material.
Neil
Here, here. Thanks, Neil.
Kelly.
Loved the article. While I am a relative novice to this sport of fly fishing and don't have the perspective on some of the older leader construction materials I have extensively read about and experimented with the newer materials available. While I am not so fanatical about the delicacy of my tippets as some I am always interested in better ways to transfer the energy of my cast to the fly to get an efficient and accurate cast. Unfortunately for all their improvements the modern store bought leader is in many ways still the clumsiest link in our fly delivery system. Finding the right balance of stiffness and suppleness in the lengths of monofilament or flourocarbon wire we use remains a challenge. Add that to the fact that they all seem to suffer at least some issues with memory and this area of fly fishing is still open to much improvement. Recently I have begun hearing about a rebirth of an old technology -- furled leaders. As the source of taper with the older materials mentioned in this article they have been around for a long time. Combined with our modern materials they create leaders that are stronger and more delicate than any other leader I have tried to date. Beyond that any fly fisherman who is capable of tying their own flies can make custom make these leaders with very little investment of time or money. While the monofilament leader is a modern marvel the future of leaders is decidedly retro.