Leaders

[MPW]

How long do leaders last for?

I keep repairing the bottom end,
but was wondering how long I should
do this for.

Some of the older ones (3 years)
seem to get "dried out" in the
butt end, are a little discolored
and dont want to straighten out.

Any help would be great.

------------------
**MW**

I think you answered you own question. The butt of a leader can last a long time. If it is Flourocarbon, it will last for years. Mono has a shorter life, but not a lot.

I have one butt section that I've used for several years. I just keep adding tippet and things are fine.

A leader should straighten out with just a slow, steady pull on the leader. If it doesn't, I'd get rid of it.

Ken

[Gardenfish]

if your casts get weird for no discernible reason, perhaps your leader is imbalanced. That recently happened with my 5wt; i replaced the leader and all was well. Too many knots and the wrong lengths of added material was the problem.

[Bill Blake]

3 years?! I go through leaders, even furled ones (if they get tangled bad enough during a hatch) like they are going out of style.

JC is right, life is short and IMO time is better spent fishing than untangling knots. Perhaps it's a bad habit I picked up from a guide friend of mine who finds that his time is better spent putting his clinents onto fish, but if something doesn't work right or is too much of a hassle I just put on a new one. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I furl my own leaders for about $.25 a piece.

[analogbob]

Geez, now I'm getting nostalgic for the old Cortland 2 piece leaders. They had a 5 and 1/2' tapered stiff nylon butt that stayed on the fly line more or less forever. When the season opened you attached a 4 and 1/2'limp nylon tapered tipsection down to 3x or 4x and adjusted the tippets throughout the season as needed. If the tip section got a little short, you replaced it and started over. The leader came with "twin tips," which gave it it's name. Unfortunately they lasted so long that Cortland couldn't make any money on them so they were discontinued. I always thought they were the greatest leaders ever made. Planned obsolescence, no?