Thomas, ...

I presume your 9ft leader is a knotless taper leader.

imho, ... many of the "store bought" tapered leaders don't have a stiff enough "butt". Line/leader don't turn over well, especially with those big flies.

I used to cheat, add 2-3 feet of heavy leader material (oh say Maxima 30 lb test), chop off 3-4 feet on the tippet end and tie directly on. Once the tippet end get cut back a bit, add on 1 - 1.5 ft of leader material in 6 lb test. Not pretty, but the fly leader/fly turn over more readily without slammin' the cast.


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Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
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