Form follows function. A basic design concept. The function of a leader is to deliver the fly to a fish in a manner that the fish is not aware that its “food” is attached to anything.
If leader was not necessary to seperate the fisherman from his fly then a 6" leader would work great. Easiest to cast and turn over etc.
So here is how I look at it.
Factors that effect leader length.
Quarry - some fish are less leader shy than others
Size of the Body of Water - Small streams don’t need 15’ leaders.
Type of Fishing - Dry vs. nymphing. With dry fly fishing the line/leader sits on the water and reflects a shadow. You want more length to help hide the shadow of the line.
Water Depth- Shallow water limits the fish’s cone of vision so longer leaders are not necessary.
Water Clarity- Cloudy water has more sedement in it, reflects sunlight and hides a leader so that a fish is less likely to see it.
Water Velocity- Faster water gives a fish less time to examine the food as it is delivered before it. Therefore the need for those longer leaders becomes less necessary as a fish cannot sit and inspect the food and anything connected to it as the fish might if it were in a still water situation.
Fly Size - larger flies are more difficult to deliver with a longer leader. A practical if not ideal consideration.
Now that I have laid out many of the factors effecting leader length I will tell you that I almost always use a 9’ or 12’ leader for trout, a 6’ or 9’ leader for warm water and a 6’ leader for salt. Its the short one or if I know a good reason the long one.
In the over all formula for catching fish I say location (knowing where to fish) and presentation make 90% of the equation and everything else is 10%, making this discussion part of the 10% of fishing. In other words, don’t sweat over it alot.
as far as I can tell, the main function of a leader is to keep the splash of the line from spooking the fish…the spookier the fish, the longer the leader. thus, line weight and rod lenght does affect turnover.
Imagine furling an entire fly line, including the leader. A three weight line would have a shorter leader section than an eight weght because the 3 weight would land more gently upon the water than the eight weight. the eight weight would be able to turn over the longer leader section because it has more avalible energy to transfer.
Rod size affects line speed…a longer rod can cause the line to travel faster than a short rod (this assumes the same amount of work is supplied by the caster),thus a longer rod will put more energy into the system facilitating longer leader turnover.
so,the long and the short of it is, it requires more work on the part of the caster to turn over long leaders with short rods bearing light line weights than it does to use long rods with heavier line weights. the caster must supply more energy because it doesnt transfer as efficently as it does with a heavier, longer set-up.
I am relatively new to fly fishing but I will enter this discussion and JC if I am all wet tell me.
In fly fishing we cast the weight of the line we all know that and most of us know how the energy of the line is best used for casting, and the transferring of that energy to the leader, tippet, and fly. That being said the length of the rod does not play a factor here, but the weight of the line does.
The leader is comprimised of a butt and belly which should be approximately 60%/ 20%. Once this is done you can fine tune to meet your needs. If the butt is to heavy or to light it will not transfer the energy to the tippet and fly at full effectiveness. I refer you to this web site http://www.flyfishusa.com/tackle-tips/l … aders.html
It is my expressed position that the length of the leader is not of importance with no fish present. The length would only come into play with fish present, type of water, style of fishing (warm water, still water, spring creek, river). Just my 2 cents worth here and like I said if I am all wet tell me I really don’t mind it will help me learn more
We do?? Longer rods have more leverage and are therefore harder to stop. By your logic a 20’ rod would throw even further than a 10’ rod. No make that 30’…
I think its a question of matching a rod to the user.
How long should a leader be? Long enough to reach the fish.
(Credit given to lanky Abraham Lincoln who, when teasingly asked. “How long should a man’s legs be?” responded by saying, “Long enough to reach the ground.”)
I find the shorter and stiffer the leader the easier it is to turn over the fly. Less energy is lost from the flyline so there is more energy to turn the fly over. My setup lately has been a 330 grain line with leaders of 2ft of 30lb braided mono looped to 3-6 feet of 30lb hard mono depending on how many dropper flies I use. Casting into the wind and surf I need a leader that will turn over two to three streamers without too much effort. I also like to keep my leaders shorter than the rod because getting those knots out the tip to cast can be a real pain.
All those fish up in your neck of the woods are used to the fancy leaders from the Mad River, Sugarbush crowd so when they see your leader they will surely be surprised. Good strategy. Several years ago I fished the Cold River and enjoyed it. The Winooski too, up near Cabot but I have left the Winooski alone since the spill from the creamery caused a big die off. Figured it would be nice to give the fish time to recover without any extra pressure.
Snide answer to the question how long… Long enough for the leader to reach all the way back to your line.
Guess I’ll have to get my two cents in.
I have found in my 74 years on this planet that there is no such thing as perfection. For every plus there is a minus. For example, a shorter leader will turn over a fly better than a longer one with the same taper. But…
It’ll drag quicker and is not as stealthy as a longer leader. Plus and minus. That’s what makes flyfishing so much fun. We are constantly required to adjust our tackle and our thinking to meet the situation at hand. When we can do it we usually win but… The same thing will not work in every situation. That killer fly you were using yesterday may not get a look today.
JC, My answer is: “It depends"or “sometimes” or Maybe”
There have been a lot of good answers to this question!
Well, I also use made up Berkley mono leaders. Sometimes mono off a Trilene spool and sometimes mono off a Berkley Specialist tippet material spool. I go with 9ft. leaders mostly on my warm water outfits. A 5ft./8lb.test butt section to a 4ft./6lb.test tippet section on my 4wt. and will do the same on my 5wt. A 5ft./12lb. test butt section to a 4ft./8lb.test tippet section on my 7wt. These leaders give me sort of a tapered knotted leader that lays over well. I’ve heard some folks say one and one half times the rod length for their leaders but I have not tried that yet.
Lots of interesting comments in this thread - but (probably along with ducksterman) I’m still waiting for a clear answer to JC’s original question… is there one?
OK, not that I think that I can enlighten anyone, but I have been trying to figure this out, and reading various things, so let’s test my understandinig.
Leader length seems to be a product of line weight, fly size, fly type, water type, target species, and personal preference. There is no one real answer, no hard and fast rules, just a lot of general guidelines.
It appears that the Butt End Diameter (BED) of the leader should be about 60% of the Fly Line Diameter (FLD), and because various leader formulas start with different BED, I will assume (not having measured any) that there are variations in FLD, at least in comparing a 6WT to a 4WT for example. Fly size divided by 3 equals tippet size. I keep seeing that guideline. Is a smaller fly more easily affected by drag, therefore requiring a finer tippet? I think so, and the need to step down to a finer tippet (while still turning the fly over with good presentation) will affect the leader length. Fly type … are you going to chuck heavy flies, like Clouser Minnows, with the same leader that you use for midges? Water type. Do you need the long, drag free drifts of long leaders? Can you make short casts with a long leader and very little fly line past the tip top? Is your target species prone towards being leader shy? How about size (of the species)? How fine of tippet are you comfortable using when you hook that 24" brown? Finally, is trying to cast a 12-14 leader with a 6 ft. rod your idea of having fun?
To quote a gentleman who has been very sharing of his knowledge, “So there is always an exception and each fly fisher develops his own approach.”
Some hard and fast rules would be nice every once in a while.
I went out with three rods and 3 leader sizes. I used a 9ft 8wt, 8.5ft 5wt, and a 6ft 3wt. I used a small piece of yarn on each leader and tried them on each rod. I found the the five wt was best with a 9ft leader, 8wt with a 7.5ft leader and a 6ft for the 3wt. Unfortunately the rods all have a little different action. in increasing speed it goes 5wt - 3wt - 8wt. I think the 5wt is likely biased because I fish with that rod 9 out of 10 times. Here is a summary of my opinions (1st - 2nd - 3rd):
I don’t know if this speaks to the best set up, but it is what I liked the best on the rods and leaders I used.
Hope this addresses the question,
Adam
P.S. I think this is hard because there are so many variables (rod length,weight and action, leader butt diameter and suppleness, tippet diameter, fly size and weight), and these don’t even begin to consider all of the possibilities like wind, temperature, precip. The list could go on and on.
