Tapered Leader Recipes

[Havtafish]

Ill start with putting some on for Dr Fly first. If your spools dont have dia on them youll need a set of micrometers to check them. I cut each section about 2 inches longer than the recipe which leaves you room to tie the blood knot. I do 3 turn blood for the butt  4 to 5 turn for mid section depending on how close to the tippet and a surgeons knot for attaching tippet. All measurments are in imperial .Heres two of my favorites which are both from Charles Ritz

Leader for plenty of slackline for fishing edges

11 ft    11" -.017   22" -.015  22"-.013  22"-.011  13"-.009  20".007          
          31"-.006(tippet)     Good for 14's 16's 18's

Good for delicate presentation

11ft     26"-.019  26"-.017  20"-.015  13"-.013  7"-.011  7"-.009  7"-.007
          26"-.006(tippet)     Same sizes

If theres a leader your looking for post it here and Ill see if I have something close.

[Wildfisher]

Havtafish,

One thing that strikes me about this is how thin your  butt section is. 0.17   maxima green  is only 4lb BS. Is this going directly onto the fly line? Am I reading  this right?

[Havtafish]

Its imperial(real measurement) :wink:  :lol:  Fred so its .017 which is .432 mm The .017 butt should be something between 17lbs - 13lbs depending on manufacturer and type ie flouro/co polymer.

[Wildfisher]

Its imperial(real measurement) :wink:  :lol:  Fred so its .017 which is .432 mm The .017 butt should be something between 17lbs - 13lbs depending on manufacturer and type ie flouro/co polymer.

OK, OK, so I can't catch Don trout OR read!   :lol:

[Havtafish]

Tying a bunch of these up tonight so i will post it.

10 FT

11"-.017  22"-.015  22"-.013  22"-.011  22"-.019  22"-.007

I know alot of guys who dont like the knots but they help keep the butt   stiff which help turnover. Even for downwind as Bob W was saying. As for stiffness of mono. I use Rio Saltwater Hard for the butt which is very stiff. I stay away from flouro as its to expensive for leader butt use. For mid taper I like Rio Max which is med stiff. Any nice soft material will do for the tippet. I use to love Dairiki Velvet but I cant find it here. Maxima is nice and really want to try that Stroft. Right now Im using Rio Powerflex or sometimes Rio Flouroflex Plus. In case your wondering my folks brought some over for me as it costs you your firstborn to buy it here. Same idea as Sage rods I guess ?600 for a rod. NOT.

[haresear]

Havta,

Seems like a lot of work to me, to achieve what you can now buy in tapered leaders.

I was a big Charles Ritz follower when "A Fly Fisher's Life" was out :oops: and was into the home-tied leaders then. But you couldn't buy a decent tapered leader back then.

I must say that for me, less knots = less weed/crap on the leader/cast

[Havtafish]

Its work but not that bad. Gets you really good at the knots. I like it because you can play around. AND for a good tapered leader Im running about 30p. Im not doing to save money mind you. Its like flytying. You get what you want how you want it. Certain satisfaction comes from it I find. Great for cold winter nights. I also love to put together my own rods. You get what you want. I hate snakes on a fly rod always have so I put titanium framed single Sic's on them. I spine them properly(not like alot of factory rods) less wraps and epoxy and you get more out of the rod. I guess its just to keep the mind active when theres no fish rising.

[haresear]

I guess its just to keep the mind active when theres no fish rising.

Think I'll start rolling my own too then, seeing as how there never seem to be any fish rising this season :cry:

Tomorrow looks promising though. It always does.

p.s. Not going to the Annan tomorrow as I had intended. Light northerly wind = upper Clyde.

[fredaevans]

God,, what 'over kill.' We hardcore PAC/Nor'Westerners just use the simple 60-20-20. 60% butt section, 20% half (or a tad less) half of that, and 20% 'tippet.'
Then again, we're chasing 'trout' that have spent a couple of years in the North Pacific.