Long tapered leaders

"rw" wrote


OK, an advantage in having a transition to a softer-grade section is at
least plausible.



For the nearly nothing it's worth, I've given "Harvey Style" knotted leaders
serious testing over the years.

They are very nice casting ( dry fly 'techy water' ) but I've given up on
them. The bad side effects of all those knots outweighs the slightly
better casting ... for me ... the worst bad effects revolve mainly around
knots picking up weed ( always a problem after early season in fertile
creeks, sometimes THE problem on HFork with its heavy growths combined with
varying, dam controlled flows )


IMHO, anybody with a serious interest in fishing dry flies to very picky
fish should give a leader with a thin butt, long taper and long tippet (
basic idea of the Harvey leader ) a solid try, if only to make an educated
decision to not use them. Historically they are what is considered best
for this type of angling.


My current leader choice for, say, Silver Creek .... starts as a RIO 7.5'
3X .... I mike it and cut it off about half the 3X I tie a tippet
ring to the 3X and add tippet to suit the day. Anything from 3X to
6X works ok tied directly to the ring ( with appropriate fly ) ... 7X works
best if you make a compound tippet 5 then 7X .... my 'average' tippet is
going to run very nearly 3 feet and thus the leader is about 9 to 10.5 feet
as fished ( always balance tippet to the fly being used with some test casts
.... if you can't turn over the fly well when trying to, thicker or shorter,
..... if a gentle effort to pile slack straightens out anyway .. thinner or
longer )


I DO use a knotted leader ( a special formula very diiferent than
Harveys ) .. to use with there is high wind ( and not on my 4wt rod that I
use most often ) ... and my 'nymphing only' 6wt has a knotted leader I got
from a Borger book hat lobs lead and bobber well but still has a thin tippet
for fast sinking


On the waters I most enjoy I consider the leader and the line to be the most
important tackle items ... I don't need a fancy rod, but I feel severely
handicapped with a poor choice in either of those ( and almost always
pattern is more important than 'presentation school' anglers are willing to
believe :-)