leader pile up

"Wayne Knight" wrote in message ...

[snip]

But if you have a small fly and a big tippet the
fly will not turn over and the leader will pile.

That's just the opposite of my experience. When I've tried to cast
a big fly with a small tippet, the tippet can't turn the fly over and
I get a leader pile. When my tippet is too big for the fly, it
overpowers the fly and rolls completely out before it slams the fly on
the water.

Take these hints into consideration with the stretching of the leader. If
the problem persists, change leader brands (for some reason I had this
problem consistently with the Orvis super strong brand of leaders and
tippet).

I've been gradually moving away from using Orvis for this very
reason. It seems to have more memory than some of the other brands.
Recently I've been using Maxima and I've been very pleased with it.

As for the issue of straightening the leader -- I've got one of
those "straighteners" but I hardly ever use it. I just stretch them
by hand by holding one end and running my other hand over it (to
generate a bit of friction) and then holding the leader stretched out
for a few seconds. Works great and you don't risk overheating the
leader and possibly damaging it.


Chuck Vance