Fly Fishing Leaders and
Tippets
Fly Fishing Leaders and Tippets
A “leader” is a length of tapered monofilament; the thick end is tied to the end of the fly line. The “tippet” is a
length of level monofilament, one end is tied to the thin end of the leader and the other end is tied to the fly.
The leaders are about nine feet long and transfer the power of the cast toward the fly. If the correct set up of
fly line, leader and tippet match, it helps land the fly land gently and precisely on the water. A bad leader
combination can be a nightmare to cast especially in windy conditions. This also depends on the skill of the
caster. Some leaders are longer and will depend on the type of fish you are after. For nymphing in clear calm
waters, for timid trout, a longer leader might be used.
Some anglers don’t buy the commercial leaders, but make their own They might use a couple of feet of heavy
fishing line, then join it to a bit lighter line and that to a smaller line, etc. It may have several sections of
different diameter lines joined together to make a tapering leader. A real art form and best left to the die hard
anglers.
A numbering system was designed to match the diameter of the end of the rod because this is the part that is
important. When looking for a leader the number system is backwards. The smaller the diameter the larger the
number. It makes it easy that the tippets are number the same way.A 6X leader will fit with a 6X tippet. An end of
the tippet is tied to the smaller end of the leader.
Sometimes when casting you will get knots that develop close to the end of your line. These knots are called
“wind knots". This may happen more on windy days and to the inexperienced anglers, although it also happens to the
best of us. The wind knots weaken the line. If the knots develop in the leader, and you can’t untangle them, it can
get expensive cutting off the knots, and annoying constantly changing flies. By tying on about 2 to 4 feet of
tippet material, you can save your leader. The tippet material is not expensive and when it gets too short, you can
just tie on a new length.
Have a few different spools of tippet strength on hand, so you can adapt to the fishing conditions. An example
could be you are using 6lb during the day. At night time you change to 8lb tippet, to allow for the extra snags and
wind knots you don't see. As well as for the possibility of bigger trout and less forgiving conditions at night.
The next morning you might change to 4lb tippet for calm still waters and spooky fish.
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