Length of Tippet

[troutslayer]

With a 7 1/2 ft leader, how far up do you tie on a new piece of tippet when you have tied a number of different flies and the leader starts getting too short?

[Frank Whiton]

Hi troutslayer,

The tippet on the leader is the same size until you come to the transition where it tapers up into the leader. You want to tie on the new tippet before the leader tippet gets too short that you don't have enough tippet left to tie the new tippet on. The best way to do this is with a tool that measures the leader diameter. With a gauge you can take a new leader and measure from the tippet end until you see it getting larger. This will tell you how much tippet you have on the leader. I have used my Mike-Rite gauge for years and it is as good as new. They cost about $20.




Mike-Rite Leader Gauge.



Fish Pond Leader Gauge

[troutslayer]

Thanks Frank, I'll pick one up soon.

[BigCliff]

I just use the armspan length measurement. For me thats basically 6' (thanks to gorilla arms on a stumpy guy) and go from there. For instance, if I'm within the 6-7' range, I tie on roughly 3' of leader to get me back to the 9' leader that i started with.

Not very precise, but is suits me fine.