Leader Construction SBS

[Rip Tide]

Building a Tapered Leader | MidCurrent

“Today there are more choices than ever when it comes to tapered leaders and I think most people are content to use the manufactured, knot-less variety. But, as with fly tying, there’s a good bit of satisfaction and knowledge to be gained by building your own. I learned to tie tapered leaders when I purchased an Orvis leader-tying kit some 30 years ago. I keep the kit around for sentimental reasons and still use some of the leader formulas that came with it. Nowadays, you don’t have to buy a dedicated kit, although there are some available. You simply purchase spools of leader material in different diameters and tests, do a little web research to find some well-established formulas and then have at it.”

 

[dillon]

A very good video and I strongly agree with his closing statement. Even if purchasing a tapered leader one can greatly extend its life by blood knoting a tippet section, or better yet, the final 2 sections of the leader. For example purchase a leader with a 3x tippet and tie on a short piece of 4x, followed by a 3 to five foot 5x tippet. Long tippets are very important when dry fly fishing. He does a very nice d demonstration of constructing a blood knot. No tools or other crutches are nessesary if enough practice is done using this method. He also gives a nice formula for leader taper. However, again, after practice, you can easily estimate the length of each section and make adjustments if needed. We like the section before the tippet to be a little longer in case a new tippet section needs to be tied on. Thanks for sharing the video.

 

[mcnerney]

Paul
Thanks for sharing that excellent video on tying leaders.