Vishnu
Active member
I am wanting to source a good all around leader kit. I am considering the Maxima, but not sure which one. Any help would be appreciated.
I have full sets of both Maxima Chameleon and Orvis Superstrong, but I'm not sure that they sell the Superstrong kits any longer.I am wanting to source a good all around leader kit. I am considering the Maxima, but not sure which one. Any help would be appreciated.
You're on track, although I'd skip the chameleon and just use ultra green. The term chameleon makes you think it'll blend in, but it's very dark brown. It may blend in when you're looking down on it and it's viewed against a dark bottom, but viewed from below I think it would be very visible, especially a heavy butt section.So Maxim Chameleon for Butt section and maybe Ultrgreen for mid section and something like trout hunter or rio tippet material? Am I one the right track here?
I've tied my all own leaders for nearly 30 years and it's definitely not cutting corners, it's actually taking your skills to another level.I agree wholeheartedly with that, but are you suggesting that by making your own leaders is cutting corners?
I am going to disagree a bit with Flav. I would stick with Maxima Chameleon and not the Ultragreen. Chameleon is NOT used because it "blends in" but rather because of it's stiffness. You will notice that in this complete leader from Maxima, they use the Chameleon for the butt and the supple Ultragreen for the tippet.
The butt section of a leader must match the diameter/stiffness profile of the end of the fly line. Usually there is a bit of a step down from the diameter of the fly line tip to the diameter of a leader butt. To compensate for the loss of mass, the thinner leader butt is stiffer so that it can transfer the forward momentum and energy of the cast into the leader. The reason Maxima Chameleon is used in many hand tied leader formulas is because it meets the requirements of stiffness needed for the butt AND transition sections.
As to the Maxima Ultragreen. I would not use it, I would use regular tippet material because regular tippet is clear AND stronger than Maxima Ultragreen if you buy the right material like Stroft.
When you are tying your own leaders, why tie them with material that is weaker than the strongest?
Flav is correct that the butt section of Chameleon would be more visible than clear mono. I think Ultragreen would also be more visible that clear mono. The important factor however, is that we should NOT be casting leader so the butt floats over the the surface feeding trout. We cast up and across so only the tippet floats over the fish. Or if we are directly behind the fish we cast with a right or left reach mend so the leader falls up and across.
"Maxima is the first and only to offer flyfishermen knotless tapered leaders with two different colors and their respective qualities fused into one. We have blended the stiffness of Chameleon in the butt section with the suppleness of Ultragreen in the tippet. The result is a tapered leader that rolls over better and lays out more smoothly then any other."
Maxima Chameleon Butt to Ultra Green Tippit
If you are a beginner, and your question suggests that you are, I want to caution you on building your own leaders.Silver,
Are you saying to use Chameleon for the butt section only? I ask because this whole leader, tippet thing really confuses me and I want to learn to tie some leaders over the winter to use next year.