Leader Type

 There is a confusing array of leaders on the market today. As long as you pick a good-quality leader, it really does not make that much difference whether you buy a knotless tapered leader, a knotted leader, or a furled or braided leader. (Because the fishing qualities of braided leaders and furled leaders are very similar—despite what some people might tell you—I’ll treat them together, and from here on will just call them braided leaders.) Besides, you’ll spend ten bucks for the most expensive leader, and most run around four bucks each. Try different types and experiment until you find what works best for you. Ninety-five percent of fly fishers today use standard knotless tapered leaders, for everything from trout fishing in Maine to redfishing on the Texas Gulf Coast. They’re inexpensive, they don’t have a lot of knots to catch on weeds or coral, and they cast beautifully. You could spend the rest of your life fishing just knotless tapered leaders and be happy as a clam Knotted leaders don’t offer any advantages besides the fact that you can make your own and save a few pennies, and perhaps because you can experiment with different leader tapers if so inclined. But all those knots create potential weak spots; they catch on weeds and streamside brush, and in salt water, they can catch on pieces of coral or oyster shells, resulting in an instant parting of the ways. Still, many of us fished with them for decades and were quite happy with them until the knotless leader tapers got better

Braided leaders do offer some advantages in delicacy. Because they are so airresistant, they land softer than a monofilament leader. But perhaps that advantage is neutralized because they are more opaque and thus more visible to fish. They are also suppler than solid leaders, which theoretically makes your presentation better because they are closer in suppleness to fly lines, thus ensuring tighter, more accurate casting loops. They are also amazing at straightening a very long tippet—up to 5 or 6 feet, which is not easy with solid leaders. So, if you fish a lot of small trout flies in clear water over spooky trout, you might play around with these

Braided leaders do hold more water than solid leaders, and some anglers object to the spray they throw when casting, claiming it frightens trout. There are two ways to avoid this: either make a quick cast off to the side to flick off the water, or treat the braid with paste silicone fly floatant. One variety of braided leader is even sold already pretreated with a waterproof coating.

Should My Leader Float or Sink?

 The answer to this one is not as easy as you think. And to be honest, there is no right answer. When you are fishing wet flies like nymphs or streamers with a sinking line, it’s true that you want your leader to sink. Why else would you be using a sinking fly line? But when fishing floating flies, not everyone wants a leader that floats as high as a dry fly. If you cast a floating leader and look at the bottom of a shallow pool, you’ll see that the shadow of the leader casts a large blob on the bottom. It must be quite glaring to trout or other skittish fish, and thus some anglers go to great lengths to get at least the last few feet of their leader to sink, rubbing mud, clay, glycerin wetting agent, and other magic potions onto the leader. However, if you had an entire 9-foot leader that sunk, it would pull a tiny dry fly underwater after a short drift, and that’s not so great if the fish are rising to floating insects.

Also, when fishing a weighted nymph with a strike indicator (a small piece of yarn, cork, or foam that lets you see when a fish takes your fly unseen below the surface— in other words, a tiny bobber), if your leader pulls the strike indicator underwater, you’re defeating the purpose of using one. Luckily, braids can be left untreated to sink slowly or treated to float high. PVDF has a specific gravity of 1.76 (water is 1.00), so it sinks faster than nylon, which at 1.1 has almost neutral buoyancy. Nylon gets interesting, because if you rub on a little silicone fly paste (or even oil from your nose), it will float like a cork; yet if you rub it with toothpaste or clean it with alcohol, or use a commercial leader sinking agent, it will sink slowly.