Jo has made several posts on his personal leader setup. I really like the customization he has used to create a leader perfect for the techniques he uses. So I thought I would add another word on making your own leaders, but with more emphasis on how you can do it to keep costs low and still catch fish!
I do most of my fishing on your average, medium sized, stocked rivers. For these rivers I primarily use a 9 foot leader going down to 5x or occasionally 6x. But before I continue, lets just get one thing straight… leaders these days are a RIPOFF! I mean, you can easily spend $4 or $5 for a single 9 ft. 5x. leader these days. Which is why I make my own for way less…
To starts, go to your local Dicks Sporting Goods or Walmart (or probably many other similar stores) and get a small spool of South Bend line. They cost $1 each for 100 yards, and come in almost 4, 6, 8, and 10 pound line. Then, while you’re there, get a cheap spool of 15 or 20 pound line (or both). They sell them for $2-3 these days.
Basically, by investing about $7 in a few spools of line, you can tie hundreds of leaders fit for whatever situation you need. Here are a few formulas I use for my standard leaders…
- A 7.5 foot 5x leader is standard for most of the small streams I hit. I make them from…
- 3 feet of 15 lb. line > 2 feet of 10 lb. line > 1 foot of 6 lb. line > 1.5 feet of 4 lb. line
- Or… 4 feet of 15 lb. line > 2 feet of 8 lb. line > 2.5 feet of 4 lb. line
- An 8 foot 3x leader is my go-to for throwing streamers…
- 3 feet of 20 lb. line > 2 feet of 15 lb. line > 2 feet of 10 lb. line > 1 foot of 6 lb. line
- A 9 foot 6x leader is a standard nymphing leader for most (non-Swift) rivers…
- 2 feet of 15 lb. line > 2 feet of 10 lb. line > 2 feet of 6 lb. line > 1 foot of 4 lb. line > 2 feet of 6x tippet
- And I don’t fiwsh the Swift often, but when I used to, I used…
- 3 feet of 15 lb. line > 3 feet 10 lb. line > 2 feet 8 lb. line > 2 feet 6 lb. line > 1 foot 4 lb. line > 2 feet of 7x tippet
- These leaders aren’t exact… leaders ending in 4 lb. line aren’t actually quite the same as leaders ending in 5x tippet. Same with 6 lb. line and 3x tippet. There are slight differences in the pound line, but I don’t really care, because they still work for me.
- Every “>” represents a blood knot. If you don’t know how to tie one, check out the video below.
- These can be modified in any way – the ones I listed are what works for me.
Discover more from BlogFlyFish.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
This is great, Lance!