Ultralite leader and tippet, how?

[mtshark]

Hi everyone,

I know we have ultralite Jedis here. I am asking for a little tips and tricks to the construction of ultralite leader and tippet as I would be wetting a fly soon. ;D

I remember clearly during my first encounter with a fly rod. My god brother gave me a crash course but left out the leader construction part. Then I flew to USA after a few casting practise. When I took out my fly rod and wanted to use it, I realised that I did not know how to construct a leader. I didnt have any factory tapered leaders but a few sizes of tippets which I did not know what is tippet for. I took out my Jingai and put on a 9ft 40lbs leader instead. (OMG) I couldnt cast and struggled tremendously and felt like an idiot. People were looking at me and I did make a fool of myself. I kept that fly rod in the closet since that day until I came back home to Singapore for holiday, I brought the fly rod along. Then I had a proper lesson about leaders contruction, particularly on 5wt and above.

Before I take out my new toy to play, I decided to ask for guidance here. I do not want history to repeat itself again as I remembered that I said I will not flyfish anymore... thank goodness that I didnt give up at all. Although I do not know much about anything of flyfishing during that time, I cant forget the day I battled several barramundis with a fly rod. That passion kept me going. That feel, that thrill, that rush... that adernaline in my blood... woooo....

Alright, I guess what I need to do is to ask. "Ask and you shall receive." Right? ;D

How many feet of leader should I employ using the Black Hole Harvest? How many lbs is ideal?

How long should the tippet be? How many lbs are recommended for size 14 flies or smaller flies too?

What should I look out for? Anything particular with the construction of the leader? Do you twist two mono into one? etc...

Thank you for your time and effort to read this thread and your answers will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much. Hope to fish you all soon too. ;D

[MatFly]

There's a very good article on leader construction at :
globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/

you might want to check the free s/ware as well.

[Qwek]

Hello mtshark,

I have try different line to leader connectors and had trouble with the line/leader connection hinging and hanging up. Eventually I found that the needle or nail knot was the best when using 3wt line and below. The needle knot is simpler to tie harder than the nail knot, even it take a longer time to construct but it is worth the effort. Try insert a 15 lbs mono into the end of of your flyline.

My leader set is usual one and a half time the rod length for 00wt to 3wt set up. I use a 3 section leader setup, each with a 3-4ft lenght of leader. A butt nailed to the flyline, here I used a Sunset Amnesia of 15 to 20 lbs strength. A mid section of 8 to 10 lbs strength and the tippet from 4 to 6 lbs. Depend of the flies I used, for #16-#20, I'll divide the last section into two and replaced the last tippet with a 5X line. That mean with a #16 or #18 fly, I'll have a 15 lbs butt, 10 lbs mid, the second last section a 6 lbs and follow by a 3 lb tippet.

If I'm using heavier fly later on, I just cut away the 3 lbs tipp and tie the fly to it. I also cut away the 6lbs tippet for heavier fly still.

I find the factory tapered leader (one-piece) was not suitable for UL, the butt is just too thick.

All the leader are tie with the Orvis knot; www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/index.html

To know more about ultralight flyfishing, visit Bill Byrds site: www.byrdultrafly.com/index.htm
Lots of articles on ultralight fishing.

Edwards, you are falling into the bottomless pit of ultralight. Well, ok just double O.

Have funs

Cheers
Qwek

[mtshark]

Hi Matfly and Qwek,

Thank you very much for the links. Great information! ;D

Thank you Qwek for summarizing your personal experience with ultralite leader. You have given me an insight about it.

Generally speaking, all leaders are almost identical in construction using a general formula. I think most people will stick with a 3 section construction rather than those which has more than 6 sections. I personally own a few hand tied leaders tied by Japanese in the early days and they actually took the pain to tie up more than 6 parts of it. The construction of the whole tapered leader is very clean and very efficient during energy transfer while casting. I dont use them now as I keep them for reference and as a collection too.

Of course when a demanding situation arises, a leader will get more complicated in construction. Flyfishermen are not just artists as physic (science) plays a big part in making up the leader for bigger games.

Flyfishermen are thinking anlgers.