Leader construction

[MichaelL]

After a few more lessons, Im almost ready to start fishing, before I do, I've a question on leader construction:

For Salt, Im using : I have about 3ft of 22lb Seaguar flurocarbon needle knotted to the fly line, with a perfection look at the end. I then attach straight flurocarbon (9-12ft) for attaching some big "flies" - usually 15lb. Would the same setup be ok for Salmon leader? I generally only use tapered leaders for trout dry-fly setup. Its a hinderance for nymphing and I can see the point when lure fishing (sea) or Salmon fishing...

[MichaelL]

graham said:

That should be fine for floating line work. With a sinking line or sink tip you only need a leader of 3 to 6 feet.

great, thanks for the info.

[charlieh]

Michael, the only thing I'd add is to urge you to look at the diameter of the leader material, and to be sure it matches your fly size. This is particularly important with fluorocarbon which is obviously much thinner for the same given test.

You mention using 15lb fluoro. 15.4lb Seaguar is only .28mm diameter (equivalent to about 9lb test in conventional mono). I think that might well be too light to carry, say, a size 6 double hook or a 1" metal tube (let alone a 1/0 sea hook). I believe that fishing a heavy fly on thin nylon can cause hingeing, which must create a weak spot. Even though fluorocarbon is generally a bit stiffer than conventional nylon of similar diameter, I wouldn't go as light as .28mm if I could avoid it.

I suspect this may be the reason for some breakages when using fluoro. If you look at this recent thread on leader material: salmosalar.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=lines&action=display&thread=1142876511, you will see that, for example, fishingd0 mentioned using 11lb Sportfish fluoro. Although on the face of it this sounds strong enough, it has a diameter of only .26mm. I wouldn't choose to use that with anything except the very smallest salmon flies - I just don't think it has the stiffness required to carry a large hook.

For many salmon fishers, 12lb Maxima is the standard mono for floating line use, and they wouldn't go lighter unless the water was very low and tiny flies were the order of the day. 12lb Maxima is .32mm diameter, so if you're using Seaguar the nearest equivalent is their 19lb (.33mm diameter).

[MichaelL]

charlieh said:

Michael, the only thing I'd add is to urge you to look at the diameter of the leader material, and to be sure it matches your fly size. This is particularly important with fluorocarbon which is obviously much thinner for the same given test.

You mention using 15lb fluoro. 15.4lb Seaguar is only .28mm diameter (equivalent to about 9lb test in conventional mono). I think that might well be too light to carry, say, a size 6 double hook or a 1" metal tube (let alone a 1/0 sea hook). I believe that fishing a heavy fly on thin nylon can cause hingeing, which must create a weak spot. Even though fluorocarbon is generally a bit stiffer than conventional nylon of similar diameter, I wouldn't go as light as .28mm if I could avoid it.

I suspect this may be the reason for some breakages when using fluoro. If you look at this recent thread on leader material: salmosalar.proboards80.com/index.cgi?board=lines&action=display&thread=1142876511, you will see that, for example, fishingd0 mentioned using 11lb Sportfish fluoro. Although on the face of it this sounds strong enough, it has a diameter of only .26mm. I wouldn't choose to use that with anything except the very smallest salmon flies - I just don't think it has the stiffness required to carry a large hook.

For many salmon fishers, 12lb Maxima is the standard mono for floating line use, and they wouldn't go lighter unless the water was very low and tiny flies were the order of the day. 12lb Maxima is .32mm diameter, so if you're using Seaguar the nearest equivalent is their 19lb (.33mm diameter).

Thanks I'll take a look at that thread. The one problem I've had with my line is nail knotting ... I managed to strip about 1-2" off the end of my fly line when I tightened the knot. May have to use a braided loop, but I'll go through that thread.

[lauri]

what about making the loop from the braided core of the flyline? i have used it lately and can't complain - not too hard to make and works well.

lauri

[MichaelL]

lauri said:

what about making the loop from the braided core of the flyline? i have used it lately and can't complain - not too hard to make and works well.

lauri

Yes, I finally went with that soln. For my trout lines I've needle knotted but for some reason the line I have, I kept on managing to strip the line off the core. Havig a loop, I suppose that gives me some flexibility re: poly leaders...