Hand Tied Leaders

[tdonnelly]

I need help in finding a formula(s) for 9 and 12 foot hand tied leaders for 3 and 4 wt. lines.
Thanks.
Tom D.

[DireWolf53]

This should get you started
https://globalflyfisher.com/leadercalc

[crowebeetle]

George Harvey tied his own leaders - he taught the first fly fishing course ever at Penn State.
Here his formula in an article: https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/ ... ula/152361

[thegubster]

George Harvey tied his own leaders - he taught the first fly fishing course ever at Penn State.
Here his formula in an article: https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/ ... ula/152361

Nice article. And the "Bill Steiger from St. Paul" mentioned at the end of the article posts here sometimes but not too often. Billy's a good guy...

[bob2935]

Once you use a well tied and proportioned hand made leader you will not return to those crappy one piece leaders. I like Maxima for everything but the tippets. My favorite formulas are from Harvey and Humphrey.

Bohemian Bob

[crowebeetle]

Harvey leaders can be purchased at https://www.flyfishersparadiseonline.co ... s/2040.htm

nymph and dry fly. No financial interest on my part. FFP has been in business for over 40 years and know the central Pa streams well. Good folks BTW they also do custom ties for a very reasonable price.

[Althehackleman]

I first learned about hand tied leaders from long time fly fishing guy, and bamboo maker John Long. He had a formula that he shore by and it did work for me for years. Then one day was chatting with a fishing buddy that tied his own leaders and we were comparing things a bit. He used a leader formula from Gary Borger’s book Presentation. I tried that formula, a lot easier than John’s, and loved it. It’s a three piece formula that ties up fast and easy. And I have adjusted it for longer and shorter leaders, from about 6 feet long to about 12 feet long. Check out the book and give it a try, you might like it too.

[waltryan1]

There is a good section on hand tied leaders in A. K. Best's "Fly Fishing with A. K." See pages 23 to 29. I have been using his leader formula since the early 1990's.

[Dave in Maine]

I use Mason hard mono and have not had to change a leader in more years than I care to count.

[billems]

I was surprised when George mentioned me in his article. I had been writing--remember writing letters on paper?--to him after having read his book, "Techniques of Trout Fishing and Fly Tying." I still use that formula. Others, too. Funny, but the newer "all soft mono" leaders George touted in the article cast horribly for me. About those leaders, George and Joe Humphreys used the old Dupont mono for the hard sections. They later switched to Masons, and did not use Maxima. I've used both to good effect, though Maxima is actually of thicker diameter than they indicate. Not big deal to me. Still works. Leaders are an obsession with me, so I'm always trying new approaches. AK Best's leader formula is a good one, too. If I was fishing the big waters of the West, I suspect I'd use Rene Harrops "Trouthunter" leaders or the hand tied formula it's based on.

[joaniebo]

I use the info from Oliver Kite's book "Nymph Fishing in Practice":

The dimensions / info shown in Kite's book are:

"4 ft 6 in of .016 in, 10 in of .012 in, 10 in of .009 in, 10 in of .008 in and 3 ft of .007 in.
Using continental nylon, I make up my normal cast as follows:
1.50 metres of 0.40 mm, 0.25 m of 0.32 mm, 0.25 m of 0.24 mm, 0.25 m of 0.18 mm and 1.00 m of 0.16 mm."

That being said, based on the Ultragreen available to me, I tie the leaders, as follows:
54 in -20 lb, 10 in of 12 lb, 10 in of 6 lb, 10 in of 5 lb and 36 in of 4 lb.

If I want lighter leaders, I use:
54 in -15 lb, 10 in of 8 lb, 10 in of 5 lb, 10 in of 4 lb and 36 in of 3 lb.

A small Perfection Loop is tied on the thickest section before tying on the next length.

Between the last two sections, I now tie in a tippet ring which makes it easy to change the tippet as it gets shorter as flies are replaced and I can tie in a short dropper tippet to tippet ring.

Bob

[waltryan1]

Here is another possibility that I use in warmwater ponds with lots of weeds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbcVaEe3RIs

[WiFlyFisher]

Ironically, I have been tying up some hand tied "contact" leaders this morning to test on a few freestone streams in northern Wisconsin (when we are allowed to travel safely). I am using some George Daniel's dynamic nymphing leader formulas along with a few of my own mods. First time trying the Rio two-tone indicator along with a tippet ring. I am not adding the tippet yet. I want to wait to get on the stream to see what the conditions are before deciding between 4x - 6x tippet. I also want to try two tippet rings and place a dropper pattern off of the second ring about 18" from the end fly pattern.

[Chuck441]

Since acquiring A.K. Best's book, I have only used his formulas. They have worked really well. YMMV, but give them a try.

Chuck

[Booman2]

I use only hand tied leaders using Maxima coupled to a softer mono tippet. I mike the Maxima and correct the diameters to 'actual'. Many good basic formulas out there. After a new leader is connected, I often shorten some sections or lengthen others to tune it the way the line/rod wants. The butt sections may last years and mine probably contain sections from several different 'improvements'.

[BackTheBrookie]

Gary Borger’s unibody formula is what I’ve been using for years. Maxima Chameleon and Rio Powerflex are my choice of material.

[DrLogik]

I got on to Harvey's philosophy on hard versus soft mono many years ago after reading about it. His formula can be used to make long leaders. For very long leaders I have modified to a 70/30 formula instead of the 60/40 ratio. The long leaders turn over better for me with a 70/30. He is spot-on about his tippet length thinking as well.

I am totally sold on soft mono for the butt and mid. Matter of fact I found a good supply of the Dai Riki Velvet mono years ago. I only have a little left now but wow do those leaders turn over, even my 16 foot "Holston" leaders. I now use mostly Chameleon instead though.

[DUCKMANNM]

I've fished hand tied leaders for many years! Only two drawbacks I've seen with them is picking up moss and crap with the knots, and, the trout hitting the knots on my leader instead of the fly I'm fishing/

[LeeO]

I use Borger uni-body http://www.garyborger.com/category/equi ... er-design/

[joaniebo]

Ironically, I have been tying up some hand tied "contact" leaders this morning to test on a few freestone streams in northern Wisconsin (when we are allowed to travel safely). I am using some George Daniel's dynamic nymphing leader formulas along with a few of my own mods. First time trying the Rio two-tone indicator along with a tippet ring. I am not adding the tippet yet. I want to wait to get on the stream to see what the conditions are before deciding between 4x - 6x tippet. I also want to try two tippet rings and place a dropper pattern off of the second ring about 18" from the end fly pattern.

John

Please read my above post again as I also fish the Cheese Country waters since we have "few" trout streams in Flatlandia. The leaders I tie (based on Oliver Kite's formula) have a 36" tippet as the last section. Between that last section and the previous section, I install a tippet ring. That way, I can have a 6" - 8" dropper tied onto the tippet ring and also the last 36" section. Doing this allows me to have two flies approx. 30" apart and less as I change the point fly. Cheers.

Bob