Leaders for Nymphing

afishinado wrote:
Dale49 wrote:
Hi All,

Would appreciate your opinions on what type of leader to use while nymphing.

Currently I use a tapered leader. I fish with and without an indicator. When using an indicator with a tapered leader and a long lead, [color=CC0000]I feel that the heavier length of tapered leader does not allow the nymphs to sink properly and are is affected more by current that does not allow for an effective drift.[/color]

Can anyone share your leader techniques when nymphing with an indicator?

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Dale
Click to expand...

Dale, truer words have never been spoken.

IMO, the biggest mistake I see most FFers make is to move their indy up on leader and have the heavy diameter line below the indy preventing the flies from sinking and introducing drag. I've seen guys fish rigged like that with a gang of split on to get their 80lb test leader butt to sink, and dragging their fly through the current....if Moby **** hit their fly they probably wouldn't even know it.

There's a lot of ways to rig for nymphing. I've used many different ones over the years: extruded mono tapered leaders (aka "store bought"), knotted mono tapered leaders that I made myself, straight mono, "sighter" with both braided line and amnesia in front of leader and tippet, as well as some other ones I'm sure I've forgotten about.

I've settled on using the furled mono leaders I make for nymphing. They float well, I use paste floatant on them so they do not effect the drift and mend easily. Many of the furled leaders you buy can work well for you too.

I smear some strike putty on them at a few points to use as a sighter or you can incorporate some hi-vis mono into the leader. I tie in and average of 4 - 6' of tippet material to the leader and use the floating leader as my indy. If I use an actual floating indy, I attach it to the long thin diameter tippet and have tippet only between the indy and the flies. That allows my flies to sink quickly (using less weight) and with little or no drag on the flies.

I weight most of my flies and try to use as little split-shot or tungsten putty on my tippet as possible for sensitivity.

HTH.
Click to expand...

Sorry to add this whole quote, wasn't sure what to edit out but Afish, I add floatant to my curly But how and why use it on a leader when the point of nymphing is to sink the nymph. The leader helps send the nymph to the bottom along with tippet Are you using it as an indicator?. What type of leader with added floatant is most effective? Why not just use a dry dropper? The curly I use does add drag if you're not on top of it, but it seems easier to float. Do you think it does not tell you as much as a floated leader. These are just questions. Very interesting.

I've been nursing tennis elbow, I'm hoping to get back on the streams soon.
What leaders do you use floatant on and how deep and fast are you fishing it. Like I said I fish pretty small water, tippet only but I'm going to make my son take me to Penn State before college starts. I'd like one up on him.
 
wetnet wrote:
afishinado wrote:
Dale49 wrote:
Hi All,

Would appreciate your opinions on what type of leader to use while nymphing.

Currently I use a tapered leader. I fish with and without an indicator. When using an indicator with a tapered leader and a long lead, [color=CC0000]I feel that the heavier length of tapered leader does not allow the nymphs to sink properly and are is affected more by current that does not allow for an effective drift.[/color]

Can anyone share your leader techniques when nymphing with an indicator?

Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Dale
Click to expand...

Dale, truer words have never been spoken.

IMO, the biggest mistake I see most FFers make is to move their indy up on leader and have the heavy diameter line below the indy preventing the flies from sinking and introducing drag. I've seen guys fish rigged like that with a gang of split on to get their 80lb test leader butt to sink, and dragging their fly through the current....if Moby **** hit their fly they probably wouldn't even know it.

There's a lot of ways to rig for nymphing. I've used many different ones over the years: extruded mono tapered leaders (aka "store bought"), knotted mono tapered leaders that I made myself, straight mono, "sighter" with both braided line and amnesia in front of leader and tippet, as well as some other ones I'm sure I've forgotten about.

I've settled on using the furled mono leaders I make for nymphing. They float well, I use paste floatant on them so they do not effect the drift and mend easily. Many of the furled leaders you buy can work well for you too.

I smear some strike putty on them at a few points to use as a sighter or you can incorporate some hi-vis mono into the leader. I tie in and average of 4 - 6' of tippet material to the leader and use the floating leader as my indy. If I use an actual floating indy, I attach it to the long thin diameter tippet and have tippet only between the indy and the flies. That allows my flies to sink quickly (using less weight) and with little or no drag on the flies.

I weight most of my flies and try to use as little split-shot or tungsten putty on my tippet as possible for sensitivity.

HTH.
Click to expand...

Sorry to add this whole quote, wasn't sure what to edit out but Afish, I add floatant to my curly But how and why use it on a leader when the point of nymphing is to sink the nymph. The leader helps send the nymph to the bottom along with tippet Are you using it as an indicator?. What type of leader with added floatant is most effective? Why not just use a dry dropper? The curly I use does add drag if you're not on top of it, but it seems easier to float. Do you think it does not tell you as much as a floated leader. These are just questions. Very interesting.

I've been nursing tennis elbow, I'm hoping to get back on the streams soon.
What leaders do you use floatant on and how deep and fast are you fishing it. Like I said I fish pretty small water, tippet only but I'm going to make my son take me to Penn State before college starts. I'd like one up on him.
Click to expand...


Lynn,

As JD posted, I use my mono furled leader for nymphing (and dries). The end of my leader butt is my sighter (with some Strike Putty added for visibility). I gook up the whole leader butt with Muscilin. You can add a curly on the end if you wish. Anyway, the leader butt floats while the long tippet section sinks. Really much the same as the Euro rigs you fish, but with this rig, the change-over to fish dries is a simple matter of adjusting the tippet section.


 
Very good! I do not use furled leaders but I'm seeing it now and also I'm amazed about the creativity used in fly fishing. There are so many situations where you need to change things up and finding efficient ways to change from fast to slow, shallow to deep, and dry to wet or nymph, the less time you spend on the bank re-rigging means more time fishing.

Thanks for the explaination. Might have to get some furled leaders even though I usually just nymph because it's hopper season.

My son shared a story today about an ant. He floated an ant and a little trout came up from out of no where from deep in a pool and just wriggled so excited and looked at it. My son could see it the whole time and then it circled and came up under that ant and leaped clear out of the water. My son set when it went back down and ended up with no fish. He was surprised he missed it.

I told him even fish miss once in awhile.

So with all of our techniques, practice and high tech equipment we will always have one very good excuse. :-D
 
Anybody have a great leader formula for Salmon fishing. Or is the Mono, Swivel, Fluro the best leader for this type of fishing?
 
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah wrote:
Anybody have a great leader formula for Salmon fishing. Or is the Mono, Swivel, Fluro the best leader for this type of fishing?
Click to expand...

Yup. And pretty much required in the DSR.
 
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah wrote:
Anybody have a great leader formula for Salmon fishing. Or is the Mono, Swivel, Fluro the best leader for this type of fishing?
Click to expand...

Why would you need a leader formula for Salmon fishing? 5ft of mono with some lead a ft above the hook. Fish On!
 
You definitely need to design your nymph rig to meet your needs. The only reason to use a tapered leader is to help the flies extend after the cast. This isn't always that important if you are flip casting and making shorter casts. If you need to get down deep fast in heavy water you need to drop right down to the finer tippet right away. When we nymph the Missouri at high water we build a simple leader with about 2 feet of orange amnesia tied with a surgeon's knot to 8-10 feet of 2x maxima (more subtle) with a bunch of lead. Not glamorous but the only way to get the flies down deep in the current to where the trout are. heavier tapered leaders have too much surface area and are more affected by the current making it harder to get the flies down.
 
mcwillja wrote:
Mtangler,

Where did you get orange amnesia?
Click to expand...


Check on amazon.com. I just ordered some from them. I think mine is red, but it works nice.
 
I have and use red and chartreuse amnesia. I have never seen or heard of orange amnesia.
 
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