What I wish I knew about Leaders & Tippets. A beginner's guide.
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
- Chris Niccolls from Bow River Troutfitters shows you the basics of leader design. New anglers need a good understanding of leader diameters, and lengths, as well as the tippet we use to attach our flies.
You can find all the terminal tackle you need at bowrivertroutfitters.com 
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You are the best at explaining all of fly fishing on all of RUclips. Thank you so much for your clear and thoughtful explanation.
I have been watching Chris' videos on cameras for years. Now I found this and am happy cuz. I retired from photography and took up fly fishing in the PNW. Subscribed.
Wow. Not scripted…off the cuff knowledge. Amazing, thanks.
D.
Chris! What the heck? I thought this thumbnail was a joke! Go figure my two favorite things are cameras and fishin' so I was super confused when i saw the thumb. Obviously, your talents in communication are interdisciplinary. Man sorry bro cause i know your pain having two passions fly fishing and photography. You will be broke like me forever!! LOL cheers. new sub so see ya again soon. keep um coming and tight lines.
Chris needs money, please send some email transfers. And big thanks for watching our vids!
Ha! That was exactly my reaction when I saw these!
Oh, thank you. No one could explain this to me in a way that made any kind of sense.
as a long time photographer, just getting into flyfishing. Seeing you here felt like a crossover episode. Thanks for always keeping me informed on all my hobbies now.
Thought I was losing my mind for a minute when i saw the thumbnail lol. Pretty wild.
Ha, I knew it was the same guy. 🙂
As a non fly-fishing angler, leaders and tippets were always confusing to me, thank you for clearing that!
It's a pretty complex system. I'm happy that we could demystify some of that for you. Thanks for the feedback!
Now I understand tippets and leaders. Thanks. Great video.
This guy is amazing! I knew nothing about fly fishing a few hours ago…binge watched a bunch of his stuff and he just does such a great job of not only explaining stuff in a very easy to understand manner but also backs it up with such an immense knowledge that shows through.
Great job! 😀
Wow, thanks! I really appreciate that! We will continue to put out educational content for you!
Wow so much knowledge about such a simple product. Blown away by your presentation here. Got a lot more information than I was originally searching for and I'm better because of it.
Great to see Chris in this role. I usually watch him on DPReview's channel, but knew he was a flyfisher :-) Great information here aswell
Thank you I thought I knew the face
I've been searching about fly fishing for beginners for a while now an i must say you have been super informative about what i need, i just wish your shop was here in Ireland lol i wouldn't shop anywhere else. your defiantly opening my eyes with info , cheers mate, im subscribed
Man, here I watched a few of your videos and I kept thinking to myself, I swear this looks just like that camera gear guy.
I'm a relatively new(about a year in), self taught fly fisher and this was immensely helpful! Thanks for this information, it never dawned on me to choose my leader based on the flies I was likely to be using.
Glad we could help you out! Feel free to let us know any questions you have coming up.
Super explanation of the various leaders and the importance of getting the size and length right
Just found your channel, I am in Washington State, but love fishing Salmon and Steelhead. I decided after decades of tying flies I probably should learn to fly fish and you have been a great source for understanding gear, thank you.
Welcome to fly fishing! We appreciate the support and are happy that you are getting something out of our content.
I never thought to replace the tip 😕 that would have been great to know about. Maybe I'll give it another go
Just found your videos….such great info and helpful for us newbies! Thanks so much
Awesome video and thank you for all the tips 👍👍
Extremely useful and concise! Thank you!
Fantastic video. I would like to add something. How to select what size leader to get? When you need a 0x, 1x, 2x,..7x?
As a general rule base it on fly size. If you are throwing a size 12 for example. Simplest way is to divide by 3 or 4. Both we get you close. So, for a size 12 fly use a 4x or 5x leader. For a size 6 hook use a 2x leader. Last example, size 16 hook use a 5x or 4x in a pinch.
This is an awesome video!!! Super helpful!
Haha - I also happen to be into photography and seeing you in a different context is quite interesting. Small world.
I'm glad you're finding us within this small world Angelo!
Excellent video, very informative and helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for getting back to us, we appreciate the kind words!
Great videos Chris. Keep em coming!
Thanks! Will do!
Great video, glad I found this channel! Subbed.
Awesome, thank you!
For anyone that's starting out. I recommend you don't waste your money on tapered leaders and tippet. I've fly fished for many years and I've always just bought large spools of mono and fleuro and made knotted leaders. Just Google "knotted leader formula" and you're good to go for years.
Awesome video. Thank you this helped a lot 😊
That's all we want to hear! Glad we could help you out.
Thank you again, Chris! 🎣
Incredible overview. Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
Brilliant video, thank you!
Good video, I usually have success getting fluorocarbon to float by running some floatant on it.
Great content, appreciate it.
Very informative as usual. I always learn something from these.
And thank you for always checking out our stuff, and being so supportive. We really appreciate it!
Whoa! Just watched that sweet dry fly action that you got into on your channel. Great stuff Johan! Our local rivers here have been good to us, but they don't look that pretty yet.
@Bow River Troutfitters awesome, thanks, much appreciated. We are very spoilt with the fishing we have in New Zealand. If you ever get the chance, definitely come visit. I'm always happy to help get you onto some fish, too.
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary I'll keep doing so, your videos are really informative and well presented. I know just how much work and passion goes into achieving that. Keep it up.
Good presentation 👍
Wicked helpful for this newbie!
Glad it was helpful!
Didn't expect to see you here bro.
Good informative and constructive content……
Shut the front door, it's the camera guy! I'm 1/2 expecting to see Jordan. :-)
Great tutorial thanka
We really appreciate the feedback! Glad it helped you out.
I've just started to get into fly fishing , but the whole thing leader's to line and line to tippet confused the crap out of me ?! Lol !
nice video, thx for some knowleage
Very good channel
Thank you very much!
Seems like fly fishing is designed to be confusing to beginners.
Thanks for breaking this down
Hey its to guy that usally review cameras on youtube. Cool.
I struggle so much with my casting! Very often I am catching trees, shrubs and grass, it’s very hard to get my fly where I want, and I usually just make a pile of line 15 feet in front of me!
More Wrist action, don't go past 10 and 2 in any direction, and your casts just need to transfer energy not whipping the fly through the air, enough movement to get tension then flick
No way you're here too!! Camera and fishing. We would be good buddies.
I'd be your buddy! Thanks for watching me on both channels!
Thanks for the video. Do you have any videos on how to cleanly attach the tippet to the leader?
So the classic way has been to do double or even triple surgeons knots, but unless you line up the turns perfectly they often fail. We usually use a blood knot or double Uni knot. Look those up and give them a try.
So I’ve got a standard 8’9 5 wt fly rod that I got to fly fish poppers for bluegill, what length and X size leader should I get. I’m coming the conventional fishing / bass fishing world, so I’m still learning all the terminology and techniques.
Poppers and bass flies are generally on the larger size so make sure you go with a stouter leader. 9' is good but try around a 2X to really turn those flies over. If you are fishing smaller flies like hoppers and stimulators you can pop down to a 3X. Remember its all about matching the leader rating to the size of flies.
I need to find a clinic to attend.
I'm a newish/amateur mostly self-taught and like a golf swing, I need to go get some instruction to iron out some kinks.
So frustrating to try and cast and then this big mess lands right in front of the rod and not this beautiful presentation out on to the water...ugh
Fuji and fly fishing 🍻
If fluorocarbon sinks & is intended for nymphing, what leader material should be used for dry fly fishing ? TYVM for the helpful information !
Typically we use standard nylon mono for fishing dries. Anywhere from 3X for big foam flies, to 5X for small midges and dries. On really clear, and still streams we might even go down to 6X. There is actually something to be said for using thin fluoro for dries though. Because it sinks slightly sometimes its actually less visible to picky fish than the tell tale line on the surface of the water that floating mono causes.
I don't quite understand the following: you replace, say, 5 or six flies and your leader gets shorter. Then I have to replace the entire leader, don't I? Since the leader is tapered, if you halve the leader, you can't put a piece on it, can you? After all, you don't know the diameter at the place where the leader has to be replaced..... Thanks for helping!!!
Certainly the Leader won't have the exact same taper, nor will it be as perfectly tapered. However it will still transfer energy just fine. On most leaders as well the last few feet are uniform in their thickness so replacing it with the appropriate tippet will turn over flies and present them just fine. In fact many anglers even prefer to make their own tapered leaders by tying subsequently thinner sections and they also work well. Long story short, don't worry too much about rebuilding leaders. They will work just fine, and they are intended to be rebuilt until you feel that they are too worn and need to be replaced.
What is the url for the entire video presentation on beginning fly fishing .
Thanks
Sclott
New at fly fishing. Will fish for Brook, Brown and rainbow trout of a fairy large river. I have a 5/6 reel and 6 rod 9'. Probable dry flies and maybe nymphs. What is the best all around combination for a leader and tippet? One thing I might be missing - do I really need a tippet or is a tippet just used for an extension of your leader? Thanks
I would say for a larger river it’s gonna be a smattering of everything, flies wise. So probably a few leaders from 2X to 4X. That should cover you for a range of flies. Tippet is still a good idea. Technically you wouldn’t need it, assuming that you don’t break off, or change flies at all, or put knots in your leader. However, as a beginner you’re likely going to break off, put knots in your leader, and change flies often, so you should have matching tippet to replace worn and damaged sections of your leader.
Thank you fir replying back. That helps and hopefully get better at my casting.
what knot do you use? double suregon? to tie more on
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary
Question - so if you can get a powerflex plus leader that is greater breaking strain and is same diameter (therefore weight) as the non plus version why would i want to use the lesser leader as surely i am getting all the benefits of the extra strength but with none of the down-sides ?? Thx
Great question! The new Powerflex Plus lines are an excellent product and do offer stronger breaking strength. I will say though that the classic Powerflex tippet is more supple and stretches more. So long story, short. I like Plus when I'm doing something like nymphing or streamer fishing where the lack of stretch gives more responsive hook sets, but I use a lot of the classic powerflex now because I like the way it presents dry flies. It tends to go with the flow and prevent drag, and the stretchiness protects lighter tippets from breaking so I find it almost as strong when that is factored in.
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary Did think of one flaw in my plan above - if your tippet is stronger than your leader, even though the diameter is smaller per strength, then any breakage will be at the leader and not the tippet, then if you upgrade the leader to compensate you are adding more weight as the leader still needs to be tapered, so :(
Hey Chris on the “airflo trout polyleader floating line 8” 7x “ do I have to add a tippet when putting just a dry fly on it or can I go without the tippet? Really needed some help on this. Thanks bud
If you are referring to the floating polyleaders, they are generally 5 to 10 feet long. You absolutely need to add on a few feet of tippet to the end before it gets to your fly. When I use those I like to tie on a metal tippet ring to the end of the poly leader. Then I have a "permanent" ring to tie my tippet to. In the case of the 5ft leaders you generally want to get them to that 9 ft range. So I might tie a couple feet of heavier tippet followed by a couple feet of the next X rating up, and then my fly.
What do you suggest if iam fishing in clear water Lapland (Finland in a river ) with a super tinsel and muddler and other bigger streamers and i have a 9'6"7# streamer rod. Length and thickness of the leader/polyleader? And what about polyleaders?
We aren't super familiar with Scandinavian fishing, however I imagine you are targeting Brown Trout and Grayling. Here in Calgary we will tend to use sink tip leaders or integrated sink tip lines, choosing a sink rate to get to the right depth for the holes we are fishing. Generally a Sink rate of 3 to 4 inches per second, and a second that goes 5 to 6 ips would be about right. From that we just tie on straight tippet usually pretty heavy, like 1X or 2X, but if the water is clear where you are I suppose lighter would work.
Shorter leader is better for nymphs since it will have less surface area and surface tension and will sink better. I personally like tying up my own leaders with blood knots, I can customize each section and create a better casting leader.
Any thoughts on the Rio Indicator Leader for indicator fishing heavy 2-fly nymph rigs on big rivers? What tippet material (mono, fluorocarbon) should be used to rebuild these as they get shorter? THANKS.
I would say that the indicator leaders are more suited to nymphing without a floating indicator. Definitely useful for euro style high-stick nymphing where you can use them to gauge depth. You can also use them to cast out across to fish and watch the high-vis leader itself move or tug when a fish strikes without needing a bobber. But for heavy 2 fly rigs I would stick to a good indicator and just using standard leader material. I tend to use fluorocarbon but sometimes I just use cheap 8lb maxima too. Anyways, if you are using the Rio indicator leaders the bottom portion that goes to the fly isn't orange so you just replace it with a standard tippet when it gets shorter. You can buy indicator two-tone tippet if you want to make your own as well, or for euro nymphing.
Thanks and makes sense. Very appreciative of the answer@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary
Would it be a bad idea to attach 5x tippet to a 1x leader if that's all I have on hand?
Unfortunately it will throw off the transfer of energy and result in a poor presentation of the fly. If you are using a heavier fly it will simply pile up and collapse onto the water. If using a lightweight it will not land nicely on the water most likely.
Suppose 1 thing that can be used to stop the leader getting shorter and shorter is a tippet ring?
It certainly gives you a starting point to always retie your tippet from. Until the mono connecting the leader to the tippet ring wears out its an awesome solution.
Still don’t get why I’d need either, the difference between both, and when I use one over the other.
Sorry, do you mean the difference between leaders and tippet. If so leaders are tapered which means they start out thicker and taper down to the given X rating on the package. Tippet on the other hand is not tapered but uniformly thick for a given X rating. Typically we use leaders pre made or tie our own, the tippet is simply used to replace worn out or cut away sections of the leader or to extend the length of an existing leader.
Chris that’s a weird looking camera you have there
I'm just starting flying fishing this winter and trying to learn. if I'm fishing for steelhead/salmon in a river that ranges from 5-30ft and sometimes fast and slow current from a boat/bank with an 8wt rod what line should i get to get my gear down I'm trying to use wet flies and get 'em deep and think ill try and use a strike indicator. but i dont know what line to get.
If you're going to use nymphs with an indicator or a sink tip with streamers then I would just get one of the flylines that are made specifically for salmon/steelhead. They are floating lines but designed to turn over heavy bugs and they have strong cores to land big fish. You want something with a fairly short head and an aggressive taper. For nymphing you'll just want to use a normal length leader but for swinging flies get a sink tip that goes down around 6 inches per second. Big upstream mend and get it down there. Alternatively you can use a flyline with an integrated sink tip like a Rio Predator or Airflo Streamer Max Long, but you cant use those with an indicator for nymphing.
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary thank you for getting back to me, I've been looking and i think for swinging big nymphs/streamers i was thinking of getting the Jim teeny t-300. for fishing in buckets that could be anywhere from 10-20 feet deep. would that be good or maybe what you suggested?
What’s best for a 5-6 wt rod
Wait. Is this the same dude that does the camera reviews?!?!?
What about when you get to the river and all the nylon leader and tippet you have are rotten from seeing the sun for a few minutes ? Doesn’t florocarbon save your lines from the sun?
It does pay to replace your nylon monofilament every season or two but UV rays won't destroy it within a few minutes. Nylon can take hours of sunlight without much damage. The key thing is to store them away from sunlight and heat when you aren't fishing them and check them periodically to make sure they are still strong. Fluorocarbon is certainly very resistant to UV although it does take way longer to break down in the environment so it's imperative with any mono that you pack it out properly.
You can use a regular mono? The tip is too thin?
Standard mono can be used for tippet material but the difficulty is the lack of standardization with the "X" rating. Therefore you would have to carefully look at the actual diameter of the mono and make sure it tapers properly with your fly leaders. If its just straight mono needed for streamers or nymphs where taper isn't as important you can absolutely use good old fashioned fishing lines.
Could you just use regular fishing line a s a leader and tippet?
You absolutely can, however it can be harder to match up the diameters when you don’t have a simple X rating to follow. But as long as you get the energy transfer to work properly your good to go. The only other issue is that tippet is often sold on easy to carry and compact spools, whereas standard mono is usually on large unwieldy spools.
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary hhhmmm I guess I could try and match it up and maybe send you the info? Might be an interesting subject
That's all I use. I usually buy large spools of 10, 8, 6, and 4 pound test then tie knotted leaders. My rule of thumb is 60% butt section 20% mid and 20% tippet. At one point I had some tippet spools that were empty, so I just respool those from the large spools as needed and carry those with me. Hope that helps.
What does “turning over” the fly mean????
I’m being serious.
Thanks.
That's a very good question! So when you cast a fly all the energy is stored in the line unfurling out to the fish, and the fly itself is at the very end of all that. Eventually that fly line has completely unfurled and what you want is for there to be enough energy remaining to also cast the fly out ahead of the flyline, to "turn over" the fly itself over the flyline and gently land on the water outstretched. What you don't want is for the fly line to land on the water but the fly itself doesn't turn over and go beyond the fly line, but instead piles up next to the flyline on the water. You also don't want to much energy remaining which would certainly turn the fly over but also bring it down onto the water with too much force and hit the water spooking the fish. A proper balance means the fly "turns over" onto the water nicely. Hope that makes sense.
How long should the tippet be?
Generally we use just enough tippet to "renew" the original length of our leader. So if we have a 9ft leader to start with and end up losing a couple feet from tying on new flies, we will then replace it with a couple feet of tippet to restore it. However there are often situations where I want to extend my leader even longer than 9ft, say for spooky trout and small dryflies. Then I can easily add extra tippet to increase the length of my leader. But when you first open a new leader pack generally we don't add any tippet until we start to wear it out.
I'm going back to spin reel..shit
As somebody wanting to get into fly fishing, I think I'm more confused than I was before.
There is definitely lots to learn. With practice it will make sense. Let us know if you have any specific questions and we will make sure you aren't confused further.
I'm just starting flying fishing this winter and trying to learn. if I'm fishing for steelhead/salmon in a river that ranges from 5-30ft and sometimes fast and slow current from a boat/bank with an 8wt rod what line should i get to get my gear down I'm trying to use wet flies and get 'em deep and think ill try and use a strike indicator. but i dont know what line to get.@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary
The biggest eye-opener for me, something that took years for my dumb brain to figure out, is that you don't need to buy leaders at all.
What do you mean? Just use tippet?
@@rowboat1972 , yes, tippet spools, leader spools, or regular line spools. The more bulk you buy, the less money you spend.
Basically what I meant was that buying the pre-packaged tapered leaders is a waste of money. You can build your own straight-diameter leader or build a tapered leader with as many sections of different weight/diameters as you see fit.
I keep a couple of actual tapered leaders in the bag for small dry fly presentations on a long leader, but even those I rarely get into.
Do you also have a camera RUclips channel?
Chris does! Now you can follow both interests with the same dude!
@@BowRiverTroutfittersCalgary I thought so!! Your thoroughness with both cameras and the fly fishing worlds is great! Great videos in both places, I love the camera and lens reviews!
I use a furled leader 98% of the time.
It was popular for a while. Seems to be one of those things that comes and goes back into fashion. Can be a very effective and easy way to do it for sure.
You sound like the camera guy
I look like one too!
Wait, this isn’t a camera review?
Not quite but Chris used the OM System Om-1 to shoot this episode and it has been a rugged and reliable platform with compact lenses. Perfect for backpacking and adventure filming. There's a mini review for ya!
I think most people build their own leaders
Well, certainly many do, but the vast majority we find, use premade tapered leaders. They have come a long way, and certainly here in Alberta they are the norm. When it comes to nymphing we still usually build our own, but tapered leaders are used for everything else.
I build my own, but I find I'm in the minority.
Illinois bluegills don't care...I use 6lb mono. 🤣
Fair enough! :)
I find even trout don't care in a lot of situations. There definitely are places where you need the delicate presentation with 6x tippet, but the vast majority of the time, trout are given too much credit.
128.000 views and 42 likes. Any newbies watching this should be able to work out from the “ likes” most of this video is just over complicating things and trying to sell stuff . If you are a newbie just put a straight length of 6 feet of 10- 15 pound with a few feet ( 4-5 ) of small mono depending on expected ish size before the hook/ hooks. Cheap tippet material can be found in the salt water section of shops in 50 metre rolls.
Your suggestion doesn't take into account proper fly sizing and selection. By all means do what works best for you. Fly Fishing is all about taking all the options and working out your own system. But we feel that newbies would be best served by using premade leaders that take the guess work out of proper energy transfer, and don't have to rely on multiple knots, which they might not be fully adept at tying anyways. Once you get some experience if you feel that saving some money makes sense by tying your own leaders, then go for it.
What, Now you are a fisherman ?
I always have been, but yes I am! Thanks for watching.
WTF😂
Oh for f*** sake
you know what they say.. the longer the leader, the bigger the cheater...