GFF logo







   

All sorts of leaders

By Martin Joergensen

See also the
Hyper-Compleat Principles of Leader Design
Leaders fall in several categories. These all serve the same purpose: transmitting the energy fra the fly line to the fly in a gentle, yet firm way. The different types each have their advantages and disadvantages, and selecting one is often a question of compromises.

  • Tapered
    The tapered leader is probably the most common. It consists of one piece of monofile line, that has been drawn to a taper from a thick base to a thin tip, that are made the normal range of tippet weights.
  • Knotted
    The knotted leader has been tied together by several peices of monofile line to form a similar taper. It's inexpensive and can be made to any taper, thickness, stiffness and hence purpose.
  • Braided
    The braided leader is made from thin braided monofile strands. It's normally tapered by leaving out moreand more threads towards the tip. The braided leaders are generally expensive, but also offer a supple presentation and high knot resistance
  • Twined
    The furled or twined leader is a home made leader that has the advantage of the braided leader (it's even better actually) and the price of the knotted one. There's a detalied description on how to make such leaders.

Leader and tippet sizes
'X-size'
 0X 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X
Tip dia. (mm) 0.28
 0.26
 0.23
 0.20
 0.18
 0.15
 0.13
 0.10
 0.07
Tip dia. (inches)
 0.011
 0.010
 0.009
 0.008
 0.007
 0.006
 0.005
 0.004
 0.003
Test (kg) 6.8
 5.5
 4.5
 3.2
 2.3
 1.8
 1.4
 0.9
 0.6
Test (lb.)
 15 12 10 7 5 4 3 2 1
The test weights are examples from Sunline (Siglon and other brands) and may vary quite a bit from brand to

Add comment  Go to article start
User comments
GFF staff comment
From: Martin Joergensen · martin·at·globalflyfisher.com
Submitted March 10th 2009

Todd,

You usually use either the same tippet size as the leader or slightly thinner. The 4X will probably refer to the thickness of your leader in the thin end, and by adding a 5X tippet, your taper it further down, while a 4X tippet will continue the same thickness as the tip of the leader.

Hope this helps.

Martin


From: Todd Weeks · todd_037·at·excite.com
Submitted March 9th 2009

I need to know what size tippet to use with a leader size of 4X ..



Want to comment this page? Fill out the form below.
Comment
Only comments
in English
are accepted!
Your name Your email
Notify me on new comments to this article on the above email-address.
You don't have to comment to start or stop notifications.

All comments will be screened by the GFF staff before publication.
No HTML, images, ads or links, please - we do not publish such comments...
And only English language comments will be published.
Name and email is optional but recommended.
The email will be shown in a disguised form in the final comment to protect you against spam
You can see other public comments on this page

 
Did you find the above interesting?
People who looked at the above also looked at:

Illustrated knot table

A test in the print magazine Fly Fisherman showed the Trilene an...

LeaderCalc2007

One of GFF's all-time most popular articles and downloads just g...

Making loops

These loops are often refered to as Orvis loops. I don't know if...

First setup

Most of us know how, but this article is for the ones who never ...

Shooting heads

In this article I will try to cover some advantages and disadvan...
 		These other stories on "Do It Yourself - about doing things yourself" might also interest you:

DIY Rod Tubes

Economic: You have one extra rod with no sock and rod tube. You've been putting off buying a tube...why don't you just make your own?! With $4.00 and about a 1/2 hour's time, you'll have a DIY rod tube. These won't win beauty contests, but they work just as well as any retail version. Read here how to DIY. Go to the story

DIY Epoxy Rotor

Slowhand: If you tie a lot of epoxy flies and have been glancing in the direction of the nice but expensive epoxy rotors in the local flyshop, you may want to consider building your own out of some scraps and a disco mirror ball motor. Read the complete instructions and see the step-by-step photos here.

More about Do It Yourself
A few random articles for your entertainment