leader length for sinking tips?

[tangled]

Hello all - I recently got a mutli sinking tip line - while I was fishing last week I was thinking about leader lenght - I bought the line to enable me to get down to the fish in different cicumstances, but wondered what good was it if the fly was 10 feet away on a lead that didn't sink - any thoughts or comment are much appreciated - tangled

[greenbuttskunk]

with a fast sinking line I like 8-1/2. Moderate sink 10-11'.

[Steelheader69]

WOW. Those are some long leaders for sinktips. Similar to running that long of leaders on drift gear. Kind of overkill. I normally don't go over 4' on any sinktip. Found I flossed alot less fish (I know the amount of fish hooked outside the mouth went down considerably with shorter leaders). I only use leaders that long on floating lines in the summer. And those are on almost non weighted flies using alot of mends to get it deep. If you were flyfishing up here, especially on the OP, you would be having a tough time with that long of a leader. I normally use a heavy piece of mono at the tip of flyline, usually about a 1' long with loop on end. Then, swap out 2-3' tippets of whatever # test I plan to use w/o tapering. Normally the butt section is 25-30# test.

Wow, couldn't imagine that long of leaders. Amazing. Can't stand them on drift rods, let alone fly rods (well, with sinktips that is).

[Gizmo Man]

On a sink tip,if you want the fly down, then shorter the better. I use from 2 to 4 feet depending on the type of presentation. On a 1/4 downstream presentation, I use 2 to 3 feet as I believe the fish are downstream of the fly and see it as opposed to the fly line.

On an across or upstream presentation, I go 3 to 4 feet as I don't want the fish seeing the fly line and fly.

Giz...

[steelynye]

As you suspect. Fly will not get down with a long leader, plus these fish are not leader shy. If river is really small and clear then floater/long leader with a weighted fly can work. I run 2-4 feet all winter when swinging flies on sink tips. If river is clear I will run about 4 feet, if the visibility is less than 4 feet, you can obviously run a shorter leader than 4 feet.

[tangled]

For your shorter leaders are you just tying two pieces of line together - say 20 lb to a 12 lb tippet - or are you just using one piece and one stength?

[greenbuttskunk]

I should have been more clear, I don't usually fish a sink tip, but when I have on deeper lakes I've done well to cast and dredge the fly behind the pontoon. A number of times I've gone to the longer leader and seen an improvement in my catch ratio. Don't get me wrong, its a ***** to cast, but mostly I'm just putting line out, the rowing away from the fly, let it settle a bit and slowly troll and twitch. Takes some patience. In most circumstances you guys are right, especially in a stream situation.
GBS

[ 01-28-2004, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: greenbuttskunk ]

[BuKuBass]

Try using a fluorocarbon leader/tippet. Read all about it here:
http://www.riversmallies.com/guestart_tdixon1.html

[Gizmo Man]

Tangled: when putting a line together it is common to have a small (about 6") 30# or so piece of mono attached to the end of the fly line ( using a nail knot) with a loop (perfection knot)to attach the actual leader. This is true for all your fly lines. Length of leader you choose it than added to the loop. Go to: www.graysofkilsyth.com/fishing.htm (http://www.graysofkilsyth.com/fishing.htm) if you need to see the knots.

When fishing larger flies on short leaders I have not found it necessary to taper the leader. I usually go with what I want off the loop....that is 6# or 8 or 10 etc.. I usually don't worry about tapering the leader unless I am going with 7 to 15' leaders.

Hope this helps.

Giz...