Help on Leader Length

[Sir Fishalot]

When drift fishing for winter steelhead what are the appropriate leader lengths for the following water conditions:

-High and dirty, 1-2' visibility

-"Steelhead green", 3-4' visibility

-low and clear, 5' or more visibility

[driftphish]

I bet most would say:

24
30
36

[Day Late]

Retired now so don't have to fish "high and dirty" anymore :grin: so can't help you there. Normal conditions for winter 18" (+/-) seems to work for me. Summer conditions usually mean lighter leader and 36" to 48". Hope this helps. :smile:

Day Late

[Fish Hawg]

-High and dirty, 1-2' visibility: I like a 18"-20"

-"Steelhead green", 3-4' visibility: I like a 20"-24"

low and clear, 5' or more visibility: I like a 24"-36"

Just My $0.02....Ross

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Pretty much water depth dependant..
1) 24-30
2) 24-36
3) 30-48
It really depends on the day and mood I guess.

[STRIKE ZONE]

I go with,
1)20" to 28"
2)28" to 36"
3)36" to 60"
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

[RichH]

I'm with Fish Hawg except I never go over 30".

[Moley Molson]

I generally stick with a leader about 20" give or take 2-3in for most all conditions. When the water is high and dirty I use 10 - 12LB leader.....when it drops and clears up I change over to 8lb leader.

[Mello-Yello]

I've always been told the fish lay on the bottom (not necessarily bottom of the hole though). For this reason, I've always used as close to 18" as I can without going under. I suppose I figure there's a reason why they don't want you using anything under 18" (advantage). Since the corky is going to help float the hook, 18" is going to fish you closest to the bottom.

[Short Hop]

I've caught more fish this year than ever before and I've really kept my leaders short. 18" or less. This worked extreamly well with boyant baits like Rags.

[WheresMyBobber]

When the water is high and dirty I'll go as short as 12" and as long as 18".

Steelhead green, 18" to 20".

Low and clear 24" to 30". I don't like going over 30" because I can't be confident of exactly where my bait is or what it's doing. Plus, the longer the leader, the harder it is to tell when you're getting a bite.

[ 01-14-2004, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: WheresMyBobber ]

[Crazy Fisherman]

I tie all mine 30 inches and use them in all water, clear or dirty. A short leader will let you feel the bite faster but a longer leader lets the bait acted more natural. I just don`t like a bunch of different length leaders sitting around. good fishing.