For Skagit work with heavy T stuff, should a leader of 4-5' have some taper to it? If single hand work requires a butt section followed by progressive taper, just tying on 5' of 12lb floro with no butt for Skagit seems clunky.
Or does the density and line speed of Skagit heads and tips result in consistent enough turnover?
Any leader formula suggestions for deep stuff appreciated.
I use a short section of 25lb Maxima with loops on both ends so I can protect a welded loop on my tip. The larger diameter does not cinch down enough to cut through the coating.
If my tip had a braided mono loop, I wouldn't bother with the large diameter mono and go straight to the tippet of say 8lb to 12lb. Fly size would determine my tippet, not water clarity.
Skagit = clunky as far as Im concerned. Just a length of level mono/fluro works just fine. I dont think you will see any advantage with a long tapered leader.
You might want to look at Feather-Craft Furled leaders. They have them at various lengths. They have the Power Streamer Fluorcarbon Furled Leader 3 ft long with a micro swivel on the tip end. Just put on your tippet!
I'm probably the odd ball of the group using my own custom spliced MOW tips. My tips have no loop at the end of the T-14. Instead, I strip off a couple inches of coating , exposing the 35lb mono core. Albright or Barrel knot a short (maybe 1.5/2.0 ft) butt section of 25lb mono or flouro to that & tie a loop to the business end of that for a tippet section of 2 or more ft of 12lb flouro. I only fish weighted intruder type flies from T-14 tips. Smaller conventional flies are a whole different ball game.
I keep mine under 4'. I go straight to the fly with steelhead stuff, usually 10lb Ultragreen. For trout streamers, I usually have a section of 15lb off the tip, with an 18-24" tippet of 8lb.
With skagit heads I keep the leader length from three to six feet and I use a transitional section in-between the tippet (15 or 12 ) and a heavy butt-section of 20 - :razz:
... nothing to do with turn-over since Skagit heads pack plenty power for that - only that a gradual transition in diameter will make for stronger knots. It has happened too often that the [thinner] tippet when looped to the heavier butt-section would break on a strong hit . Popped-off at the loop too often.
It does though... if you decrease diameter from tip to leader with thin diameter leader and heavy fly... you won’t turn it over. Energy isn’t efficiently transferred through the line... and if the difference is really great you will end up fraying your sink tip, and wearing your leader. Not saying you can’t cast it.but....it’s only hardly noticeable because leader is 3 ft.
Rule of thumb for leaders is not to step down in diameter over .003
Most of the people I know have terminal tippet of 20-25lb especially if you are fishing a barbell Eyed intruder.
Leader turn over on a Skagit head with a sinking tip is only marginally relevant to my experience. I Albright 1' of 15# Maxima to the sink tip and then blood knot 2 to 3' of 10# Maxima tippet. The reason for such an "elaborate" arrangement is because when I tried using just 4' of tippet material, my surgeon's knot loop breaks almost every single time instead of the modified Turle knot I attach my fly with. This way if the Turle knot doesn't break, the tippet breaks at the blood knot, so it's a quick fix to add a new tippet and fly.
I use 4 to 5 feet of 10lb maxima, cut off that length and bring the two ends together, tie a perfection loop in the two end together you will end up with two strand in the perfection loop then cut one leg.
I'm usually using four foot leaders with sink tips for winter steelhead. My dirty water leader is a single strand of .0148" P-Line CXX (nominally 12 pound test, but probably much stronger), with a triple surgeon's loop at the top end. (I wouldn't trust a perfection loop there, in a tug-of-war with a good tippet-to-fly knot.)
For "steelhead green" I use fluorocarbon leaders such as this: 10" of .017" Orvis mirage, 16" of .015" Mirage, and 22" of .011" Mirage. Perfection loop at the upper end; sections joined with uni-knots. But wait - there's more. Below the loop is a short, sealed wrap of butterscotch thread. Why? To identify the tippet diameter; other colors for other strengths. And there's a short wrap of black thread between the top and middle sections, to identify it as fluorocarbon.
I enjoy designing and tying leaders and leader systems, obviously.
2/3 rds butt section and step down by max of .003 for the last 1/3 going to the fly.
Using straight mono is good. But if my leader diameter is in the verge of not being able to turn the fly over it is an issue and lands in a big pile.
You have to remember that thinner diameter leader, whatever it is sinks faster. Which is why I prefer the above method for getting deep as possible and laying out the cast straight.
Also, leader length should take fly density and sink rate( longer leaders requires fly sinks faster than tip$ as well as swing approach. With Winter work, broadside approach is preferable. If I want to set up a cast for a broadside swing. I want to make sure that they see fly first not the tip. Margin is larger with longer leaders.
As the fishiest MF I know, I have never popped a tippet from a butt section. Then again I don’t loop stuff. if you can’t tie a blood knot cleanly you shouldn’t be on the river. Learn 2 bloodknot bro
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3-4ft of 18lbs fluorocarbon right onto the sink tip. I hate the 25lbs mono loops -- if you dont change them often they break. When the sink tip gets cut into, snip it off and re-weld or tie a new one.
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