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Tried one of these to see if it would help keep a waker on top in more roily water. I hate it when the leader gets drowned and pulls my fly under.
The leaders I used were a 10-floot salmon/steelhead floating Poly leader with a 4-foot Maxima Chameleon tippet (8-lb or 10-lb), and a 14-foot leader made up entirely of Maxima Chameleon, with a 40-lb butt section and tapering to the same tippet as the other leader.
It turned out that the floating leader seemed to help keep a fly up on flat water, but that is when help is not really needed since the fly stays up pretty well anyway.
The Poly leader made things worse in roily water. I sometimes hang the waker in the slick behind large rocks that break or are near the surface. The eddies around the sides of the rock catch the leader, and drag the fly under. Because of its larger diameter, the Poly leader was more prone to get caught by the eddies than a normal mono leader. I guess I should have anticipated that, but I didn't.
As far as turnover, I think the Poly leader was slightly better. However, since I was seldom fishing runs where I could get a consistent rythm, and my spey casting is mediocre anyway, I can't be sure. Turnover wasn't my focus, anyway.
--Bill
The leaders I used were a 10-floot salmon/steelhead floating Poly leader with a 4-foot Maxima Chameleon tippet (8-lb or 10-lb), and a 14-foot leader made up entirely of Maxima Chameleon, with a 40-lb butt section and tapering to the same tippet as the other leader.
It turned out that the floating leader seemed to help keep a fly up on flat water, but that is when help is not really needed since the fly stays up pretty well anyway.
The Poly leader made things worse in roily water. I sometimes hang the waker in the slick behind large rocks that break or are near the surface. The eddies around the sides of the rock catch the leader, and drag the fly under. Because of its larger diameter, the Poly leader was more prone to get caught by the eddies than a normal mono leader. I guess I should have anticipated that, but I didn't.
As far as turnover, I think the Poly leader was slightly better. However, since I was seldom fishing runs where I could get a consistent rythm, and my spey casting is mediocre anyway, I can't be sure. Turnover wasn't my focus, anyway.
--Bill