As long as the fly moves in a way similar to a crab, they will crush it without hesitation. Instead of doing a short strip strike, strip the fly line until the fly comes tight in the fish’s mouth. That is, use six turns of the thinner material, the 16-pound tippet, then use five turns of the fatter material, the 20 pound lower mid section. The only problem is that to fly-fish in this situation, you need to cast against the northern wind and reach the other side of the canal. Just remember that while the explanation below takes some time, when you learn to make your leader, it only takes a few minutes. I learned it from my buddy Bruce Chard and have changed it very little in all that time. I know it took a lot to explain, but in reality it only takes a few minutes to tie. Here 20 and 30 pounds will work well. So we chose a cold water line… summer anglers should choose a tropical line. With the years, all of this will change—there will be other line manufacturers or distributers, perhaps better, perhaps not—but the basic principles stay the same. By Pat Ford. You need to pull a resistant foam cylinder through the water and straighten the leader from the cylinder to the fly before the hook is set. Since the tip end on an 8-weight line measures around 0.040 of an inch, then 60 or 66 percent of that is around 0.024 or 0.026 of an inch. Just make sure you can comfortably pull hard enough to set the knots. ... Redfish (3) Striper (1) Atlantic Salmon (1) Bass (4) Bonefish (6) … Excerpted from Fly-Fishing for Redfish (Stackpole Books, September 2015). We needed the weight that comes from a thicker diameter, not the strength of 30 pounds. New Products and Electronics for January 2021. Anyway, finally I came up with roughly the facts that I’m giving you here. 7.5 or 9 foot tapered knotless leader, mono or fluorocarbon, 20 lb test. Gear. Well, at this time I was late with an article assignment and didn’t have the time to rig the day before. I tie my own tapered leaders using Stren High Impact leader material, but many other brands do the job well too. That is why most good saltwater anglers, either by knowledge or experimentation, now use 40-pound-test butt section on an 8-weight. But the point of the story is that basics stay the same, no matter what new leader material you get, even if it’s pink. Stephen learned another lesson, and I threw the spool away. To cut materials and trim the knots, pliers or forceps with scissors will work fine, but clippers are my first choice here because they usually can trim knots much closer. The leader is attached to the fly line using either a nail knot, a jam knot (Billy Pate= kinda a slim beauty) or a loop to loop. We ran back to the car, changed the whole leader with thicker butt sections and were back fishing just in time to take a few snook and jump a tarpon or two before daylight put an end to the action. I prefer a 12-16 lb. Fly Fishing for Redfish. FINEST AVAILABLE ANYWHERE. These Perfect Fly hand tied tapered mono leaders have a large diameter butt section that transitions down And that reminds me of a story I want to share with you: About thirty years ago, in the early 80s, I did thorough research on fly line to butt section diameter. Traveling pro angler Pat Ford offers tips on tackle, flies and hot spots. Shop the right line for every fish at RIO. So to make that blood knot as strong as possible, tie five to six turns. With a nine foot leader, if you want to lead the redfish with your fly by three feet, the end of your fly line should land close to 12 feet short of the target zone you are casting to. TIP, SALTWATER LEADER. And typically angler… If you ask 10 fly fishers about their recommendation for a redfish leader, you'll get 10 different answers. I can’t see using any lighter or any heavier outfits when fishing for reds. Weight forward floating fly lines are a must along with a 10-12 foot leader for the fish that can be spooky.include, Conventional spin tackle equipment will include 7-7’6″ rods with 15-20 lb braid is what I like to use to target redfish with a plug rod. Absolute Trout 1-Pack Leader $ 6.95. This leader has a taper design that easily turn over typical saltwater patterns, and is made of a medium stiff nylon that will cope with tough winds. I immediately told him that I had done an exhaustive research on butt sections for bones and backcountry fishing, using 7-, 8-, and 9-weight lines. A number of experts such as Capt. You’re really building the butt and mid section of leaders by diameter (which really means weight), and the tippet by pound test, that is, strength. In the early 90s, my son, Stephen, was still in high school, life was much simpler, and we both had lots of time to fish together. I was proud of it. For us, water temps were around 50 degrees so we opted for a cold water line like RIO’s Winter Redfish Fly Line. Either will work. When casting to redfish, it’s critical to keep this in mind. So now I knew that for the 8-weight line I used for bonefish, snook, and redfish, a good butt section was something close to 0.025 of an inch or about 40-pound-test. Our redfish aren’t very “leader shy” like in some heavily pressured, clear water fisheries, so I tend to fish heavier leaders here, on the upper end of the range of what I mentioned. I was playing around with leader formulas for my 8wt and came across this article: Making a Redfish Leader | MidCurrent. On the next page, I give you some of the companies whose materials I often use to make leaders—as a guideline to you. If you ask 10 fly fishers about their recommendation for a redfish leader, you'll get 10 different answers. For those of you more advanced, a micrometer may help you, especially when using material where the manufacturer doesn’t show the diameter. They have a taper design that easily turns over typical saltwater patterns, and are made of a medium stiff nylon that cope with tough winds. Buy Fly-Fishing for Redfish in the MidCurrent Store. I don’t even remembered what I answered, and I guess it doesn’t matter. No matter how hard we tried, the leaders couldn’t penetrate the wind. So of course the leaders did not turn over; they would not have turned over on a calm day! Take a 5-foot length of 30-pound-mono line and attach it to the end of the fly line. Stephen knew that a 7-weight took a 30- pound butt section to turn over, but that’s all he knew. Each leader is 9ft long and available in either 16lb or 20lb. It took me months of experimentation. We quickly took out a pair of 7-weight rods with small Muddlers that imitated the size of the mud minnows and started to cast. Customer Support: ... Leader. Now, let me give you an idea of the “approximate” butt section diameters that I like to use in lines from 5-weight to 10-weight. Rio Redfish/Seatrout Leader has been designed for the fly fisher that pursues Redfish, Sea trout and other similar saltwater species. Knowing that both of us could cast the 60 or more feet into that wind, I anticipated no problems. Boat Reviews. It's fast, it's easy, and the leader never breaks at a knot as on a tapered, knotted leader. Updated: April 10, 2019. The Redfish/Seatrout leader features an aggressive taper … So I turned around and explained to Stephen, probably in a loud and frustrated voice, that 7-weight rods needed 30-pound-test and that he should know better by now. It offers the angler more control over their presentation than any commercially made leader. These are just the ones I mostly fish. Still, the pound test is just a guide. But I had more time those days, probably because the Internet and cell phones weren’t around. We’ll start with the butt section, but first, I want you to know how I arrive at the right butt section, not just for the 8-weight line but for 5- to 10-weight lines. And that, in most average medium stiff leaders is 40-pound-test. Whatever material you choose, use the same make throughout the leader, so that stiffness and other properties remain constant, from the butt section to the tippet. Back at the house a few hours later, I found out what happened. If you don't know how to tie knots, you can purchase knotless tapered leaders, such as the Scientific Angler Mastery series tapered leaders and the Airflo Braided Tapered Leader series. Other formulas indicate that 75% is the optimum butt diameter, but in either case, a leader butt of .017" to .022" satisfies most any formula. For 90% of the scenarios you'll encounter while fly fishing for redfish, an 8-weight rod is perfect. Cliff Notes: Butt = 5 feet of 40-pound; Mid = 3 feet (about 2 feet of 30-pound and 1 … A Bonnier Corporation Company. Redfish don’t have the vision a trout does. A long, heavy butt section and dense, medium-stiff material transfer the momentum of your cast straight to the fly … But leader materials are stiffer than fly lines, so what has worked out throughout the years, to match stiffness, more or less, is to use a butt diameter that is 60 to 65 percent of the diameter of the tip end of the fly line. For medium stiff mono materials, I like Maxima and Ande, but I’ve tried some saltwater RIO and some Umpqua that also work well. How to Build a Fly Fishing Leader. First of all, long leaders spook fewer fish. Choosing the Perfect Boat. We've been developing the highest performing fly lines, leader, & tippet in the industry for over 20 years. They stay stronger when the inevitable wind knot shows up and allow you to fight the fish harder. About 95 percent of the leaders I make are composed of the same material, usually mono, from butt to tippet or shock tippet. A leader is the monofilament line that is attached to the fly line. The Trail canal goes east and west, so a strong northern wind will push all the water out of the north sloughs and into the main canal, and with it, all the minnows that are living in the sloughs. Buy Fly-Fishing for Redfish in the MidCurrent Store. A few weeks later while fishing for bonefish in the Keys, I ran into my friend Lee Wulff at the docks. The diameter of that mono was like normal thin and light 20-pound-test. Join the single best resource for news, features, flies, tips , deals and resources around the world of fly fishing. RIO's Redfish/Seatrout Leaders have been designed for the fly fisher that pursues Redfish, Sea trout and other similar saltwater species. Knotless leaders work much better in weedy areas because weeds tend to catch on knots. A saltwater leader should be a continuous extension of your fly line. This info is generally on the package. And since the formula said the mid section should be 3 feet, you can either cut each section 11⁄2 feet, or cut 2 feet of 30 pounds and one of 20 pounds. Excerpted from Fly-Fishing for Redfish (Stackpole Books, September 2015). By Louis Cahill This fly-fishing leader will out perform anything you can buy. To do this, get the line tight with your rod tip to the water. Frustrated, I examined the butt section and found that it looked and felt like 20-pound-test, or thinner. You also want to cast past the fish so you have some leader to play with as you close the gap between the fish and the fly. RIO's Redfish/Seatrout leader has been designed for the fly fisher that pursues Redfish, Seatrout and other similar saltwater species. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Now blood knot the 30-pound section to the butt section and then blood knot the 20-pound to the 30-pound. Author Bruce Chard (shown here) believes the butt sections of most commercial tapered leaders are too thin, and recommends beefing them up with 18" sections of .032" monofilament. Stephen quickly offered to rig, make sandwiches, and even drive the next morning. The RIO Redfish/Seatrout Leader is made of tough, abrasion-resistant, medium stiff nylon for durability. To lubricate the knots before pulling them tight, get a saucer with half or a quarter of an inch of water on it, to dip the knot. But instead, Lee scratched his head slowly, while looking far into the horizon, seemingly lost in thoughts for a few seconds (Lee was an engineer), and then told me that since the 1940s, he had always thought that 0.025 inch was an ideal butt section for 7-, 8-, and 9-weight lines. And frankly, there are many line companies making good medium stiff leader materials. Short, three-part, 6- to 8-foot leaders with 30-pound-test tippets are standard. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Perfect Fly Redfish leaders are designed to enable the angler to deliver their flies precisely where you want them to go. The pound test is another guideline. Copyright © 2003 – 2021 MidCurrent LLC, All Rights Reserved. {"cat":"techniques","type":"article_children_page","format":"default"}. When we got there, just at dawn, snook and baby tarpon were popping near the opposite shoreline as a strong north wind blew into us. Your leader should be about 10 feet long, and all you need to do is tie a fly to the tippet. Absolute Trout 3-Pack Leader $ 16.95. Also get a yard stick or a measuring tape to measure the sections. Spool your reel with a weight-forward floating line and a 9 to 12 foot leader. Now the mid section, which is simply a smooth transition from the fat 40-pound-test to the thin 16-pound-test tippet. Latest. Then I waited for him to ask me what I found. It is very important for an inshore fisherman to choose the correct fishing line, fishing leader and the correct fishing line and leader strength for every different target fish species. Anything to go fishing. At this point you are about to tie what is usually the weakest connection, often more so than the tippet connection to the fly. Make sure to lubricate it, then pull it steady and firm so the knot sets. First, let’s gather the tools. The RIO Redfish/Seatrout Leader was developed and designed for fly fishing redfish, seatrout and similar saltwater species. I have used this leader for most of my saltwater fishing for fifteen years. Get 40-, 30-, 20-, and 16- pound-test leader material. Video: How To Fish Woolly Buggers in Rivers, Announcing MIDCURRENT's "Inside the Box" Gear Unboxing Videos, Throwback Thursday: Minipi River Brook Trout, Michelle Fleming Breaks 3 Fly Fishing Records. I know it took a lot to explain, but in reality it only takes a few minutes to tie. First of all, long leaders spook fewer fish. The chart on the next page shows the materials I often use for butt sections. Boats. However, over many years I've learned a number of things about the most effective leaders. It can be great fly fishing, with snook, tarpon, and occasionally redfish and bass all feeding against the shoreline as the minnows come out. For me you bear with me a little longer, I ’ ll tell you story! Leaders have been designed for the fly fisher that pursues redfish, it 's worked for. Leaders did not turn over big redfish flies with ease in strong winds with the Perform X redfish! 2003 – 2021 MidCurrent LLC, all Rights Reserved this time I was not going to have a dissertation leader. Leaders have been designed for fly fishing long and available in either or! A double surgeon 's knot we needed the weight that redfish fly leader from a thicker diameter, not strength. 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