Leaders: diameter and material

[Lou Bruno]

Paul
Don't have bonefish in my area. Have to travel to the florida keys, which I've done a couple of times. I use 8 or 9wt, depends on wind, with 10 or 12 lb tippet.
Lou

[Paul Arden]

Thanks Merlin. Very interesting.

I don’t normally go to such light tippets on such heavy lines, Lou. That’s quite a significant amount of energy to remove with the leader. How long are your leaders normally?

I’ll tie up some twisted leaders later this week using 10lbs to see how they perform. Actually it might be better to know the diameter! (Or the brand/model of tippet).

Cheers, Paul

[Lou Bruno]

Paul
Normally, > 9ft. With weighted flies shorter. Unless I make a special trip to the keys, all my fishing is concentrated on the southwest coast of Florida...Gulf Coast. Here my main fishing rod weight is an 8wt, 9ft leader, 10lb tippet. We Target seatrout, red drum mostly. But at times snook, lady fish are caught...just don't what you can catch...bonnet shark too. Last week our water temps ran about 69 (f) degrees, I went fishing with an 8wt wf(I) line; using a clouser minnow, with a 6 ft, 12lb tippet. I fished sparaic sea grass along sand bars. Caught sea trout.
During our summer months I Target our migrating tarpon, with heavier rods > 10 wt. Most fly fishers here favor 11wts.
Our red drum fishing comes alive with the warmer water temps; I'll use my 8wt and fish for tailing reds on the flats or along shore lines. Something new I tried was casting a copper colored spoon, small and light, along the mangroves, targeting red drum hiding out.

Florida keys fishing for me is more specific: meaning I will rig up for specific species, mostly tarpon. I recently bought the RIO bonefish 6wt fly line. Plan is on my next trip to the florida keys I will try going lighter.

As a side note: when I started saltwater fly fishing I thought I had to go " big and heavy." Not the case, as I found out; I tied flies I will most likely not use.

Lou

[Paul Arden]

Some great fishing there Lou. The RÍO Bonefish 6 is a 7 as I’m sure you know. I’ll tie up some leaders this week and have a play. I’ve never tied a twisted leader with 10lbs and might need to play around.

Cheers, Paul

[George C]

Some random thoughts.

Rio, in their infinite wisdom, just changed their website so line weights are no longer easily available (at least that I can find). I recently bought a Rio Elite Bonefish 6wt line (for $129 USD......ouch!). I'm pretty sure its 30' head wt had been previously reported as 178g and 46' head weight 245g. Its taper is very similar to the SA Infinity Salt (which does not come in a "6"). I've since seen reports that this line's durability is disappointing so I'm having second thoughts but it is too late now. An issue is that the SA 6wt bonefish line has only a 35' head. That seems a bit short for good control in wind. I've used Paul's 6wt line with success although it needs frequent lubrication. I use a stripping basket. Looks dumb and is a pain in the ass but I catch more fish because of it. It eliminates the need to fight water tension on the first shot and this seems to make casting lighter lines easier and faster.

I bonefish on foot and, thanks to this site, I no longer use for an 8wt regardless of wind. A 6 and 7 work fine, even for substantial fish. An 8 might be more useful from a boat where heavier flies can be necessary b/o greater water depth, but that's not my thing these days. I use 12+ foot leaders with about 6' of 30 or 40# Maxima clear then tapering to 10-12lb tippet. I shorten to 9' only for bulky stuff (like crabs) in significant wind.

[Lou Bruno]

George
Good read! Haven't used Maxima clear; why use that brand?
Lou

[George C]

Hi Lou
I’m unsure there is anything magical about the Maxima.
I had used the Rio Hard but found it too stiff.
I used Berkeley Big Game but once you drop below #30 you need to change from their leader formulation to regular line formulations and trying to get the intermediate sizes (25/20/16) for the leader taper was problematic. Carrying all those large spools and leader skeins was sometimes impractical.
I’ve used Fluoro for other stuff but the sink rate seems a disadvantage while Bonefishing on foot.
The Maxima comes in small spools and many sizes so it works for me.

As for leader length, I listened to Chico Fernandez’s great book and tried longer lengths. With the improved casting skills picked up from this site and less stiff but longer butt sections and a shorter taper to tippet, turning these over is no big deal. Previously I think the midsection I was using was too long. Tying in a bunch of 1 foot sections of tapering diameters turns out to greatly improve the turnover.

In a pinch, particularly for 8 and 9 wt lines, I’ll use store bought knotless leaders (usually Rio). These I lengthen by cutting off the loop and tying in another 3’ of butt section. But the butts on these pretapered leaders tend to be thick so I often sacrifice a 2nd leader to get a 3’ section that matches. This gets expensive and I think the hand tied ones work better (for me) anyways.
G

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Lou

Ande mono is easy to get here in Florida... have you tried it for leaders? It is what I use for everything except the few rare times I head to trout streams.

I find that it is right in the sweet zone between strong and stiff, and very cost effective compared to the tiny spool specialty stuff.

If you look around, you can find the "Ghost" version, which has the advantage of not being shiny.

Do not trust the labels if you are seeking records though, it tests about 10% higher.

[Lou Bruno]

George
Ironically, I've been trying and making the same changes with my leaders. RIO hard mono is stiff! Enjoyed your post, loaded with good practical info.

Mangrove:
Haven't tried Ande; I will, thanks.
Lou