Years ago, I read John Merwin's comprehensive work _The New American Fly Fishing_, a great all-inclusive introduction for the serious fly fisherman. It is in its second edition, I believe in paperback, and I strongly recommend it to anyone at any level of fly fishing as a reference.

As to leaders, there are issues with knotless tapered leaders, mostly with the butt sections. Because of people's tendency to regard doing things quicky as doing them better, many companies now go with loop conections, which are inefficient in transfering the energy of a cast to turn over the leader. A second problem with over-the-counter leaders is their butt sections (typically American;-) are too fat! While you don't necessarily need a micrometer to calibrate a leader to your line, you ought to consider holding loops of the same size of the butt section of the leader you intend to use and the end section of your fly line next to each other for comparison. Using our finger, push down on them and see which is stiffer. If the leader is stiffer, there will be a problem in the transfer of a constant loop in the cast. As implied in the article, the butt section (what I call the energy transfer section) of the leader should be less stiff than the end section of the line. What Mr. Merwin implies is that fly lines are consistent in their diamter, and I think, while that might have been true at one time, fly lines are quite variable in their tapers, so a manual check of stiffness is my choice. If you use a loop connection, this is even more critical, because of the inefficient connection. But leaders and fly lines are not made of the same materials, so rather than use diameter, try to compare the stiffness with the simple qualitative test I described.

Like many, I regard tying knots in leaders as a nuisance, but a well-tied nail knot is a much better way of connecting a leader to your line. If you are concerned about changing leaders and cutting into your line, attach a 12-15 inch section of an appropriate diamter monofilament and tie it to the butt section of the leader with a blood knot. I use a foot-long section of 15 or 20 lb test chartreuse Amnesia on some lines, as it also acts as a kind of strike indicator. I think you'll see a difference in how well the leader turns over.

Thanks for writing this article. I just started fly fishing this year and leaders and tippits were the things I was most confused about. great article!

When your cast and final presentation are really clean, learn to tie barrel knots. First, you can make up any leader you like. I can't remember ever fishing a mountain river with no wind. Second, you can add 2' of tippet to any tapered leader so they don't get continually chewed off as you change flies.

It is always good to hear someone remind us that it is better to take five minutes on the water to change your gear to make it correct than to spend another 30 minutes being stubborn and fishing the same gear that isn't working. With time on the water limited as is, a great article to reinforce some great habits.

chrlesvinson,

Yes, and I don't get too excited about them. They are too soft to punch out longer casts, and can get tangled. I have one on my shorter, lighter wt. rod that I make short, easy casts with. Works well for that rod, and I only have to tie on a tippet section of mono to the tiny, metal silver ring fastened on the end. BUT, if your fly runs into the furled leader, and gets embedded in the furled leader, the leader is toast,

I use a BlueSky furled leader on my 6foot 2wt rod and absolutely love it I can turn over the tiny dries and the big nasty size 4 double bunnies it is fantastic.

drag free, Good points, and here is a few of my contrarian opinions,..take them for what they are worth. I don't like the bulk of joining loops at the butt section either, and use a blood knot. I tie it at home using a tool, and seldom have to redue the knot when on the river. The weakest link is the tippet section. Fly lines, I think all of them, have a thinner end section to them, about a 6 in. of level flyline to tie your leaders to. I can't speak though for the looped flylines however. IMO the biggest problem casters have at turning over their flies is poor casting, and open loops not the butt section although you are right that can cause the problem. I've even tinkered with softer mono vs. harder mono for that energy transfer. RIO believes that softer mono transfers the energy better than hard mono. But if I am close to 2/3 the size of the end of the flyline I go for it. In a fishing situation, the start of a drag free drift needs to have a slack leader cast on the water. Much of that can be addressed in the tippet section, and not the butt section, however, but a guy named George Harvey, I imagine you know of his leader design, believes you will catch more fish by NOT turning over your leader, but by casting it on the water in a slack loops! Here is one experience I had fishing with three guys in a boat, and taking turns fishing. I grabbed my rod, took my place in the front, and had excellent results that day catching fish constantly thinking why my dry line was thinner, and a blue color. I thought it cast great. And then sometime afterwards realized I had grabbed a rod that had a intermediate sink line on it. We were river fishing, and the tip, and the butt section were sinking, but I'd recast before the fly would sink. I've thought about using that line again for dry fly fishing especially in the wind because it was thinner.
Learning to tie a good blood knot is an asset. You can reconstruct a new, knotless leader when you need a new tippet, and after several new tippets, you can add a bigger diameter section that you've used up above the tippet, and still use the same leader now having two blood knots in the original knotless leader. Changing to a new leader, and the expense is not necessary.

Has anyone out there tried furled leaders ? If so,are they worth trying ?

Great article. Picking leaders and tippets can be tricky.