Many saltwater anglers fish leaders using legacy tapering concepts originally conceived to overcome fresh water fly casting problems associated with trout, salmon and other traditional branches of the sport. These leaders are entirely sound when considering what freshwater anglers are attempting to accomplish: first – to distance the fly from the fly line, and second – to ensure a clean, delicate presentation whereby the leader fully unfurls at the end of the cast and delivers the fly gently to the target. Freshwater flies are generally small and often wind-resistant and/or essentially weightless patterns, particularly dry flies for trout. But similar lightweight, wind-resistant flies are common throughout the freshwater world.
Traditional leader designs consider several variables, including leader length, strength (or diameter), leader construction (e.g., knotted or knotless extruded), a shock tippet (if appropriate), and its taper. These leaders effectively meet the caster’s needs and are worth the cost (for knotless tapered leaders) or the effort to measure, cut and assemble them yourself. But such leader complexity is not always necessary in every freshwater angling situation – tossing large trout streamers on a short leader with sinking line in a lake, pitching big patterns for pike or musky, and bass bugging in cover with big flies and short, stout leaders are examples.
Now, shifting our focus to salt water, tapered leaders are rarely necessary in most angling situations. Yet, for many saltwater anglers and guides the notional necessity for tapering curiously persists from fly fishing’s ancestral origins. This is likely the result of following convention without questioning these traditional ways and experimenting with their leaders. Regardless the reason, most saltwater fly fishing involves situations where delicate presentation is irrelevant due to wind or ambient noise, voracious game fish that couldn’t care less about delicacy, dredging heavy flies on short leaders, and many other common scenarios. In this post I illuminate why tapered leaders are widely unnecessary in salt water, the benefits of fishing simple knotless non-tapered (straight-shot) leaders, how to construct these leaders, and highlight some situations where saltwater anglers may still want to adhere to fly fishing tradition and fish a tapered leader.
Why Tapered Leaders are Ideal for Most Freshwater Fishing, But Often Unnecessary for Saltwater
To truly grasp why leader tapering becomes unnecessary in saltwater fly casting, it’s helpful to first examine the mechanics of spin casting vs fly casting. When spin casting, the angler casts his lure or bait by flicking, flipping or sweeping the rod with an overhand or sidearm pitch that flings the lure or bait outward with momentum. What’s intrinsic to this casting is that the lure, bait or sinker possesses weight. The line, on the other hand – whether monofilament, fluorocarbon or gel-spun braid – is fine, limp and relatively weightless.
Technically, momentum is defined as mass x velocity. The greater the lure’s mass or greater the rod’s tip speed through the casting stroke, the more momentum the object will possess as it sails through the air towards the target. It is this momentum, imparted by the caster, that propels the object through the air – and this is key– while dragging the spinning line along for the ride . . . it is the lure or sinker that carries the line behind it during the cast.
In fly casting, it is the opposite. Fly fishing lures – our flies – are nearly weightless and it is the fly line that possesses the mass and hence acquires the momentum during the cast which in turn carries the fly to the target . . . essentially the reverse of spin casting. However, our flies are not completely weightless – they do possess some mass, especially when weighted (e.g., a Clouser Minnow) or when wet.
Many freshwater flies are miniscule and for all intents and purposes, they’re weightless – a size 14 Hendrickson, for example. Furthermore, many of these patterns (particularly dry flies) are wind resistant, as are popping bugs for bass and panfish. This combination of very low mass and a wind resistant profile yields an object that’s inherently difficult to throw through the air, either by hand or with a spinning rod. Instead, fly fishermen propel their massless bugs through the air by utilizing the momentum transferred by the unfurling fly line loop during the fly cast. But what happens when the fly line’s loop has fully opened and the cast is “complete”? Does a size 14 dry have enough momentum to complete its journey to the target on its own? Usually not . . . a cleverly formulated tapered leader, however, allows the fly line’s momentum to continue transferring to the “weightless” fly as its tapered length unfurls. The leader’s tapering enables kinetic energy to continue to propel the fly as the leader unfurls through lighter and finer leader sections until ultimately it completely straightens, the cast stops and the fly descends to the water. These fly casting mechanics are the genesis of tapered leaders in fly fishing.
The mechanics of saltwater fly casting (as well as certain areas of freshwater fishing), however, are different. The size, shape and weight of typical saltwater patterns alter the mechanics of the of the cast’s completion – after the fly line has fully straightened and is no longer transferring momentum. With larger, heavier flies, it’s no longer necessary for the leader to propel them to their destination . . . the flies possess mass and momentum and, instead, they carry the leader along for the ride to the target, exactly as with spin casting.
Now, time for a home experiment: Recalling the dialog on spin casting mechanics, where it’s clear that the lure or bait acquires momentum through the casting stroke to propel it to the target while carrying the spinning line through the air behind it. With a light, flexible-tip spin rod loaded with eight or ten-pound-test, attach a size 1 or 2 Clouser Minnow and give it a gentle toss. Then try it again with a soaking wet size 1 or 1/0 Deceiver. How far are you able to pitch these flies? Ten feet? Fifteen? Now, keeping in mind that a typical saltwater fly cast is moving at very high velocity (I’ve heard 100 mph, but even 60 mph is substantially greater than what we’re generating in this experiment) it’s easy to see that when casting larger, heavier fly patterns it’s the fly’s momentum that carries the leader along for the ride, exactly as a spin lure drags the fine spinning line behind it. It’s no longer necessary for the leader to transfer casting momentum (and energy) to propel the fly to its ultimate destination. This fact allows a simple, non-tapered, knotless “straight shot” of monofilament or fluorocarbon to become an effective leader in saltwater.
But, to what lengths can such simple leaders remain effective? Well, go back to the home experiment – my test results indicate over ten feet . . . usually more like fifteen. When exploring these ideas, one need not even use a spinning rod, either. Just chucking a wetted fly by hand is revealing enough. For example, I can easily toss a size 2 or 4 Clouser across my office by hand. But that size 14 Hendrickson never goes far at all. That dry fly needs a tapered leader to complete its delivery . . .
When Tapering is Necessary and When it is Not
Distilling down the analytics presented above, it’s easy to see that the need for leader tapering (or not) is a relative matter. That is, a size 6 Gotcha, for example, weighs much less than a well-soaked, fluffy 2/0 Deceiver, but that big, wind resistant Deceiver will likely be easier to cast with a stout 30-pound leader butt section ahead of the tippet (especially if it’s breezy). The small Gotcha, on the other hand, is dense, streamlined, and weighted and it easily sails through the air, even when fished on a 10-foot length of 10-pound-test. To further emphasize the relative nature of this discussion, that Gotcha is, from a shape and size perspective, smaller than a size 12 Wulff dry fly, but I can’t toss the Wulff very far, while the Gotcha easily sails across my office with a light toss . . . the Gotcha is nugget-like, like throwing a pistachio nut, while tossing the Wulff is akin to throwing a cotton ball.
Is there a simple formula to determine which flies require a tapered leader and which ones do not? No, but I’m certain someone out there could put something reasonable together. A “squared away”, NASA type with hornrims, a crew and a pocket protector could likely do it on the back of an envelope over lunch. I’m not that guy : ) But I do know from decades of fly fishing that if I can pitch a bug 15 feet by hand, then I likely don’t need a tapered leader.
Wind, however, is certainly a factor in this. Headwinds slow the cast down and can push the fly back toward you (especially bushy, wind-resistant flies), tailwinds can wreak havoc with your backcast, pushing it back to you thus preventing a full extension (this is, again, amplified with bigger, wind-resistant flies). Casting a big tarpon fly a long distance in a brisk wind is an excellent example that closely mimics a scaled-up version of the dry fly casting problem trout and Atlantic salmon anglers contend with where having a heavier leader butt section is a big help. It is all relative . . .
How to Construct Knotless, Non-Tapered Leaders
These leaders are simple to make and attach to your fly line: first thing to do with a new fly line is remove any factory-included loop at the end of the line and, using an ordinary nail knot, attach a two-foot-long section of fluorocarbon or monofilament leader material. Next, put a surgeon’s loop in the end of it; this effectively serves as a replacement for the tiny factory loop. You now have a smooth transition section between the fly line and the straight-shot leader. I usually dot the nail knot and surgeon’s knot with clear epoxy, as this transition piece is a permanent fixture at the end of the fly line that I generally replace only at the start of each season. As the surgeon’s knot weakens due to fatigue over many casts, I snip the loop off about mid-season and retie it, again dotting with clear epoxy. I prefer the transition piece to be 20-pound-test for 8-weight lines and lighter, 30-pound-test for 9- and 10-weight lines, and 40-pound-test for heavier line weights.
With the permanent transition piece/loop in place, you’re ready to attach a straight-shot leader using a simple loop-to-loop connection. Straight-shot leaders can be as light as six-pound-test or as heavy as 80-pound; your choice depends on personal preference and your intended fishing. An interesting aspect of these leaders is that they may be viewed as all tippet, or all butt – the two become one and the same . . . it’s a matter of perspective. I typically fish 8- to 20-pound-test, depending on the fish and fishing conditions at hand. But I’ll regularly use 40- or 50-pound-test for toothy bluefish (attaching flies with either a non-slip loop or simple figure-8 knot). Other than bluefish, I never fish greater than 20-pound, the maximum recognized by the IGFA . . . for any fly fishing. Some anglers, however, routinely fish straight-shots of 40- or 50-pound-test for powerhouse species, such as bluefin tuna – they’re not record seekers and really want to land their prize quickly. Lastly, determine your leader length. This can be as short as four feet when dredging for summer flounder, or as long as 13 feet for pressured flats game fish in calm conditions. The overall leader length includes the permanent transition piece as part of the measurement. A surgeon’s loop at the butt end of the leader facilitates a loop-to-loop connection to the transition piece, and you’re done. Flies are then attached to the leader with the knot of your liking.
The Benefits of Knotless “Straight-Shot” Leaders
Simplicity – the value of keeping things as simple as possible when fishing cannot be overstated. Straight-shot leaders eliminate over-thinking your leader designs (which itself can be time consuming). Furthermore, this concept eliminates keeping numerous spools of differing diameter leader material at home, in your vehicle, and most importantly with you on the water. If you’re bonefishing with 10-pound-test, for example, then that’s all you need to have along with you . . . one spool on ten-pound, that’s it!
Stealthy with No Knots to Pick up Debris – most hand-made tapered leaders are composed of several lengths of differing diameter mono or fluoro that are typically interconnected with blood knots. The residual tags associated with each blood knot, however, are stiff and sharp and readily pick up weed that may be present in the water (especially fine weed that’s a pain in the neck to clean from a knotted leader). Such debris clinging to your leader alerts the fish and is a show-stopper as far as strikes go, especially when sight-fishing the flats
No Knots to Fail – knots are “weak links” in any assembly of tackle, especially terminal tackle, such as leaders, where stresses are often greatest while fishing. Even well-tied knots (including 100%-line-strength knots) are links in the system that can fray or weaken simply due to fatigue over repeated casting. Most breakoffs seem to occur where knots were tied in a leader
Quick to Construct – there’s no disputing this – when it comes to speed of construction, knotless straight-shot leaders take the prize every time over their knotted counterparts
Inexpensive – there’s no disputing this benefit either when compared with commercial knotless tapered leaders. Extruded tapered leaders are certainly nice, but they’re luxuriously expensive, while a knotless straight-shot monofilament leader costs pennies. Fluorocarbon is pricy, but again, the straight-shot approach eliminates the need for several spools of differing diameter fluorocarbon to be on hand. And most straight-shots last a long time before a fresh tip extension is needed (due to leader length attrition due to numerous fly changes) or, preferably, the whole leader is replaced