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A big bunch of years ago,
the kid across the road I fished with a lot and I, decided to go trout
fishing one day. He brought along his older brother’s fly rod. We each
took turns that day trying to figure this thing out. Not too long after
that I’m looking around for my own fly rod. Yes, I got one and spent the
next big bunch of years fishing with a fly rod.
Unfortunately, I found
myself in a situation all alone because at the time, I’m the only guy I
know trying to use a fly rod. I stayed persistent with it and before
long fly-fishing was just about the only way I fished for trout. I
needed to teach myself how to do this trick with little to no
instructions from anyone. Whenever one approaches learning things like
this on his own, he usually does everything wrong at first, before he
ever does anything right. Well, after a while, I got pretty good at
catching fish. And once you’re catching fish you rarely think you are
doing anything wrong, but you are certainly doing things differently. So
let me get to my point.
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Several years later I’m fishing with my good
friend, who has been fly-fishing his whole life, when he says to
me, “I’ve been watching you and I can’t figure out what you
doing on your cast.” Wondering what he meant I asked him to
explain, and he says, “When you cast, the fly doesn’t hit the
water where I expect it to land.” I’m now puzzled by his
comment, because in my mind the fly lands where I expect it to
land. Well, needless to say as we’re driving home, a long and
detailed discussion takes place about what he meant on the creek
and we find ourselves deciding to run an experiment. We both
fished one morning and at the end of the morning tallied our
catch. Ending up with a one trout difference in our count, we
agreed that each person’s technique in fact was productive. So
why change the way you’re doing things? |
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The Big Secret?
As it turned out, I hadn’t
learned the importance the leader plays in fly-fishing. What I did learn
to do was to develop the skill to compensate for poor leader
construction. The conversation my friend and I had and what he explained
to me made a lot of sense and would crank my fishing up a lot of notches
in the ability to have total control over my presentation skills. So
what was the big secret? Actually, not a secret at all, but
understanding the mechanics of weight in motion and why the leader of
your fly line is so extremely important in creating the balance needed
for control.
Effectively
transferring the energy from the fly line to the fly is what “leader” is
all about. A properly constructed leader, matching the weight of your
fly rod and fly line, results in casts that will turn over the fly
really well, making the presentation so much better. Fly fishing in PA
is all about presentation and “perfect” presentation catches fish. So
what am I talking about?
Unlike
spinning rods, for example, that use the weight of a spinner, lure or
added split shot for casting, fly fishing rods use the weight of the
line for casting. As the energy is “loaded” into the line from the
motion of casting, it is transferred down the line towards the fly. This
transfer of energy down the line and leader to the fly is refered to as
“turn over”. Fly line generally has a greater diameter than the tippet
material does. Tiny flies are tied to a tippet that is small in
diameter, 5x, 6x, 7x, for example. If the leader is not constructed
properly the energy transfer is interupted, so to speak, and the leader
then lags behind the fly line landing somewhere other than straight out.
To allow for the energy to transition or better yet, to “progressively
dissipate” to the fly, thus
letting the fly land gently on the water
like a natural insect, the leader
needs to taper down from the fly line to the tippet. In addition, the
leader should be an invisible link between the bulky fly line and the
delicate fly and allow a fly to drift freely on or under the water
giving the appearance of a naturally drifting insect. Drag on the fly is
the fly fisherman’s nightmare and a good leader will help to eliminate
drag.
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Tapered Leader
A tapered leader allows for
a smooth transition from the fly line to the fly because, as I said
early, energy is progressively dissipated down the line to the fly.
Typically fly anglers buy tapered leaders in the desired lengths for
their rods and tie a tippet to the end. But what happens is, as the
changing of flies takes place during the fishing outings, the tippet is
shortened with each new fly attachment and eventually the tippet needs
to be replaced. As new tippet is added to the leader, the leader is
shortened over time too. As the leader becomes shorter, and the taper is
altered, it’s not long before things can get out of whack. To correct
this, a new piece of tippet, lets say, of a larger diameter is added to
the leader and a new tippet is added to it to give our leader its proper
taper again. If this process is repeated enough, soon the leader is made
up of several sections between the butt end, the section tied to the fly
line, and the tippet. What most guys do, of course, is to replace the
leader altogether with a new tapered leader and start the process over.
So, to quickly summarize, a
proper leader is the “invisible” connection between the fly line and the
fly. It is tapered so that energy can progressively dissipate down to
the fly letting the fly land gently on the water where you have aimed it
to land.
For the beginner, and most
fly fisherman, buying a tapered leader is fine and works very well, but
soon will come the time when building your own custom leaders will be
the way to go. Why? A hand-tied leader can be matched to your fishing
rod’s weight and feel, built to your perfect length. This translates
into a cast that will go farther and with more control and accuracy, and
the best part? You’ll catch more fish.
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