Using hand-tied leaders

[sbalsen]

I've been experimenting with tying my own leaders and was wondering about how to maintain them on the stream. That is, as flies are changed, it doesn't take very long to get to one of the knots in a previous section. Where do I tie on the extra tippet? Most tied leader formulas don't seem to give you a very long final tippet. Hope this question is clear!
Sy

[Hot Tuna]

The unibody leader ala george harvey consists of 3 sections plus the tippett...it's easy to keep track since there are less knots....let me know if you need the formula...
ht

[Hot Tuna]

ps Sy...how's that Kinderhook Creek doing?...i used to live in Valatie a long time ago...

[DA]

I cut the knot where the old tippet is tied in and tie on a new tippet. I can do this with two or three new tippets, before the section just above the tippet gets too short from cutting the knot. When that happens I tie in a new section above the tippet the same length as the original section, then repeat the process for two or three new tippets.

[sbalsen]

ps Sy...how's that Kinderhook Creek doing?...i used to live in Valatie a long time ago...

The Kinderhook, alas, is a classic put and take stream. Some trout survive in some of the deeper pools, however. Twenty years ago, the creek stayed fishable most of the summer. Nowadays, with all the new homes and devlopment, the tributaries have been destroyed and the river get much less cold water than it used to. Also, although Encon prohibits it, landowners cut down trees on the creek which adds further to the warming of the water. Sad.

[sbalsen]

The unibody leader ala george harvey consists of 3 sections plus the tippett...it's easy to keep track since there are less knots....let me know if you need the formula...
ht

I found the reference to the unibody leader in Jeff Passante's book on the Housatonic River (though he gives credit to Gary Borger for the recipe). Jeff says he connects the tippet to the main leader via loops. I tied up some unibody leaders and fished the Farmington today with it and was very impressed. It mended MUCH better than a tapered leader and gave me a very long dy fly drift. I connected the tippets via Jeff's recommended surgeon's loops and had no problems, even with the 20+ inch fish I caught. All in all, I'm sold on the unibody leader and recommend it.
Sy

[Hot Tuna]

You found it! I had lent Jeff's book to a friend. Actually, he lives 10 minutes up the road from me. Thanks for the update(albeit dismal) on the Kinderhook.
John

[Flyone73]

Does anyone know the recipe off hand? Thanks

[DA]

I think the Unileader is a Borger type. There's a link to a pdf file of 50 leader formulas on this page

http://flyfisherman.com/skills/brleadercalc/


It has Borger's formulas and others, including some by George Harvey.

[Housy Dave]

its 4 feet of 20 mils, 1 foot of 13 mils, and then 4 feet of 1X (10 mils). The loop connection is at the end of the 1x. Leader is 9-10 feet for nymphs and 10-12 feet for drys.

[Flyone73]

Thanks guys. Im going to try it out tonight if the weather holds out. Do you use regular mono or something stiff like maxima?

[Hot Tuna]

I use Maxima for the first three pieces and Orvis Super Strong for the tippet.

[sbalsen]

I use Maxima for the first three pieces and Orvis Super Strong for the tippet.

I also used Maxima for the first three pieces and regular mono (softer) for the tippet (I like Rio). It really worked great!
Sy

[Ray]

Most formulas I have seen and used all had at least 2-4' of tippet. I replace the tippet at the tippet knot when my tippet gets to about a foot or so left.