Is a leader needed?

[IntoMyBacking]

Is a leader needed? Is it absolutely necessary? Or can One get away with a straight shot of mono as a leader?

[Nick Pionessa]

you don't necessarily need a store bought tapered leader but a leader with at least some taper is helpful. even three sections with a tippet making the fourth works well. you could probably get away with three if delicacy was not needed. here is a simple formula for a heavy leader. if you want a lighter one start with the second section diameter and step down from there.

42" of .022
26" of .017
16" of .013
24" of .009 2x tippet.

that finishes at 9' at about 10lb (2x)

[Michael Hartman]

There is some times, where you use a straight mono leader... I believe someone said on this board, that you use muddler minnows on a mono leader. Im sure theres other uses, ive always used the setup nick has. Just taperd mono basically.

[eddavidson]

the beauty of the sport is you can make it as simple or complex as you want. a straight section of mono will get you through most situations, but you might find it's performance lacking. everything has a trade-off. i often use a straight or simple 2-section leader when throwing heavy stuff to bass and carp. if you're ever using a sinking line, head, tip or leader, a couple feet of straight mono is all you need/want usually. if you're throwing dries on 12' of straight 2lb tippet, you'll probably have a lot of knots and waste a lot of material.

[DaveSiejka]

A leader provides a few benefits. For one thing, they are stiffer in the butt section and softer and supple in the front where you would attach your tippet. This aids in turning the fly over. In addition to this, there is the factor of transfer of energy. The butt section of a leader is thicker in diameter. This allows the energy that is transfered from your rod to your line to also transfer into your leader and eventually your fly with greater efficiency. If your leader/ you attach tippet that is too small in diameter, you will lose energy that is produced by the casting motion. Similarly, if the end of your leader/ straight mono setup is much thicker than the length of tippet you are attaching to it, you will also lose energy. Insufficient energy transfer to the fly will result in the fly not turning over properly, thus you will end up with more knots to untangle, and your tippet/leader will often land infront of your fly. What i do, especially when fishing dries for trout is use a small 5ft section of airflow polyleader. They are like $8 and they turn over very well (and they last like all year). To this i run a short to medium length of 4x and then attach the tippet that i will attach to the fly. I kno it sounds complicated (and i suck at explaining things like this in type) but i hope this helps

[gribble]

Alright time to throw a wrench into the reel! I not a pro and some times I catch fish but what I have been using the GL steelhead is 3' of 20# floro mono "Seaugar sp" and then 2'-3' of 12-15# and then 6' of straight mono either 4-8# test floro now this is just for my bobber fishing with the fly rod! I put my bobber all the way up to the top of the leader near the loop! I use pure mono have been since 1993 and feel no need when chasing pellet heads to use a tapered leader! Most of us start out throwing lead and lead and more lead and bobbers on our fly rods no need to make it difficult! Obviously I have never used the hole 1.5 time the water depth either!

[fishon]

I always go with a leader that is relevant to the fish that I am going for, However, I will use heavier to lighter tippet sections with bigger fish. I like having that thicker butt section that gives an extension to my fly line to get that fly to turn over. Nick's suggestion works, But if your knots aren't true, you will get alot of lost fish.