Beaucatcher Fly Fishing Guide Service Vancouver Washington Fly Fishing Notes

River Journal Notes

A collection of helpful information and tips regarding fly fishing, especially Spey casting and Spey fishing. References of handy information previously published and collected here for ease of use as well as my own observations concerning gear and techniques I have used on the river.

Fly Fishing Gear

The Current Airflo brand Spey lines specifications courtesy of Rajeff Sports LLC.

Compact Skagit Heads Color = Bright Green
Front loop color	Feet	Grains	gr / foot at tip	Front taper	Rear taper	Line rating
white	23	420	14	7	1.5	5/6
tan	23	450	14	7	1.5	6/7
yellow	24	480	16	7	1.5	7/8
pink	24	510	16	7	1.5	7/8
orange	25	540	16	7	1.5	8/9
light green	25	570	18	8	1.5	8/9
dark green	26	600	18	8	2	8/9
light blue	27	630	18	8	2	9/10
dark blue	27	660	18	8	2	9/10
purple	27	720	18	8	2	10/11

NW 2-hand heads (Skagit Heads) Color = Pale Peach
Line Wt. & Loop Color	Floating portion weight	Floating belly front taper length	Belly length	Rear taper length	Length of Floating w/o tip	Total line length including sink tip	Total head weight	Average rod length	Rod : Head length ratio
6/7 - sky blue	440	14	13	3	30	38	520	12.5	3.0
7/8 - yellow	470	15	14	3	32	41	560	13	3.2
8/9 - orange	530	15.5	15	3	33.5	43.5	630	13.5	3.2
9/10 - green	650	16	16	3	35	45	750	14	3.2
weights are in grains and lengths are in feet

Scandinavian Shooting Heads Color = Pale Peach
Spey Line Wt.	Grains	Length in ft.	Front Taper	Belly	Rear Taper
7/8/9	450	38	19	17	2
8/9/10	500	40	20	18	2
9/10/11	550	42	21	19	2
10/11/12	600	44	22	20	2

Scandinavian Compact Shooting Heads Color = Bright Blue
Spey Line Wt.	Grains	Length (ft.)	Front Loop Color Code
4/5	270	29	White
4/5	300	29	Tan
5/6	330	29	Yellow
5/6	360	30	Pink
6/7	390	31	Orange
6/7	420	32	Light Green
7/8	450	33	Dark Green
7/8	480	34	Light Blue
7/8	510	34	Dark Blue
8/9	540	34	Purple

	Delta Spey Color = Two tone Mint Green	Long Delta Spey Color = Two Tone Sunrise Yellow	Tactical two hand tips
Spey Line Wt	Grains	Grains	Spey Line Wt	Length - ft	Weight grains	Weight grams
6/7	470	510	6/7	13	77	5.0
7/8	530	570	7/8	13	84.62	5.5
8/9	600	640	8/9	14	96.92	6.3
9/10	680	720	9/10	15	105.38	6.85
10/11	770	---	10/11	15	115.38	7.5
Head Length	50.5' - 57'	61.5' - 67'

Spey Line Standards

The new standard for Spey lines describes four different line designs (shooting head, short belly, medium belly, and long belly) which will be identified by the letters H, S, M, and L respectively. Each line category has a different allowable grain weight over a given length of line. For instance, a line advertised as a 9-weight shooting head would have a grain weight of 430 (28 grams) in the first 40 feet. A long belly 9-weight would have 780 grains (51 grams) in the first 80 feet. The new standards will have a +/- tolerance value, but those levels have not yet been determined.

	Shooting Head Head length 30'-50' measured at 40'	Short Belly Head length 50'-60' measured at 55'	Medium Belly Head length 60'-70' measured at 65'	Long Belly Head length < 70' measured at 80'
Line Weight	grains/grams	grains/grams	grains/grams	grains/grams
6	250/16.2	420/27.3	460/29.9	600/39
7	300/19.5	470/30.5	510/33.1	650/42.2
8	360/23.4	530/34.4	570/37	710/46.1
9	430/27.9	600/39	640/41.6	780/50.6
10	510/33.1	680/44.2	720/46.8	860/55.8
11	600/39	770/50	810/52.6	950/61.7
12	700/45.5	870/56.5	910/59.1	1050/68.2

Sinking Tips for use with Skagit Heads

When choosing a sink tip for a particular Skagit head, keeping the sink tip's weight 25% or less of the Skagit head weight will allow the head to have enough weight to lift the sink tip, leader, and fly out of the water and make a cast that turns over the fly. Because a Skagit cast is a waterborne cast the sink tip is not part of the D loop used to load the rod, but instead acts as the anchor. Thus the relationship of its mass compared to the mass of the Skagit head that must lift it out of, and off of, the water is important to allow the rod to cast properly.

For rod lengths of 13 ft. or more sink tips of 8 ft to 15 ft of the same weight that is 25% or less of the Skagit head weight will all cast the same under most circumstances. However, because the 3X to 3.5X head length to rod length factor to create a D loop that properly loads the rod, rods of less than 13 feet in length use Skagit heads of less than 45 feet in length. In this case the length as well as the weight of the sink tip can effect the cast. For example an 11 ft. rod would only use a Skagit head length of 33 to 38.5 ft. If you were to use a 15 ft. sink tip the tip would be almost half the length of the Skagit head. The ability of the Skagit head to cleanly lift a sink tip, of proper weight, about half its own length out of the water is not likely. Thus, one must look at the length and weight of both the Skagit head and the sink tip when determining a combination that will cast and turn over the fly well.

Lamson Reel Weighting to Balance a Spey Rod

Many modern large Spey rod sized reels are simply too light to balance 15 foot or longer rods and some of the older rods that were heavier than the modern 12 to 14 foot Spey rods on the market today. While this is not really a problem when casting two-handed it is very tiring and uncomfortable while fishing out the swing when the fly is in the water. To correct this I devised a means of changing the reel weight by adding brass weights made to slip on and off of the Lamson LiteSpeed reel center hub. Weights up to about 10 oz. can be used without interfering with the normal working of the reel and various sized weights can be interchanged or completely removed easily without in any way modifying the reel itself. Pictured are 4 oz. and 5 oz. weights I use along with a 9 oz. weight not shown, to properly balance my RL Winston Derek Brown Favorite Spey rods. A friend uses a 1.5 oz. weight made of aluminum to balance this reel with a favorite Bob Meiser rod.

Steelheader's ultimate fanny pack

Steelheader's that cast a two handed rod seldom wear a traditional fishing vest or waistcoat as they tend to get in the way of casting. While backpacks don't have the interference problem they are difficult if not impossible to access without removing them. Thus, the solution many feel is the best is a fanny pack on a wading belt which can then be swiveled to the front when the pack needs to be accessed and swiveled to the fisherman's back when the contents of the pack are not needed. Unfortunately, there is no well thought out fanny pack for those steelheaders, especially winter steelheaders, that is waterproof, and has a fully functional wading belt. The solution is to take the best wading belt made by Fishpond and the best waterproof roll top fanny pack made by Simms (currently not available except from shops that have some left over after Simms improved it to the point where it has become useless).

Start with a Fishpond Rio Grande wader belt. This is the best wader belt currently on the market. It has a mesh back panel large enough to offer some back support, a second web belt to mount tools and the like which is sectioned so once you mount a tool it stays where you want it, a large and easy to use composite buckle system, D-rings to attach your wading staff and landing mitt for example, and a reflective piping on the upper back edge of the belt so you can find the belt in a O-dark thirty room or the bottom of a gear bag.

Fishpond Rio Grande wader belt

The Simms Roll Top fanny pack comes with a wading belt that is useless for deep wading as it has zippered pockets that are not waterproof so they just collect water. In addition it has no D-rings and no tool attachment ability. You toss this wader belt or give to someone you really don't like;^)

Simms wading belt

The Simms Roll Top fanny pack on the other hand can be modified to become the best available waterproof fanny pack. The pack comes like this.

Simms Fanny Pack front view

Simms Roll Top Pack back

Now as you see the back has four unneeded connection devices and a handle so ladies can use it for a clutch with their favorite Channel black cocktail dress. The front has a zippered pocket that is nothing but a collector of water and a fly patch that also sucks up water like a sponge. Hell maybe it is a sponge. These all need to be removed. The back is an easier job so let's start there. Using a seam ripper tool cut the stitching holding the four gizmo straps and the handle and remove the waste thread. The needle holes are only in the separate back panel to which the belt passes through and not the bag wall itself. Thus, there are no holes to seal. While you are working on the back side you have to cut new slots for the wader belt tool belt as the original slots do not align with the Fishpond belt. I cut these using a razor blade and a heavy piece of cardboard backing between the bag and the attachment panel. If you cut these to the bag mounts from the top of this panel it will hang vertically when you wear it and not have the top lean outward.

Simms Roll Top fanny pack back fixed

The modification to the front is a bit more touchy. The whole black front panel creating the water collection front zippered pocket and having the sponge sewn to it has to be cut off using a razor blade or other very sharp cutting tool. Start by cutting through the black panel below the zipper and cutting to the welt edge. Then carefully cut along the weld line while holding the black panel away from the gray pack wall behind. Very carefully or you will end up with a hole to patch.

Simms Roll Top fanny pack front fixed

Below is the first bag I modified mounted on Fishpond wader belt. You will notice in this first try I got a bit carried away with the razor blade and made a hole to patch. You of course, having been warned, will not make this mistake. My pliers and landing mitt (not seen here) are also on the belt with a tether shown for the mitt attached to a D-ring.

Fishpond-Simms fanny pack

A couple of days ago I managed to step into a hole that was far deeper than I expected and got into water over the top of the wading belt and the bag was totally submerged. It took on some water. Upon looking into why it shipped water I found that the Velcro strap in the center of the bag opening creates a pair of openings along the length of the Velcro that channels water into the bag. So I have now taken this Velcro off using the seam ripper as used in the steps above. This should improve the waterproof quality of the bag. However, none of this type of roll top wet bag is totally waterproof if submerged so keeping the contents in plastic bags turned out to be a good thing in my case. Last time out to the river I purposefully got into water up to the top of the bag (but not completely over it) and the bag without the Velcro strips stayed bone dry. Removal of these Velcro strips is recommended.

Wheatley Fly Box Tube Fly Modification

The pleasure of holding and the excitement of opening a Wheatley fly box to reveal the wondrous magic within is one of life's greatest simple pleasures. However, Wheatley does not make a tube fly box that will accept and securely hold all types of tube flies. There is a solution for this oversight by the Wheatley folks which may be realized with the aid of tube fly wire inserts available from Bob Braendle at the Great Lakes Spey Shop. Contact information for Bob can be found here Great Lakes Spey Shop. What you need are two sets of the hinged wires and two sets of magnet strips as shown below. Bob will make these to order to fit your box of choice.

Tube Fly Wire Holder Picture

You will also need a Wheatley empty fly box shell as shown below and available at most fly shops.

Empty Wheatley Fly Box picture

Use slow curing epoxy (24 hour epoxy) to permanently mount the hinged wires and magnet strips in the desired location in each half of the Wheatley box. After the epoxy has fully cured you have a Wheatley tube fly box as shown below. When your tube flies are inserted onto the wires they are securely but easily accessed. As you can see in the second image below you can mount tube flies tied on straight tubing, bottle tubes, tubes with cone heads and tubes with bead heads equally well.

Empty Wheatley wire tube fly box picture

Whetley tube fly box with tubes picture

While this Wheatley box will not hold as many tube flies as some of the large Off The Hook brand clear plastic boxes I get a lot more pleasure out of having it to enjoy on the river.

Leaders Get No Respect

            Fly-fishing has become major business for tackle manufacturers. Fly rod models change more often than automobiles. Reel makers spring up like mushrooms. Breathable waders are so popular that there are new brands of breathable materials seemingly born every day. Fly lines are marked with lasers and have coating that are limp, or stiff, or heat resistant, etc. Not to mention fly-fishing vests with suspenders, load bearing yokes, and designer linings. All of these products, and hundreds more, are marketed with all of the publicity of a Hollywood movie extravaganza by a used car salesman.
            However, to catch fish you must still present the fly properly and to do that you need a leader to turn over the fly. Leaders are critical to fly fishermen and fly-fishing. Leaders are also the least understood piece of fly-fishing equipment.
            A leader is used to "turn over" and present the fly to the fish. As such, it is the most vital link between the fly and the fisherman. Therefore, understanding leaders is of great importance to every fly fisherman.
            Today commercially available leaders are generally of two types. One type is the braided leader. This type of leader consists of a length of tapered braided polymeric strands with a monofilament polymeric tippet section attached to the finer end of the braided section. The braided leader can be either a floating or a sinking version. The other common type of leader consists of a polymeric monofilament strand, which is tapered to a fine tippet section. These leaders can be of either a knotless or a knotted construction. In addition, the monofilament leader can be either a floating or a sinking version. Further, the monofilament can consist of various compositions and combinations of two or more polymeric compositions and may also be coated with a tungsten power coating to make it sink.
            Interestingly, manufacturers do not disclose to the fisherman the compositions and taper formulae beyond vague generalities. Thus, the fly fisherman has no way to find a proper leader for his purpose except through trial and error.
            In the U. S., most fly fishermen pick a leader by brand loyalty. They really have nothing else to go on. The particular leader is chosen by the tippet diameter based on the old gut leader "X" system. This system allows the fly fisherman to determine the nominal diameter, in inches, of the tippet portion of a leader. Or does it? Actually, today, it does not. Most, if not all, monofilament extruded into leaders today is done in Japan or Europe. Both areas use only metric measurement in these industrial processes. So leaders are made in millimeters. The makers then convert and "round off" these metric diameters to diameter in inches. There is no standard for this translating. Also most makers oversize their material so it has greater breaking strength for a given nominal diameter. Thus, a 5X (0.006 inch diameter) tippet could be anywhere from 7X (0.04 inch diameter) to 3X (0.08 inch diameter). Most often, this difference is on the heavy side. On the other end of the leader, you have the same problem, if the butt diameter is even given. In addition, to complete the mystery, the taper specifications are not disclosed either. Thus, the fly fisherman really has no idea of the actual specifications of the leader he is buying.
            How do we overcome these problems? There are two methods. The first is trial and error testing of different leaders until one is found that works properly. The second is to build your own leaders to the specifications necessary to make the leader work properly.
            The operative phrase is "works properly". No one leader can possibly work properly for all conditions. Limiting ourselves to trout fishing still means that we will need several different types of leaders. For dry fly fishing, we need a leader that turns over the fly but lands with a number of S curves. This is necessary to allow the fly to float drag free while the current straightens out the leader. For nymph fishing we need a leader that straightens out at the end of the cast so that we can feel the fish taking the nymph. At the same time, the nymph leader must be fine enough to allow the fly to sink to the bottom of the stream. For fishing streamers, we need a short stout leader to turn over the larger heavier flies and protect against breakage due to generally savage strikes by larger fish.
            For those fly fishermen using pre-made leaders there are several guidelines you can follow to get a leader that will work for each kind of fishing situation. Leaders are generally marked with some type of descriptive label that can assist you in picking the proper leader. Leaders that are labeled as Trout Leaders generally have a butt section diameter suitable for fly lines in the 2 wt. to 5 wt. range of fly lines. They are also generally made for dry fly fishing in that they do not straighten out completely under normal casting conditions. Instead, they land with a number of S curves to allow for a period of drag free float for the fly. Some makers also produce leaders labeled as Nymph Leaders. Generally, these leaders are made of a stiffer polymeric composition or have longer butt and/or midsections or both. This allows the leader to straighten out completely under normal casting conditions. This in turn puts the fly fisherman in direct contact with his sunken fly. I have not seen any leaders labeled as streamer leaders, but there may be such a product out there. Where such descriptions are not available, the fly fisherman can still obtain the proper leader by understanding what he is trying to achieve. As we have seen, if the leader is labeled only as a Trout Leader it is almost certainly a dry fly leader. For leaders for nymph and wet fly fishing, you have several options. You can purchase a dry fly leader that is several feet longer than you wish to fish and cut it back that several feet from the tippet end. This removes the fine section and gets you back into the midsection that is heavier. Another option is to purchase a Bass Leader. This leader is generally has longer, and heavier butt and midsections and a shorter tippet section than the comparable Trout Leader. For streamer fishing you can cut the Bass Leader back into the midsection and get the short stout leader you require. Finally, you can purchase a brand of leader that uses stiffer monofilament for use in nymph and streamer fishing. Brands such as Maxima are stiffer than comparable leaders of Orvis or Umpqua for example.
            Now we will explore making your own knotted monofilament leaders. Before jumping in however, we need to have some basic background information. In order to tie leaders we must know how to tie two knots properly. The first knot may be either the perfection loop or the surgeons loop, and the second knot is the blood knot. Diagrams of each of these knots can be found in any book on fishing knots.
           Additionally, you need to remember to wet every knot before pulling it up tight. Once wetted the knot must be pulled tight with a smooth even continuous tension and never by jerking the monofilament. Further, in the case of the blood knot when joining two pieces of monofilament having more that 3X or 4X difference in diameter you get a far stronger knot when you double the smaller diameter monofilament to tie the knot or use the Gary Borger 5/7 Blood Knot. This also makes it much easier to draw the knot tight.
            The perfection loop is tied without the aid of any tools. The blood knot may be tied either solely by hand or with the aid of a blood knot tool. There are a number of blood knot tying tools commercially available. All will assist you in producing good strong knots once you take the time to learn how to use them correctly. I have a favorite blood knot tool. It is the Moodus Sport Tool Products blood knot tool. I prefer this tool because it is easy to learn to use, ties perfect blood knots every time, and can be modified easily to fit in a fly tying vise so you have both hands free for knot tying. The only modification needed to use this tool in a fly tying vise is to file the tongue at the back of the tool so it is thin enough to fit in your fly tying vise jaws.

Dry Fly Leaders

Until recently most dry fly leaders were constructed using the George Harvey style or formula. George Harvey developed this style of leader in the 1940's and they still work well today. This style of leader construction does not allow the leader to straighten out completely when cast. Instead the leader lands on the water with a series of S curves. That is, it partially collapses at the end of the cast. This is the critical thing necessary to allow for the dry fly to have a drag free float. The fly is floating naturally, without drag induced by the conflicting currents between the fly and the angler, during the time it takes for the S curves to be straightened out. This was a major step forward for dry fly fishing. However, to create such leaders you must use numerous short pieces of monofilament of differing diameters. This in turn requires a multitude of blood knots in each leader. A few George Harvey style leader formulae are given below to illustrate. They are good leaders for dry fly fishing and worth the time to tie and take fishing.

George Harvey Style Dry Fly Leaders

For size 20 and smaller flies:

10 Foot Leader:

Butt: 48" of 0.019-inch

Mid-section: 18" of 0.015-inch

12" of 0.013-inch

6" of 0.011-inch

6" of 0.009-inch

6" of 0.007-inch

Tippet: 24" of 0.005-inch

12 Foot Leader:

Butt: 54" of 0.021-inch

24" of 0.017-inch

Mid-section: 12" of 0.013-inch

10" of 0.011-inch

8" of 0.009-inch

6" of 0.007-inch

Tippet: 6" of 0.005-inch

24" of 0.004-inch

A new way of looking at dry fly leader design came from the fertile mind of Gary Borger and was published in his fly-fishing system approach book Presentation in 1995. What Gary Borger found was that he could achieve the required S curves in a dry fly leader during casting without having to tie so many individual pieces of monofilament together. As a consequence there were far fewer blood knots to tie. As you see from the Gary Borger leader formulae below the leaders consist of a butt section, one or two midsections, and a tippet section. Thus, you are only required to tie two or three blood knots for each leader. These leaders work equally as well as the George Harvey style, but with a lot less blood letting by the person tying the blood knots.

Gary Borger Style Dry Fly Leaders

Size 10 through 14 flies:

Butt: 48" of 0.013-inch

Mid-section: 12" of 0.010-inch

Tippet: 48" of 0.007-inch (4X)

Size 20 and smaller:

Butt: 12" of 0.013-inch

Mid-section: 48" of 0.010-inch

48" of 0.007-inch

Tippet: 12" of 0.004 or 0.005-inch

            The basis for the Gary Borger dry fly leader is the fact that it is not necessary to have no more than a 0.002-inch diameter difference between pieces of leader material in order to have the leader turn over. In deed, what Gary found was that the cross-sectional area of the leader can be reduced by 60 percent and the leader will not hinge, but will turn the leader over properly. Gary points out that a 60 percent reduction in cross-section area is the same as a 35 percent reduction in diameter.
            "So, instead of instead of stepping a leader down from 0.020, to 0.018, to 0.016, to 0.014, to 0.012, to 0.010 inch, the fly fisher can step down from 0.020 to 0.013 to 0.008. (Multiply the size of the material by 0.65 (65%) to get the next smaller size that you can use; for example, 0.020 x 0.65 = 0.013)." (see Presentation, p.181).
            When you use this 60 percent reduction method you must modify the way you tie the blood knot. Gary Borger explains, "But if there's more than 0.002 inch difference between the two pieces of material being joined, then the Blood Knot tends to slip". (see Presentation, p.187). The answer is Gary's 5/7 Blood Knot. "Instead of making 5 turns with each end of the material, the angler ties the knot using 5 turns with the heavy material and 7 turns with the light material. "The extra turns with the lighter material produces a knot that pulls up evenly; each side slides tight at the same rate and the knot forms perfectly. It's the same length from the center to either end of the knot." (see Presentation, p.188).
            In both styles of construction, the tippet needs to be made using a very soft, or limp, monofilament material. This will allow the leader to produce the S curves that you are trying to produce when casting a dry fly.
            Give both of these dry fly leader construction styles a go. Tie a few of each and fish them each a bit. See what works best for your style of casting and fishing and then stick with that formula. Remember however, that when the fishing conditions change, or the size of the fly changes, you need to think about the leader required to turn over that fly under those conditions, and still achieve a drag free float.
             Next we will finish dry fly leader design with comments by my friend Paul Beebe, concerning leader tapers.
            "Most knotted leaders (is there another kind?) are built with ratios of butt-to-mid-to-tippet lengths of 50-25-25 or 60-20-20. Essentially, these ratios are the same. So the one you use is a matter of personal preference to best suit your casting style. However, 50-25-25 leaders can be made with long tippets from more subtle material to give drag free drifts of dry flies. In addition, with the Bloody Quick knot used to join sections, it is not necessary to have small diameter changes between sections (say, 0.002 or 0.003 inch). Rather, you can join sections with diameters different by as much as 0.005 to 0.007 inch. So, a basic 10-foot, 5X dry-fly leader is made from 5 feet of 0.020 inch diameter, 2.5 feet of 0.015 inch diameter, 1 foot of 0.010 inch diameter, and lastly 1.5 feet of 0.006 inch diameter material. This is simple and quick, and very similar to the Uni-Body Leaders of Gary Borger but with better knot confidence.
            You could just as well call that portion of the leader from the 0.020-inch diameter to the 0.010-inch diameter, a base section onto which you add your proper tippet section. I use Maxima Chameleon material for all sections but the tippet section. I use Umpqua or Climax for the tippet section. More from habit than anything else, I continue to use a 48-inch butt section of 0.022, 0.020, or 0.017 inch diameter Maxima. This is followed by a 30-inch section of 0.015-inch diameter Maxima and an 18-inch section of 0.010-inch diameter Maxima as a base leader or base section. Some may think that 0.020-inch diameter is too stiff for a 5-weight line, and, for some people and rods, it might be. However, my rods are first generation Winston Graphite, and they are slow and difficult to cast without closing the loop. A stiffer material like Maxima helps to get the loop open near the end of the line. Again, this is my personal style and casting stroke. Someone else might alter the leader material or use slightly different proportions. However, in most all leaders, you will find the proportions are invariably just about 50-25-25 or 60-20-20.
            A final note, most leader material measures 0.001-inch diameter larger than labeled. All leader material, Maxima included, is extruded in metric sizes and then converted (incorrectly too) to non-metric sizes. Thus, don't be too concerned about the uneven graduations in Maxima labels; say from 0.022 to 0.020 to 0.017 inches in diameter. Those sizes are actually 0.55, 0.50, and 0.45 mm diameter.
            As you can see, Paul has opened a completely new facet to tying your own leaders. You can tailor a leader to your personal casting style, or the casting characteristics of your fly rod, or both. This is something almost impossible to do with commercially manufactured leaders.
            A final comment about dry fly leaders, in an article by a well-known commercial fly tyer on dry fly leader construction, he stated that you couldn't produce a proper dry fly leader unless you use only 0.001-inch diameter changes between sections. I will sum up my thoughts on this idea in the words of a famous member of the British Foreign Service, "RUBBISH!" Even if you could get monofilament in 0.001-inch diameter size differences, which you cannot, you simply end up with a series of knots strung together with pieces of monofilament. For example using this idea would produce a George Harvey style 10 foot, 6X dry fly leader having 17 knots!
            Now we turn to leaders that are designed for nymph and wet fly fishing. In dry fly fishing, we need the leader to collapse over some portion of the tippet end to provide the slack necessary to allow some period of drag free float of the fly. In nymph fishing, on the other hand, we need the leader to tell us were to look for our fly. Why is this so? In nymph and wet fly fishing the fly is under water and not visible to us in most instances. We must instead concentrate on where the fly is underwater and watch it with our mindï¿½s eye. If the leader partially collapses into coils of slack we cannot determine where the fly, which is out of sight, is in the stream. Ideally, we want the leader to extend in a straight line directly out from the end of the fly line. Then we are able to concentrate on watching the correct area in the stream to detect the strike of a fish. In many forms of nymph fishing the use of a strike indicator of some type can be helpful. Nevertheless, do not be lulled into thinking that watching the strike indicator will make you a good nymph fisherman. It will not. I can personally attest to the fact that bass and walleye, for example, can, and do, suck in a lure and expel it without ever causing a strike indicator to move. While I have not fished under conditions where I could watch the trout, I do not doubt they too do take far more lures than we ever realize. Nymph fishing means spending long periods concentrating on our unseen fly interspersed with short periods of adrenaline rushes when we raise our rod and a fish is on. The intense concentration on where our sunken fly is tells us when to raise our rod to receive the adrenaline rush! If your attention span is no longer than the 20-second sound bites on the evening news you will never be very successful nymph fishing, no matter how many strike indicators you use.
            How do we construct a leader that will allow the best presentation of a sunken fly while providing us with the best detection ability? First, we use a relatively stiff material throughout the leader. This means that the tippet is stiff enough so that it will not collapse when casting a nymph. Instead it will turn over the nymph and push it straight out from the fly line. It becomes an extension of the fly line all the way out to the fly itself. One of the best leader materials to accomplish this is Maxima chameleon brand monofilament. This particular material has the correct stiffness even in the 7X size for nymph leaders. Additionally, it is very abrasion-resistant and has great knot strength.
            Leader formulae for nymph leaders are somewhat more simplistic than comparable dry fly leader formulae. The following nymph fishing leader recipes will give you a good starting point as well as several very good nymph-fishing leaders. Both recipes are from Gary Borger. Four feet of 0.020" diameter, one foot of 0.013" diameter, four feet of 2X, and 6" to 8"of 5X monofilament. This is a good leader when we use lead to get the fly down deep quickly. Attach the lead just about the knot between the 2X and the 5X material. When not using lead or for use with streamers try four feet of 0.020" diameter, 1 foot of 0.013" diameter, two feet of 2X, and one foot of 5X. This leader will turn over the fly straightened out and ready to fish as soon as the fly hits the water. All material used for these leaders is Maxima Chameleon brand monofilament.

Boot Lace Tip

Here is a method to "tie" your wading bootlaces without the need to tie and untie knots. Place a small plastic spring-loaded closure (used on stuff sack draw cords) on your bootlaces. This will hold the laces tight while you are fishing and allow quick easy "untying" of the wet (frozen) laces at the end of the day. Even cold frozen fingers have no trouble releasing your laces using this method.

Total cost is about $2.00 for the pair of closures you will need. These are readily available at most camping/hiking shops.

Gaiter Saving Tip

My favorite gaiters for use when wading are made of neoprene and utilize a Velcro brand fasting system. They are easy to put on and take off even when your hands are cold and numb. However, after losing one in fast water I was reminded quite graphically that neoprene floats. And after having to shell out another $25 dollars for a new pair I decided that the boot speed lace hook put on by the manufacturer had to be replaced by a better security system. With this in mind I stopped in at the local outdoor shop which carries camping and packing supplies. There I found some small engineered material (graphite filled nylon or some such) snap swivel clips. A pair of these and a foot of nylon webbing of suitable size for the clip loops cost a mere $2.35 plus sales tax.

At home I used a seam ripper to remove the nylon webbing holding the boot speed lace clip from each gaiter. Then I cut and melted two pieces of the nylon webbing to provide a loop about the same size as the original from the one foot strip. I placed one snap on each piece of webbing and used a standard home sewing machine to stitch the nylon webbing onto each gaiter in the same location as the old webbing.

Now when I put on the gaiters I snap them onto my boot lace at the toe of the wading boot and even if the closure lets go or is torn open the gaiter is locked to my wading boot. This will also work for any other style of gaiter which opens into a single layer of material.

The illustration below will give you all the information you need to make this simple improvement on your neoprene gaiters. Hopefully, you will try this before having to spend $25.00 to replace one lost gaiter.

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