Leader and Tippets

The leader in fly fishing is tapered. It is thicker at the butt section, then at the tippet section. It is usually divided into three sections; the butt which is looped to the fly line, and is the longest portion of the leader, about 60%. The mid-section is next and its purpose is to taper down to the tippet without losing a lot of strength. The final section is the tippet; it is the actual section that is tied to the fly. It is the thinnest section; it needs to be strong, yet supple to allow for a natural drift, without alarming the fish.
Commercial leaders by and large achieve all this in one smooth product. Although there are still knotted leaders out there, by and large knotless leaders are the choice. A fly fisher does, however need to know how to attach new tippet portion to the fly line, I prefer the double surgeon’s knot, but the blood knot is also popular. Learn how to tie these knots before fighting that monster! A poorly tied knot will kill you every time!!!!!!!!!

The X factor
Now comes the fun part. Fly fishing is overflowing with numbering systems, and unfortunately leaders and tippets you have to learn. They are sized on the X numbering system. So when you hear someone say they are switching to a 6X, you now know they are talking about their tippet. The only thing you need to remember is the HIGER the X, the smaller the diameter. So when you add tippet to the leader you can match the X of the leader or go one X smaller. Leaders come in all lengths, so the industry seems to have settled on 9 feet as a good all-around length for trout to tarpon. It is a good length to handle for all levels of fly casters and will not spook fish under most circumstances.