Long Leaders and Dull Colored Lines

Myth 13 Fly Fishing Western Wyoming

Long Leaders and Dull Colored Lines

I need long leaders and dull colored lines to catch spooky fish in clear water. I hear this one all the time! What makes this statement problematic is the truth of it depends on the technique used and a belief that fish see color the same way we do. For traditional upstream presentations, the statement is generally true – at least as far as the leader portion is concerned. In order to prevent drag on the fly, a longer leader with a long tippet is a good idea. In addition, you don’t want your fly line landing on top of the fish – or even close enough for it to hear.

I have my doubts as to the dull fly line part. (For a number of reasons I’ll discuss in the next paragraph, I use nothing but bright orange lines.) I believe fish spook when a line crashes on top of them or goes over their heads during a false cast, regardless of color.

I do not believe color makes a significant difference for 3 reasons:

1) Fish see color differently than we do.

2) When viewing a fly line from underwater, the color is hard to see.

3) I have caught a ton of fish on an orange line and have never felt that color makes a difference.

I use an orange line because:

1) I can see it in the air, so I can avoid bushes, and can more easily check my loop formation and direction, 2) I can find my rod when I lay it down in bushes or the ground

3) It takes great pictures.

4) and most importantly, I can see the mends on the water. I know exactly where my line is and what it is doing. Dull lines do not afford these advantages, especially in low light or water glare.

As for leader length, the longer the leader the more difficult it is to place a fly exactly where you want to, and more importantly, it is almost impossible to mend the long leader to the fly. Mending your line only does not usually solve the problem of drag. You need to mend all the way to the fly. This is impossible with a long leader.

I now use leaders of 7 to 8 feet and have had excellent results on very spooky fish by fishing them down, or down and across the current. With the use of the reach mend, and various curve and slack line casts, my fly gets to the fish with minimal drag and, just as importantly, the fly is the first thing the fish sees – no line, no leader, no drag! Of course, there are times when the situation requires an upstream presentation with long leaders. But in general, the downstream presentation is, in my view, superior for hooking picky fish in clear water.

With a  downstream presentation, the big issue is the hook set. You need to wait a bit longer before lifting. I usually wait until the fish is under the water to set. The set should be almost nonexistent. Simply tighten up the line keeping a loose grip. With the line downstream, rod tip down, and no slack with light tippets, breaking fish off is easy to do. For that reason, I am using more and more “soft” rods for my fishing. They protect small tippets better, are fun to cast, and fight fish better because the effective lever is shorter as the rod bends lower toward your hand.

In any case, you might want to experiment with shorter leaders and different presentations. My typical trout setup is a 5wt rod, 5wt Ballistic Pro Performance Fly Line, and a 7½ foot 3x Rio leader. I add tippet as needed. I would also recommend a 10ft rod for most medium to large rivers. The extra length really enhances mending and roll casting.

The Ballistic Pro Performance Line is built for roll casting and mending at 30 to 60 ft. It has a small diameter of 13ft. front taper that allows for delicate presentations of small flies but still has the ability to cast big size 4 flies, nymph rigs and small streamers – even with a 5wt line! Next time you are in the market for a fly line, check it out at snakeriveroutfitters.com

Have fun and don’t forget to play a bit as you fish. We learn by experimenting and expanding our horizons!

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