Members Sunfish45 Posted February 8, 2011 Members Posted February 8, 2011 I fish warm water species in the Texas Hill Country, but head back to the Ozarks every chance I get. One of our local guides endorses a leader made with equal lengths of 30# / 20# and 12 # mono and totaling 6 to 9 feet in length. What kind of leaders do you use? Sunfish45
flytyer57 Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Premade tapered leaders from 16lb to 6x depending what I'm fishing for. There's a fine line between fishing and sitting there looking stupid.
Danoinark Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 When fishing the streams for warmwater species, just a straight piece of 6 or 8 lb mono. Works for me. Glass Has Class "from the laid back lane in the Arkansas Ozarks"
Members Dan Sweeney Posted February 9, 2011 Members Posted February 9, 2011 Sunfish, check the next thread up or down. It's the one about furled/twisted leaders. They are mainly what I use for that exact type of fishing. They work well. The thread author embedded a video on how to make them, and trust me, it really is that simple. If you want, you can bend them over a third time to double your butt section again and make it stiffer yet to help with turnover. Maybe this will help. Enjoy! By the way, I've been dying to get down there to the Hill Country to chase some Guadalupe bass. I have an old copy of "Flyfishing the Texas Hill Country" but haven't made the trip yet. Was planning to this past fall, but then your part of the world washed away in floods and bow season started up here, so there ya go. I'll get down there sooner or later though. Beautiful country there. Silence is golden.
ozark trout fisher Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I usually just use a 9' tapered leader. What it tapers to depends. For small pond bass and bluegill, I usually go with 5x, (I think that's about 4 pound test) and for larger bass and stream smallmouth usually 3x or 4x. I use mono usually since I do much of my warm-water fly fishing with topwater stuff, but sometimes flouro if I know that I'll just be fishing subsurface. It totally depends what species you're going after, the depth you're fishing, and how large of fish you can expect to catch in the given body of water.
Gavin Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 It depends...Topwater...I use a tapered leader...usually 30/20/10 about 9-12' long...for Subsurface...I cut off the 20/10 section and add a 6-8' long piece of 8lb Flourocarbon. That "Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country" book is a good one. Its been on the list of places to visit for a long time....but I've never made it down...The Devil's River is pretty high on the list..do you know of any outfitters running trips down there?
Members Dan Sweeney Posted February 9, 2011 Members Posted February 9, 2011 Yeah, that Devil's River would be really great. No idea who would guide on it though. From what I gather on other forums, access can be tough to come by, but doable. Connections or such. Anyway, I'm thread-jacking. Sorry about that. Silence is golden.
FlyFishinFool Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 For the last year I have been using 6' to 7' furled leaders made from Spiderwire, manufactured by the Simontons: http://www.thesimontons.com/Fishinggear.html They make the furled leaders out of 6lb Spiderwire, but with the furling you end up with 4 strands at the tippet ring; super-durable and uber-strong! The furled leaders work great in warm water, smooth with small flies but heavy enough to turn over big flies, with no splash or spray on delivery/pick-up. You can get the leaders made to whatever length you want, and then add tippet (again, whatever type or length you want) depending on your fishing depth. For tippet I use 4lb to 8lb fluoro or mono depending on the targeted fish (gills-4lb, smallmouth-6lb, largemouth-8lb, etc.) and method (top vs. sinking). * ´¯`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸ ><((((((º> `•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸ ><((((º> .¸¸.•´¯`•.¸ ><((((((º> I look in my fly box and think about what should guide my choice of the best fly: the amount/angle of sun on the water, the water temp & clarity, what bugs are hatching, what the fish might be eating, and what worked last time. Then I remember what an old man told me... " Ninety percent of what a trout eats is brown, fuzzy, about 1/2 inch long and underwater."
Members Sunfish45 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Members Posted February 10, 2011 Dan and Gavin both mentioned "Fly Fishing The Texas Hill Country" and it has recently been updated by Kevin Hutchison, FISHHEAD PRESS. The section on the Devils River was done by Kevin Stubbs. I heard him do a program on Bass Fishing the Devils River and the Rio Grand below Falcon Dam. He said they are both outstanding fishing but access is impossible. Never fear he has connections, and guides trips on both. There maybe other outfitters on the Devils River, but it looked like he has a great operation. I would probably talk to Kevin Hutchison, I think said something about setting up so trips there and have fished with (Best Food on a Float Trip) him before. It is a Spring or Fall trip, because it's too HOT in the Summer and it pretty COOL in the Winter. I like idea furled leaders, but would probably use 10 or 12# mono or Fluorocarbon. I usually don't find Bass or Sunfish leader shy and go thinner only if the eye of my fly forces me to. I like to be able horse them out of the brush. Thanks for the replies about leaders.....Sunfish45
ozark trout fisher Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 You all are using some heavy tippet/leaders-I've never used a leader bigger than 3x in my life except one time when I was fishing for stripers in Maine. Must be catching bigger fish...
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