I promise I researched before I asked this question

[tangledup]

Up until now the majority of my fly fishing has been for trout, and most of that in small spring fed streams so the tapered leaders work just fine for me. I'm like tjm, I like to keep things simple and it doesn't get much simpler than grabbing a leader off the shelf and putting two loops together. Hand tying my own leaders is something I want to try but I have to admit, when I first started fly fishing and was reading about line/leader selection, learning 13,000 new knots, and all this stuff you HAVE to do or you won't catch a fish, I quickly became overwhelmed. Now that I've spent more time fishing than reading about it I'm starting to figure out what works for me and what doesn't and I have a little better handle on it. Maybe hand tied leaders are in the near future.

[snagged in outlet 3]

9 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

to get to my jeans means

Works on waders too...  

[fishinwrench]

9 hours ago, tjm said:

haven't seen any hard mono in probably 25 years, I guess Mason still makes it because I still see references to it.

Any mono that doesn't stretch reasonably easy and lose it's memory right away is "hard" by my standards.

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Works on waders too...  

Well fine then, y'all just keep using the unruly bastards.    😅

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Well fine then, y'all just keep using the unruly bastards.    😅

Don't get in a huff.  I thought the method you posted was awesome.

[tjm]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

Any mono that doesn't stretch reasonably easy and lose it's memory right away is "hard" by my standards.

Chameleon? Amnesia? 

I used to think Stren was pretty hard til i started fly fishing and the books all said to use Mason, a truly stiff nylon. Eventually I ran out of Mason and the local didn't have any, so I started using Maxima and just stayed with it. When they came out with the extruded leaders I think I tried them all and never found one that could be used off the shelf, yet other folks love them. The only one that was fairly good had Whitlock's name on it and then whoever made that one quit Whitlock or vice versa and the leaders became unavailable, on those you just had to cut the butt down to the .020" point and the rest would work.

7 hours ago, tangledup said:

learning 13,000 new knots,

Only knot I use for fishing is the double overhand knot in some form, and I'm the guy that knew every knot in the Scout's book when I was 10. And every knot in the Blue Jackets Manual.

[Flysmallie]

I'm very picky about my bass leaders. I also use the same leaders in salt water but bump up the pound test. Not for turning a fly over, just too keep those bastards from cutting it so easily. "Turning over" most bass flies is a joke. 

I carry two spools of leader material with me at all times. One is a 330ft roll of 8lb test and the other is 10lb test. I pull off what ever length I think I need at the time and put a perfection loop in one end and attach that to the fly line. On the other end I tie that to the fly. I know it's difficult to grasp but it's worth the extra effort. 

Keep it simple stupid. You can have a few already to go in your shirt pocket. You get a kink or a knot or get it all wrapped up in a tree? No need to be all worried about your concoction. Just cut that off and stuff it your pants pocket and pull out a new one. Presto! Everything is great again. 

[fishinwrench]

42 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

 

Keep it simple stupid

Once it's on the water it doesn't matter.   It's how it behaves in the air that complicates things.     When hitting the target with the FLY matters, then leader construction matters.