Your most common leader length and weight?

[Orey10m]

To the other fly guys here, I was looking at buying a pack of leaders recently and haven't bought some in a long time, and am also new to the state so still figuring some things out. 

So I poll thee: what do you find is your most common leader length and weight/rating?

 9ft, 5x

7.5ft?

Something else?

Obviously it depends on the stream and fish you'll be catching, but what is your most common "go to"?

So far I mainly fish for trout, along hwy 44 (spring creeks, meramec, etc), I want to fish the Current more, and plan to fish for smallies

 

Thanks for any insight!

[jdmidwest]

Short casts and short rods, 7.5 5x should work fine.  Those streams are usually 8' rods for me in 4 or 5 wt.  Tailwaters are 9 or 9.5' rods and longer leaders.

[tjm]

I tie my own leaders so they can be almost any length and taper. Typically about the length of the rod and 5X for trout and about 6' long and 1X for smb. If I were buying extruded leaders, for trout; I'd start with 9'-3X and cut about 18" off the butt end to reduce the diameter to about 0,017" -0.0018" and then tie about 30" of 5X Powerflex on as tippet. For bass I could use this and cut it back to the 1X and tie in a 1X extension as tippet although that be longer than I prefer. In still water I've used up to about 16'-9X for trout, which almost has to be handcrafted. Several whole books have been written about leadercraft and construction, so it's not a really simple subject, but, it doesn't have to overly complicated either, I think every one should roll their own for better and cheaper fishing.

[ColdWaterFshr]

TJM has it right, except for that part about 16 feet of 9X.  Kooky talk.  Try casting that.  🤣

Maybe misunderstood.  9X, even at the very end of 16 ft of whatever tapered construct, unless you're fishing for 3 inch minnows, its not right.

[tjm]

Still water midges 22-24, 1/2# test tippet, roll cast- but it was a Joe Brooks design that I copied and I was 4-5 decades younger then than mow. I don't think there is any place in Mo. comparable to the kettle ponds back east. Brooks had unnecessarily complicated leaders with compound tapers.

[ColdWaterFshr]

11 minutes ago, tjm said:

Still water midges 22-24, 1/2# test tippet, roll cast- but it was a Joe Brooks design that I copied and I was 4-5 decades younger then. I don't think there is any place in Mo. comparable to the kettle ponds back east.

I don't even know what a kettle pond is, but if you are quoting Joe Brooks, well then, I will, in the parlance of or our time, STFU. I do hold him in high esteem.

I've got some 22's and 24's hooks laying around here somewhere . .. . . 

[tjm]

9 minutes ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

Joe Brooks,

"The Complete Book of Fly Fishing"   was my first book on the subject and I almost memorized it at the time, it and ""Art of Tying the Wet Fly & Fishing the Flymph"   have been strong influences on my lifestyle ever since, of course Tom Nixon modified some of Brooks' notions for me. I still refer to those three fairly often- good books may the best investment of our lives.

[tjm]

19 minutes ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

I've got some 22's and 24's hooks laying around here somewhere . .. .

Let's stay with visible stuff nowadays , say #14 Renegades or Royal Wulffs.

[Orey10m]

Interestingly I generally have been tying my own leaders for a while now too.

But I'm kinda tired of all the knots in the line, and lately I long for the simplicity of that extruded leader again.  Also, $9 for a 5 pack of leaders is plenty cheap for me. 

Thanks for all the info everyone

[Ham]

9 foot 5 wt. I tie in a tippet ring once it gets down to 7.5 foot or so and then you can add whatever length/strength you want.