Tying Tapered Leaders

Tying Tapered Leaders

Based on the formulas of A.J. McClane

by Jack Montague, sent from The Wolfglen Fly Fishing Center, Punta Gorda, FL

NOTE - best viewed on a PC or laptop screen

From post-WWII America through the early 90's, Albert Jules McClane, was the most familiar and respected byline in angling literature. Known to the world as, "A.J.," he was the fishing editor of Field & Stream magazine, and wrote more than 20 books. 

Considered fishings' Renaissance Man, McClane strode past the boundaries of fishing, alone. He was a writer, fly-tier, artist, photographer, explorer, gourmet chef, raconteur....few in angling history was ever wiser, more resourceful or more visionary.

On the subject of leaders, McClane was very specific. He covered everything from dyeing leaders with coffee or tea (a common practice at the time)*, to successfully constructing a proper leader. Along these lines, and the focus of this article, he recommended building leaders with a 60/20/20 composition. 

This simply means:

• 60% of the leader is a stiff butt, as an extension of the line
• 20% tapering from the butt
• 20% tapering to the tippet

This is the general starting point; fine tuning for various reasons will follow from there.

Stiff and Stiffer
Where we say the word, "stiff," in this context, we want to keep in mind that a stiff leader butt is good...to a point. 

Years ago, most commercial leaders had butt sections that were far too short and light. 

So people got the idea that "a stiff butt is good, so an even stiffer one must be better." 

I mean who doesn't like a stiff butt? 

But, once your leaders' butt section matches, or exceeds, the stiffness of the line's tip, it soon becomes counter productive. 

Think of your line as a whip unrolling (not snapping), with a continuous, consistent taper on the end section. 

With the proper consistency along the entire taper, the line and leader unroll smoothly. 

However, if you were to cut the whip where the leader joins, and insert a piece of soft rope, the unrolling loop would collapse at that point. 

On the other end of the extreme, if you inserted an overly stiff section 3/4 of the way to the tip, the whole thing wants to resist ANY smooth rolling out.

The resistance of a butt section that is too stiff can also damage your line. If you've ever experienced a fly line that develops concentric fracturing of the line's coating near the tip of the line, a too stiff butt is frequently a cause of this.

So, too stiff can be as bad as too soft.

Normally, 30 lb. test leader material is about the stiffness of most fly line tips. 

To make sure of this, simply tie your leader material to the fly line and grasp an inch on either side of the knot - now, push them evenly together. 

If the knot rises in the middle, they're the same stiffness. 

If the knot pushes to one side, or the other, it means that they vary in stiffness, with the knot being pushed in the direction of the more-limp material. 

This is an important test for the would-be leader crafter, because some "hard" mono’s are stiffer than the average 30 lb test line, and some are more limp. 

You can “push” the following formulas one way or the other as to leader strength to compensate for stiffness.

10 Foot Leaders - Bass and Salt water

Tippet, (lb. test)          Butt                  Taper                                                      Tippet

15                                4’ #30,              2’ #25,    2’ #20,                                    2’ #15

12                                4’ #30               2’ #2,5 1' #20, 1’ #15                            2’ #12

10                                4’ #30               2” #25 8” each #20/15/12                     2’ #10

8                                  4’ #30               2’ #25 6” each #20/15/12/10                2” #8

6                                  4’ #30               2’ #25 5” each 20/15/12/10, 6”# 8       22” #6

4                                  4” #30               2’ #25 4” each 20/25/12/10/8/ 6” #6    22” #4.

Once again, this and the formulas to follow aren't chiseled in stone. 

Note that the leaders are constructed with the end in mind - the tippet you are using is the point everything leads to. That's important to remember.

Odds are good if you're using these tippet sizes already, without any real problems, you probably have flies that generally match them. That is, you're not casting a feather duster on a 2 weight rod and line. 

But, size of fly and air resistance, wanting longer tippets for dead drift, etc. can create the need to fine tune things here, or there. 

These are your starting points. Hopefully, they will save you a bit on your own trial and error!

9 Foot leaders

Tippet            Butt Taper                                                                 Tippet

15                   65” 30#, 22” 25#, 22” 20#                                        22” 15#

12                   65” 30#, 22” 25#, 11” 20#, 11” 15#                         22” 12#

10                   65” 30#, 22” 25#, 7 ½” each 20/15/12#                   22” 10#

8                     65” 30#, 22” 25#, 6” each 20/15/12/10#                  22” 8#

6                     65” 30#, 22” 25#, 5” each 20/15/12/10#, 4” 8#       20” 6#

4                     65” 30#, 22" 25#, 4” each 20/15/12/10/8/6#            20" 4#

7 ½ Foot leaders

15                   36” 30#, 18”#25, 18” #20                                        18" 15#

12                   36” 30#, 18” 25#, 9” each 20/15#                            18” #12

10                   36” 30#, 18” 25#  6” each 20/15/12#                       18” #10

8                     38” 30#, 18” 25#  4 ½" each 20/15/12/10#              18” #8

6                     36” 30#, 18” 23#  3” each  20/15/12/10#, 6” #8      15” #6

4                     36” 30#, 18” 25#  3” each  20/15/12/10/8#,  6”#8   15” #4

* After much experimentation and observation, McClane concluded that dying your leader and tippet was maybe necessary, back in the days of silk gut construction. And there's no harm in doing it, if you still want to.
But it offers no advantage when using modern materials.