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[Spawn Sack]

I'm wondering if some of you spey fisherman can give me some pointers on spey leaders. I took up spey fishing last winter, had one lesson, practised a bit focusing mainly on casting and not catching fish (chunk of wool instead of a hook incase I made a crap cast...avoid unwanted body piercings). I plan to get out on the next rest days and prastise first with the "training fly" and if all is going well tie on an intruder and hope to get into some early steelhead or late coho or chum!

What are ya'll using for leaders? If I were to rig up right now I would probably peel off a 3 foot chunk of 20lb maxima UG for a butt, loop to loop it to my sink tip, then attach a lighter tip section in maybe 15lb or 12lb, say another 3 feet. My rationale is if the fly gets hung up I dont really want to try and snap off 20LB test as it might cut into my sink tip loop. However I have heard of guys just running straight 20lb, or straight 15LB, etc.

I'm sure there are nice tapered leaders that would be optimal but generally I just rig up my own with my s/h rod for trout and salmon. If my leader is starting to get a bit nicked up or streched out from multiple fish I like to toss it and tie up a new one. Could get expensive with tapered leaders especially for someone like me who is learning to cast properly and is hard on his leaders.

I would appreciate some tips on a general formula for making your own spey leaders. Eg butt  = 25% length, tip = 75%, or whatever. Whatver you guys use and have success with I would like to get educated on. Than you.

Oh and if it is relevant my rod is a 13"6 8wt with a 600gr skagit head. I have a few different 10ft (I believe) MOW tips in ranging sink rates.

[BNF861]

If you are tossing a skagit with a sink tip, a 3ft leader consisting of 12lb mono is all you need/want.

Its that simple. You want a short leader, otherwise your fly will ride up in the water column from your sinktip which would defeat the purpose of using a tip. With only a three foot leader there is no need to taper it. You would want a longer tapered leader if you were planning on casting a dry line, but you mentioned a skagit and tips.

[nickredway]

I just use 2 or 3 feet of straight mono to the sink tip too, usually 15lb ultra green in the winter. If you change flies of break off a few times and lose some length I wouldnt bother changing it until it gets down to less a foot, steelhead aren't line shy.

[nickredway]

Double post

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks a lot guys! That does make sense on short leader. Do you find 12 lb cuts into your sink tip loop if you need to break off a snagged fly? I dont think 15lb would, but that stuff esp UG is tough to break off. That being said I would feel more comfortable using straight 15lb than 12lb as if I were to get my first steelhead on my spey rod I would feel more confident putting the boots to it with 15lb than 12lb.

[nickredway]

12 lb is fine as far as fighting the fish goes I just like the 15 as you can often straighten hooks out if hung up on a snag. If you are worried about the tip loop getting damaged by the thinner diameter you can always loop on a length of 15 or 20 first and then loop or double surgeons some 12 tippet on.

[mvelasco]

Last season was my first as well and I've been using 15lb  seaguar with a double surgeon to loop to the sink tip then just my fly. Started out at 4ft  then cut down from there.

[Spawn Sack]

I use the double surgeon loop as well. I tried to learn the perfection loop, which apparently is a better knot, but I found it a pain to tie esp on the rived with cold hands.
What loop knot do you guys use? And how about to add extra line to leader? Like I said I use the DS for my loop knot and typically the same for line to line connection. I like the blood knot too but find the DS easier to tie on the river. For thinner lines for trout (6lb or less) I usually use a tripple surgeons for line to line connecting.
I think to start with I'm going to run a straight piece of 15lb UG and if i run into issues consider going to a stronger butt and/or lighter line connecting to the fly.

[HOOK]

Like everyone else I also just use a straight piece of 12lb UG, double surgeons to create loop/loop connections. I will go down to 10lb if the water is low and really clear

[mvelasco]

My preference with the double surgeon over perfection is that I found my perfection loop would snap easily. Lost a couple of flies from it

[RalphH]

I usually use 10lb maxima and a DS knot. The perfection loop is almost as strong and makes a better loop for the  20 to 30lb butt on a standard long leader as the knot is much smaller with lines that strong. I don't taper a short leader on a sinking line but a simple approach would be 18 inches of 20lb, 9 inches of 15 then 18 inches of 10 or 12lb. Some guys do feel a straight piece of thin mono will hinge at the fly line tip. My experience it's not worth the bother.

[ajransom]

I've found that a foot or so of 30lb mono as a butt section seems to help my casting and turning over heavier flies. I usually add 2-3' of 10-12lb maxima UG to that depending on water conditions. I'm still learning though but that seems to work for me.

Leaders for skagit head and tips are about as simple as it gets.

[Hasport]

3-4' 12lb Maxima UG or Chameleon for all my winter work. For flies the size of dead chickens, I just shorten my leader to 2-3' to assist the turnover.

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks for all the tips guys, much appreciated. Lately I have been using a straight piece of 15lb UG around 3 feet. Seems to work well. I'm sure 12lb would be fine, I just like the added insurance of the 15lb. I haven't caught a s/h on the spey yet and if I hook into a beast I want all the leader strength possible!