The world needs stronger “Leaders” …

We carry a full line of Fly Fishing Tapered Leaders to meet all your needs – Whether you are a beginner just starting, wanting to use our own TFC brand Fly Fishing Tapered Leaders or you have taken one of our Czech or Euro Nymphing Courses and looking for a French leader. 

Fly Fishing Tapered Leaders:

A Fly Fishing Tapered Leader is the most efficient for transferring energy from the flyline and continuing the magic curl of a cast enabling the fly to drop gently to the water presenting in a true life like manner. Fly Fishing Tapered Leaders come in different lengths from different manufacturers, if you need longer add a stronger butt section to your leader, for example if fishing for really spooky large fish we will frequently add a 3 or even 6 foot extension of monofilament to the butt so that the fly line is well away from the fly.

Contact us for current inventory of Fly Fishing Tapered Leaders.

What does all this 4X, 5X mean?

Different strengths, different diameters and different breaking strains

The X system is a hangover from Victorian/Edwardian fishing days and refers to the number of times a piece of gut is pulled through a hole in a metal grid to make it thinner. Lucklily we do not use cat gut but it is still used as a unit of measure. Unfortunately the strengths of different manufacturers lines are all different.

Choosing the right tippet for your fly shouldn’t be determined by lb. test.  It is best determined by the diameter of the tippet.  You don’t have to carry a pocket calculator with you to figure out which size tippet to use, if you follow a few simple rules.

Let’s start with leader basics.  The tippet is the business end of the tapered leader.  This is the end you attach your fly to.  A tippet is given an “X” number which is determined by its diameter, such as 1X, 2X, 3X, etc.  This number, which is in thousandths, is easy to decipher using a simple formula:  11 – X = DIAMETER.