| Posted April, 2000
Mastery
Series Species Specific Leaders
3M
Scientific Anglers has redesigned its Mastery line of leaders and tippets
for 2000, now offering eleven species specific leaders to cover everything
from trout to billfish, including one designed for our Nor'east Saltwater
style of fly fishing.
The
Mastery Series Striped Bass leader is 8 feet long and comes in 8-, 10-,
12-, 16-, and 20-pound-test tippets strengths. The butt diameter is .026.
Why
be concerned about the butt diameter of your leader? After all, it's the
lighter weight tippet that's the make or break factor in a leader. Right?
Not
really. It's the leader butt that's one of the last links in your cast.
A butt diameter that's too small will not transmit power properly and
one that's too large or too stiff may also impede your cast.
Without
going back to Physics 101, just think of casting power, flowing and building
the way a stream of water is compressed through a pressure nozzle. The
cast begins calmly enough with your arm, narrows and builds down along
the rod, narrows and builds further down the fly line, and finally reaches
the leader. The same sort of "funneling" has to take place in the leader
in order for your pattern to unfold and drop properly, particularly with
an 8-foot leader.
Most
of the time, 8-foot leaders are a little on the long side for us. They
come in handy when certain species, such as weakfish, are acting spooky,
and when the water is crystal clear, but a fast-sinking line presentation
usually requires no more than a 6-foot leader, and some fly rodders even
elect to go much shorter, depending on the depth of the presentation and
water clarity. Still, an 8-footer is a good "starter" length that can
always be trimmed.
It's
easy enough to eyeball where a tapered, monofilament leader begins to
thicken by folding the leader over on itself. Hold your tippet material
alongside and you can determine a the right spot to cut the leader and
add a tippet with either a Blood Knot or loop-to-loop connection.
Whether
or not our Nor'east Saltwater gamefish can be put off by the sight of
a green or yellow fly line is a topic for a lengthy discussion, but there's
no argument that a leader's capabilities is the icing on getting your
cast to the fish.
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