OTHER LEADERS MODELS
The AIRFLO brand delivers silicone leaders. They are very good and they float wonderfully, they do not require maintenance but they have the disadvantage that the piece of nylon that serves to tie a tippet of 25% or 22% is very short and therefore will be shortened with the use and we will have to be careful of new one.
SINKING LEADERS
There are different brands of leaders on the market that manufacture low sinking or SINKING to fish with streamers and leaded nymphs. There are stranded with copper wire between the nylon strands and the most modern are nylon strands coated with a layer of tungsten. The latter seem to me the best. Once again the AIRFLO brand offers us sinking leader that vary from very fast, fast, medium and slow to fish with streamer, swimming nymphs and chironomid nymphs.
Leaders for streamer fishing should be shorter than for catching the drowned fly. With 2.5mts to 2mts total length is enough to make a good piece of itch. Once again the fish will see the bass but what will really be fixed in the streamer. Leaders for swimming with flies must end at least 22% to 18%, since the fish that can bite may be large and also the fly is much larger than a dry fly and therefore needs a diameter of thicker thread to be tied.
FLY LINE CONNECTORS
The use of connectors is very advisable to change lines low without breaking it and very quickly. There is a belief that the lines provided with connectors do not pose smoothly and frighten future fishes. Nothing is further from reality. You can fish in the most crystalline river and the most elusive trout, with a fly line with connector. There are fishermen who prefer to join directly the leader with the fishing line by gluing them with a waterproof adhesive or simply tying them to the fishing line, finishing the operation by reinforcing and finishing the tie with a mounting thread. It is a good option but with the inconvenience that if the leader suffers a major damage can not be changed in the river and will spoil the day of fishing unless a reel or reel is taken. The connector is provided with a small loop and is perfect for fast tying a leader provided with another loop that in case of not carrying it from the factory we can easily do it by tying the knot, Perfection Loop. The use of connectors is highly recommended and another positive and important aspect to note is that the lines provided with connector lengthen the life of braided leaders since the union of two loops (loop to loop) does not produce any wear and instead the leader glued directly to the fly line end up being damaged by the use of highly abrasive adhesives.
FISHING TIPPETS
This aspect so important, is the one that brings to head to a few fly fishermen. At present there are so many brands and manufacturers of fishing tippets that the novice fisherman does not know which to choose.
There are two basic types of fishing tippets, the monofilament copolymer and the fluorocarbon. The first is the nylon of all life with more technical advances, now much softer and especially more resistant. The name of NYLON we owe it to the signature DUPONT that made it in the year 1938 and that it replaced to the white mane of horse. The word NYLON corresponds to the initials of the wives of the five chemists who invented it: N for Nancy, Y for Yvonne, L for Louella, O for Olivia and N for Nina.
The modern monofilament copolymers descended from the old nylon is the one I use in all fishing techniques and in any situation. The one that I liked the most is the STROFT brand manufactured in Berlin (Germany). It is the one I use for all the tips or terminals of my leaders always tied in a Maxima. There are other well-known brands such as Scientific Anglers, Rio, Trout Hunter, Sufix, Dupont and a long etc…
~Carles V.