Rigs and leaders for tailwater fishing, each with the cut list, the knots and their turns, and the tying time.
A simple 25-foot euro nymphing leader: 211" of level .012" mono, a 42" 1X (.010") sighter and 42" of 5X (.006") fluorocarbon tippet. The thin level butt sags less than a heavy taper, so the line stays straight to a size 16 tungsten-bead nymph and small takes show on the sighter.
Ray Bergman's 12 foot leader for nymphs and wet flies. Eight 18 inch sections of mono step down from .021" at the butt to .006" (5X) at the tip, joined with blood knots in the butt and triple surgeon's knots through the 0X, 3X and 5X pieces. It is built for one fly on a 4 to 7 weight rod. There is also a 6X variation; see the questions below.
A 15-foot dry fly leader with a long, heavy butt: 84" of .017", 12" of .012", 36" of 2X, 36" of 4X and 12" of 5X. The stout butt carries the cast and turns over larger dries in wind, while the long finer sections still let the fly land softly. It is built for 3-5 wt rods on bigger water. There's also a 6X variation; see the questions below.
A 9' 10" tapered dry fly leader for trout on a 5-6 wt rod. It runs from a stiff .022" butt of Maxima Clear down through four more Maxima steps, then RIO Powerflex at .010" and .008" to a 24" tip of 4X at .007". The even taper turns over dry flies from #12 to #16 and lays the long tippet down with a little slack for a natural drift.
A 15-foot tapered dry-fly leader built to turn over gracefully and land softly on the water. The long taper and gradual step-downs from .017" butt to .006" tip make it well-suited for 3-5 weight rods, working especially well with smaller dry flies where a delicate presentation matters. There's also a 6X variation; see the questions below.
A 54-foot tight-line mono rig for fishing weighted streamers and jigs to steelhead and big trout. It runs 564 inches of 20 lb Sunset Amnesia, 18 inches of 15 lb and 18 inches of 12 lb Maxima, a 4 mm heavy tippet ring, a 12 inch Cortland bi-color sighter and 36 inches of 0X fluorocarbon tippet. The thin mono replaces the fly line through the guides, so the fly sinks fast and you stay in direct contact with it.
A George Harvey dry fly leader, 11 feet long, built in 7 sections of Maxima. It runs from a .015" butt down to 30 inches of .006" (5X) tippet. Harvey designed the long, soft tip to land in slack curves rather than straight, so a single dry fly drifts naturally without drag. It is made for selective trout rising to small dry flies. A 4X variation is covered in the questions below.
A 9 foot 2 inch leader for emergers and wet flies that tapers from a .017 inch butt in six sections to a 30 inch 4X (.007 inch) tippet. The even steps turn the fly over on 3-5 wt rods, and the long tippet lets an emerger ride in the surface film or a wet fly sink and swing without drag.
A 24-foot nymphing leader for fishing tight-line on a 3-5 wt. It runs 112" of .016" butt, 35" each of .014" and .012", a 35" 1X (.010") sighter, 20" of 4X (.007") and 48" of 5X (.006") tippet to a size 16 tungsten-bead nymph. The long leader keeps the heavy fly line out of the drift, so the nymph sinks and drifts with little drag.
