Rigs Lab · Gear & fly fishing rigs + leaders
The rig builder and library for fishing. Lay out every cut, knot and turn to scale, start from a photo of a formula in a book, on a website or in your notebook, then publish it for anglers everywhere to tie, clone, share, print and fish.
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Every section, knot and turn, drawn the way you tie it, with the cut list worked out for you.
Start from a photo
Snap a formula from a book, a website or your notebook and it comes back as a rig you can edit.
Test it in the tank
Watch it drift, sink and turn over before it ever touches the water.
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61 to 80 of 88 rigs
A 13.5-foot euro nymphing leader that loops to the fly line. It steps down evenly through 42" each of .016", .014" and .012" mono into an 18" 3X (.008") sighter and 18" of 5X (.006") tippet. The even taper turns over a weighted nymph softly, and the fine tippet lets a small tungsten fly sink fast.
George Harvey's 9-foot wet fly leader: a short 10" butt of .017", then five 20" sections of .015", .013", .011", .009" and .008" (3X), for 9' 2" in all. The even taper turns over a wet fly or soft hackle and lets it sink just under the surface and swing across the current. It is a simple, proven leader for a single wet fly on a floating line.
A 13-foot streamer leader for small baitfish patterns on a 6 wt. It runs in three pieces: 22" of .018" butt, a long 111" middle of .012" and 22" of 2X (.009") fluorocarbon tippet. The long middle lets the fly swim and drop away from the fly line, and the 2X tip holds up to hard strips and strikes.
A 17-foot leader for nymphing under an indicator at short range on a 3-5 wt. It steps down in 29" sections from .018" through .016", .014" and .012" to 1X (.010"), then a 23" 3X (.008") sighter and 40" of 5X (.006") tippet. A 1/2" trapped-air indicator rides on the 1X section, and a No. 4 split shot sits 10" above a size 16 bead-head nymph.
A 9-foot wet fly leader that steps down from a .019 inch butt in seven sections to 18 inches of 5X (.006 inch) tippet. The even taper turns over soft hackles and small traditional wet flies on 3-5 wt rods and lets them swing and drift with life in the current.
A 13-foot euro nymphing leader that loops to the fly line and fishes small, weighted nymphs on a tight line. It runs from 74" of .016" butt into 33" of .014" Sufix Elite, a 12" .011" transition, a 16" 3X (.008") sighter and 22" of 5X (.006") tippet. The fine tippet lets a size 16 tungsten nymph sink fast and drift naturally.
A 10' 5" nymphing leader built on the 60/20/20 idea: a long, stiff butt, a short taper and a fine tip. About 60 percent is butt, 49" of 30 lb and 25" of 20 lb Maxima Chameleon, 74" in all. About 20 percent is the taper, 12" each of .015" and .010" Maxima Ultragreen, 24" in all. The last 20 percent or so is the tip, 12" of 2X at .009" and 15" of 4X at .007", 27" in all. It turns over a single tungsten bead nymph and keeps contact with it in the drift.
A 6-foot (72 inch) tapered dry fly leader for brushy small streams where casts are short and branches are close. It steps from a 30 inch .017 butt to .013, .011 and .009, then 14 inches of 4X tippet at .007. The stout butt and short length turn over a dry fly on tight casts and keep the leader out of the trees.
A 7.5-foot (90 inch) tapered dry fly leader for small streams. It steps evenly from a 36 inch .017 butt through .015, .013, .011 and .009 to 14 inches of 4X tippet at .007. It is short enough to control under branches and fine enough at the tip to float a small dry naturally.
A 26-foot mono nymphing leader for big trout in runs and pockets, fished tight-line with no indicator. A long .014" butt steps through .012" to a 1X sighter, then 36" of 3X fluorocarbon to a tungsten jig stonefly. The heavy fly does the sinking and the sighter shows the take, so the drift stays direct from rod tip to fly.
A straightforward 8 foot 5 inch streamer leader for 4-7 wt rods. It tapers from a .021 inch butt through four 15 inch sections, then 9 inches of .013 inch and 8 inches of 0X, to 24 inches of 2X tippet. The stout tip turns over buggers, sculpins and baitfish patterns and stands up to hard strips and strip-sets on trout.
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.
An 8-foot-8-inch dry-fly leader tapered from 30 lb butt to 2X tippet, built to turn over grasshopper imitations and other larger terrestrial patterns. The stout butt handles the weight and air resistance of bigger flies while the fine 2X tip provides the delicacy needed for drag-free presentation on selective trout.
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 12-foot mono leader for fishing wet flies on lakes with a floating line. It tapers in .002" steps from a 36 inch butt of .021" through nine sections to a 27 inch tippet of 5X, .006". The long, fine taper lands a small wet fly or soft hackle without a splash on calm water and lets it sink and hang the way trout see natural insects.
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 thin, light mono rig for tight-line nymphing small streams: 480 inches of .009 Maxima Chameleon, 24 inches of white Cortland indicator mono, then an 18 inch Cortland bi-color sighter. A 2 mm tippet ring below the sighter holds 36 inches of 5X fluorocarbon to a tungsten jig nymph. The thin butt sags very little, so small, light flies stay in contact.
