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.
Build it to scale
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.
Share it, print it
Publish it to the library, send the link, or print a card for your vest.
21 to 27 of 27 rigs
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 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.
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.
A tight-line mono rig for small streams: 480 inches of neon green Sunset Amnesia as the casting line, a 36 inch step of 1X Maxima Clear, then a 16 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 weighted fly does the work, with no indicator and no split shot.
A long tight-line mono rig for euro nymphing small streams. It runs 480" of 12 lb Maxima Chameleon (.013"), 24" of 8 lb Maxima Clear, 12" of neon red Sufix and 12" of neon green Amnesia, then a 16" Cortland bi-color sighter, joined with blood knots. A 2 mm tippet ring below the sighter holds 36" of 5X fluorocarbon to a tungsten jig nymph. There is no indicator or split shot: the fly is the weight and the colored mono shows the take.
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.
