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How are you supposed to get leaders with flies already attached onto a fly line?


I recently saw this video and found the prospect really neat—have a couple of full leaders with different rigs already attached and swap them out as needed. As someone who likes to plan trips in advance and think about them while waiting for the weekend there's a lot of appeal in this, and anything that equates to (hypothetically) less knot tying and more fishing on the water is great.

But the person who made the video doesn't go into detail about how you tie the leader to the fly line when you do this. A loop-to-loop obviously isn't going to work since you can't pass the rest of the leader through with a fly tied on. Does anyone fish this way? How do you get the leaders on and change them out?

Posted by KrizeFaust

7 Comments

  1. Bulky-Description416 on

    I use a piece of 20lb maxima chameleon and tie a perfection loop in each end. Its maybe 3 inches long. Attach it to the fly line loop to loop. Then just tie the leaders to the other end with a clinch knot. Super easy, doesnt affect the cast and i can swap very quickly from dries to streamers to nymphs all pre rigged on spools.

  2. Superlucky1 on

    Tie the leader to the butt section with a blood knot.

    [https://www.google.com/search?q=tying+a+blood+knot&client=firefox-b-1-d&hs=BQQ&sca_esv=5c32df01b925ed50&sxsrf=ANbL-n5ysEaYW2n2emhHJ6l5gRosav76ow%3A1776909294501&ei=7nvpaeyuHqDLkPIPw9PY2QE&biw=1440&bih=627&ved=0ahUKEwjs3a_67oKUAxWgJUQIHcMpNhsQ4dUDCBM&uact=5&oq=tying+a+blood+knot&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEnR5aW5nIGEgYmxvb2Qga25vdDILEAAYgAQYigUYkQIyCxAAGIAEGIoFGJECMgoQABiABBgUGIcCMgUQABiABDIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHkjjJlDSB1jQJXABeAGQAQCYAV-gAcsJqgECMTi4AQPIAQD4AQGYAhOgArcKwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICChAjGIAEGIoFGCfCAgQQIxgnwgIQECMY8AUYngYYgAQYigUYJ8ICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAgoQLhiABBiKBRhDwgINEAAYgAQYFBiHAhixA8ICEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwHCAgoQLhiABBgUGIcCwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAggQABiABBixA8ICCBAAGBYYHhgKmAMA4gMFEgExIECIBgGQBgiSBwQxOC4xoAe-gwGyBwQxNy4xuAetCsIHBjItMTguMcgHUYAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1090ffdc,vid:q06QKib1AEQ,st:0](https://www.google.com/search?q=tying+a+blood+knot&client=firefox-b-1-d&hs=BQQ&sca_esv=5c32df01b925ed50&sxsrf=ANbL-n5ysEaYW2n2emhHJ6l5gRosav76ow%3A1776909294501&ei=7nvpaeyuHqDLkPIPw9PY2QE&biw=1440&bih=627&ved=0ahUKEwjs3a_67oKUAxWgJUQIHcMpNhsQ4dUDCBM&uact=5&oq=tying+a+blood+knot&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEnR5aW5nIGEgYmxvb2Qga25vdDILEAAYgAQYigUYkQIyCxAAGIAEGIoFGJECMgoQABiABBgUGIcCMgUQABiABDIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHkjjJlDSB1jQJXABeAGQAQCYAV-gAcsJqgECMTi4AQPIAQD4AQGYAhOgArcKwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICChAjGIAEGIoFGCfCAgQQIxgnwgIQECMY8AUYngYYgAQYigUYJ8ICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAgoQLhiABBiKBRhDwgINEAAYgAQYFBiHAhixA8ICEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwHCAgoQLhiABBgUGIcCwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAggQABiABBixA8ICCBAAGBYYHhgKmAMA4gMFEgExIECIBgGQBgiSBwQxOC4xoAe-gwGyBwQxNy4xuAetCsIHBjItMTguMcgHUYAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1090ffdc,vid:q06QKib1AEQ,st:0)

  4. King_above1eight on

    Sounds messy to me. I’d understand it more if you had an issue with hand tremors or just old age. It doesn’t take that long to tie a knot. I’m not the best, but shouldn’t take more than a minute. I could see a micro tripper ring working, but you still have to tie a knot. Maybe just for dry dropper rigs or dual nymph setups? That will at least save you a few steps

  5. Brico16 on

    I’ve seen this with just the fly and the dropper, this is the first with a leader.

    If you have it on the leader already you’re setting limits for yourself before you even get to the water with this prep. What if you want a longer or shorter leader? You now have to re-rig the whole thing.

    Also, tapered leaders are expensive. I use the same leader and just adjust the tippet for months. To fill up this box you’re dropping like $40 in just leaders. Or I can use the same $3 leader for most of my fly fishing with that spool.

  6. Pittysingthecat on

    Also, so much of rigging up is based on what you see when you get to the river. Are they rising? Is the water high? Muddy or low and clear? Overcast or blue skies? I get the anticipation of a fishing trip and wanting to prepare, but maybe tie some fresh flies up or something? I bought some of those round foam nymph rig holders and never use them anymore. That was always to hold tippet sections to tie onto a leader, I’ve never heard of swapping out entire leaders…seems wasteful.
    Get proficient at knot tying and adjust on the river for what they are biting etc.
    You can also just practice tying knots on the couch if you aren’t a fly tier.

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