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Can I use regular bass fishing line as a leader for fly fishing?

Can I use regular bass fishing line as a leader for fly fishing? Or do I need to buy special leader line and where could i buy it? Tanks

Public Comments

1. You mean regular monofilament line for tippet material? Sure, why not? You'll probably get frowned upon by purists fly fisherman though...

2. Yes, you CAN use ordinary monofilament or fluorocarbon line as fly fishing leader. Your leader is primarily meant for use as the invisible barrier between your fly line and your fly, so there is no functional difference in that respect between fly fishing leader and ordinary fishing line.

However, there is another, very important difference between ordinary fishing line and fly fishing leader -- most fly fishing leader is tapered. Why does this matter? Because it helps to transfer the energy of the cast evenly from the fly line and through the leader. When you cast fly line, you create a pulse of energy that begins in your arm, snaps through your rod, and is transmitted into the fly line. As this pulse moves through the system, it sheds energy into the stiffness of the rod, into the air around the fly line, etc. By the time the energy gets to the end of the fly line, there's not a lot left to shoot the leader out so that it lays flat on the water. A tapered leader uses this remaining energy more efficiently, resulting in a straighter, tighter, more controlled cast. A non-tapered leader can work, but you'll notice a difference in performance, particularly on longer casts, and particularly if you are a beginner at casting.

You can purchase tapered fly fishing leader anywhere fly fishing supplies are sold, even Walmart. They come in different lengths and linestrength, but most commonly fall between 7.5 feet and 12 feet. A 7.5-foot or 9-foot leader is good for learning to cast. Use longer leaders as you get better at casting. There are expensive brands and there are cheap-o brands. Avoid the bottom of the barrel, cheap-o brands, but don't spend all your money on the top-of-the-line leaders, either. Shoot for the $3 - $5 per leader range. After you fish for a while you'll develop preferences based on performance, appearance, cost, etc.

If you don't want to buy tapered leader, you can use a straight length of regular fishing line, but a better option would be to create your own tapered leader by tying line of various thicknesses together. This is how they did it before true tapered leaders were developed. For example, a 9-foot leader may be constructed of three 3-foot sections of 3X, 4X, and 5X line. While the energy transfer will not be as smooth as a fully tapered leader, a knotted leader can work almost as well.

Don't forget that you use tippet on the end of your leader -- anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of expendable (usually lighter) line that use use to tie on flies.

3. I use 4 pound test mono/flouro for fly fishing tippet when fishing trout

For steelhead and salmon on the fly I upgrade to a 8# test

I use the loop connectors straight to the fly line and a double surgeons knot to attach the leaded to it

4. Tapered leaders, (such as Chad explained) are always going to be better than handmade. They help your distance casting ability and lay your flys better.

BUT, in a pinch, you can make a tapered leader by connecting/tying 3 different diameters of Mono, in 3-4FT lengths.

Of course, you need to know how to tie a Surgeons or Blood knot.

For larger fish- 3, 3-4FT sections of 12LB, 10LB and 8LB tied together mirrors a tapered leader.

For smaller fish- 3, 3-4FT sections of 8LB, 6LB and 4LB tied together mirrors a tapered leader.

Chad gets my vote for BA- I just summarized his good answer.

5. yes, you can use normal line for a leader.

in general, all that matters is that the leader line has a lower test then the rest of the line. so if you get it snagged or a fish just breaks the line, you only lose the leader.
otherwise, if you can tie it securely you can use it.

but, the purpose made line is superior for getting the most distance on your casts.
you should be able to buy it any store that has a big enough fishing supply section.

6. I suggest the opposite for Bass fishing, the pieces of mono in graduated sizes you tie together with a simple overhand knot but place the tag ends thru the knot twice, wet and tighten and snip off the tag ends.

The important part in Bass fishing is to graduate the line size from small diameter at fly lines end to larger diameter at the fly or hook because that will assist you greatly in casting heavier Bass bugs and streamers. I often use a single 20 lb flat mono leader and tippet due to weeds and structure and not wanting to lose very big fish.

Two more points, the best Bass Lure I ever used over 60 years of fly fishing was a single long shanked wire hook with a white Pork Rind Bass strip and I usually slice the tail to create a sort of skirt at the end.

Cast and allow to very slowly flutter like a dieing minnow and strip line in at many different speeds and intervals, make hook weedless by tying a piece of 20 pound mono behind the eye on back of hook, bring it around the bend and ty back behind the eye under the hook it will not effect catching fish but will make hook weedless.

I use very short leaders after the fly line for Bass never over 3 ft all together, try one line size heavier than the rod calls for and a weight forward line it drasticly improves casting on a windy day.

I only use longer leaders when I wrap a piece of lead around hook shank when building flys to fish at 5 to 20 ft depths.

These Bass strips and grasshoppers and mud minnows are the very best three for actual catching of course dry flys are the most fun as watching an 8 lb bass leap 2 feet clean out of the water to snap its jaws shut on a fly you are not allowing to actually hit the water, is a real thrill, try it.

Oh if you wear one red and one yellow sock it really helps get fish in the boat.

7. I have tried the store bought TAPERED leaders, but have found that they are expensive & NO better than what i make myself, i use about 4-5' of 10-12# line in conjunction with 3-4' of smaller line.4-6# for pan fish, & 6=8# for bass fishing . that way, if i break a leader, it is inexpensive to replace.

GOOD LUCK

8. For tippett, there are actually some differences. The biggest one is stretch. Since your fly line itself doesn't provide much stretch, there is very little shock absorption which you often need due to the thin diameter of terminal end line you use in fly presentations. Stretch also prevents your fly from snapping off as you false cast. Normally it's not a big deal especially with larger size tippets. Some guides I know use standard flourocarbon line as tippet material when their clients are nymphing more than a couple feet under the water but you rarely see fly fishermen use it for presentations that require long false casts..

Another difference is how limber tippet material is compared to standard mono. Tippet is very supple while mono is relatively stiff. This is probably more significant toward the fly end of your leader.

The other difference is strength. Mono tippet is usually a bit stronger than the same diameter mono line. Or, you could say that the same strength tippet is thinner and therefore less visible than the same diameter line. Either way, this is a very good thing when fly fishing. For example, your standard 4x tippet has a breaking strength of about 6.5 lbs, but a line diameter of .007". Likewise, my favorite inexpensive mono fishing line is trilene XL which comes in a 6 lb (slightly less strong) test that is .009". It's almost 30% fatter to go with standard mono of the same breaking strength, you could go down an entire "X" size in fly tippet for that tradeoff and have a much stronger line.

I've used plenty of standard mono and flouro as tippet material in my day though, and you can certainly get away with it, especially when fishing less than precise conditions. But in clear tailwaters and some other situations you need every advantage.

For leaders, if that's what you are tying, then I suppose you could get away with bass line for the butt sections if they don't spring open your loop too much when casting, but consider using tippet at least for the tippet area to protect your fly. They make it distinctly different from bass line for a reason, and if it were a gimmick it wouldn't stand the test of time and become one of the essential materials in any fly fisherman's vest (though many products you see in fly shops will be gone next time you look).

Hope this helps.