You can easily make any line into a shooting head. Simply cut your line 30' back from the tip and needle-knot 20# mono running line/backing to the 30' head. The chief drawback will be the inability to mend line in a cast more than 30' long.
Johan,
I didn't write the article, so I'm not quite sure when I say this: but you are probably right.
The "60% rule" is most likely more a rule-of-thumb to use if you want to have a starting point for a leader. As you have seen, many of the leaders in the system uses quite different formulas and principles, and most of them are based on real life fishing, and many hours of testing and adjusting.
Regarding Ritz' book, it's an older title, and it comes from a time where mono lines were different from what they are now, which may be the reason for these general rules. My experience is that most of the leaders in LeaderCalc will work as they are designed and shown, even though most will not follow Ritz' principles - not even those bearing his name. I have of course only tried a fraction of them, but they all come from reliable sources and have been used for many years by many anglers.
Martin
60% of the line diameter it writes. Is this really relevant?
My flyline tips vary from SH #5 0,75mm to DH #12 1,3mm.
60% of 1,3mm is 0,78mm. But 0,55mm is the butt diameter of all LCalc formuals I found for DH. The 75% butt diameter mentioned makes this even more peculiar.
I read that material stiffness is to take in to consideration. And maybe flyline and leader materials changed over time?
The numbers make better sense in smaller flyline diameters. But still many formulas span across 4-5 AFTM classes. Showing little connection to this "60% rule".
I looked up this book on the Internet. It looks very interesting. I better read it. Maybe this is considered a "fly fishermans bible"? But I can not see that the 60% connection to butt diameters applies. And therefore; is this really relevant to us?
Maybe there is something I don't fully understand? I'd love to get my grips arund this matter, simply because I tie leaders.
Martin thank you very much for the very fast response. I look forward to tying my own leaders and appreciate all the work that has been done to help us neophytes enter a new area of our very rewarding sport / pastime.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Walter
Walter,
I see that you might be referring to the spreadsheet for download, while I'm referring to the online system. In the spreadsheet nothing is editable. this is a very old system, which is not maintained anymore. Use the updated online system in stead. It's much more up to date: https://globalflyfisher.com/leadercalc
Martin
Walter,
You can't edit the formulas (recipes) themselves. They aren't printed on the label, so that wouldn't make much sense anyway.
All the other things that go on the label are editable. They are shown in a form before you go the the "clean" labels to print them, and are divided in two sections: Leader info and Your info.
The First one is pre-filled from the leader you have chosen, but all fields can be changed as you please. The second section is empty, and there for you to fill with your personal details.
So you can essentially edit everything that goes on the label.
If you have special leader formulas that you use and that work well, you can share them by sending them to me. I can then add them to the long list of existing formulas. It won't make a huge difference for label printing, but will give you and others access to see variations of these formulas in the system.
Martin
I would like to edit some of the leader recipes to suit me and then print a label with the edits. Can I do that with this program?
Hi there - I loved the article on fly fishing from a solo canoe and plan to hit the water as soon as my canoe comes in. Has anyone tried using a SUP paddle to adjust your position on the water while standing?
Thanks! So since releasing this lots of people have told me about the rope, crazy! But I didn’t know they eat snakes, how cool!
I have never fished for gar but I do know that one of the best flies for them is just a hook with a piece of very frayed piece of rope tied to the hook. Fish it like a top water lure or spinner under water. Gar have lots of sharp teeth that easily get tangled in the frayed rope. Don't bother trying to remove the hook. Cut the hook off and tie another one on. A frayed length of strips of yarn also works. Gar eat snakes. Try swimming it like snake.
Such a great combination of basic principles and advanced tips and tricks! I really love this site. Thank you!
Late to the party here, but you can go to a porting goods store and get a rosin bag, like is used in baseball and gymnastics, much cheaper than fiddle rosin, and no pounding.
S,
It's very common in some places to use setups like this in rivers. In southern Europe, Spain in particular, fishing teams of wet flies under a float has been a traditional way of fishing flies. It's also mentioned in the article. Light rods, small floats and a fly or two on a tippet below the float should work fine.
Martin
I'd disagree about using a 6wt or 7wt for pike. While possible, not very easy or fun to cast large streamers. 8wt is fine with a 9-10wt opening a lot more opportunity to cast large streamers and poppers in the 6"-10" long range which seem to be the most common. I have 8wt and 10 wt rods and cast both floating and intermediate short taper lines like the Cortland Precision Compact series of lines.
Nice work! I can appreciate custom DIY projects.... IMO, much better than commercialized products.
I guess then I'll have to go back to You Tube where I seen the pattern tied and inform them of their mistake.
What from your fly resemble the original Thunder & Lightning? The original fly is one of the most famous of James Wright. It dates from about 1850, which means that this year marks 170 years. The main feature is a combination of colors and elements of the design of the fly. Brown wing, black body, orange body hackel, gold ribbing and a deep blue front hackel. Thunder & Lightning is part of Simple Strip Wings classical salmon flies. In the orignal classic version, the most striking detail is the orange body hackel. It is already from the originator a very simple fly. Sorry but your fly is what it is and not even a copy, or a variant.
Yes, of course, Martin, I also appreciate Steffan's effort to do the video and to make a deadly fly known.
But as you say, when you do an internet search for a fly if you don't know what the original looks like, you will find all kinds of options. How will you know then what you should do? As books are no longer bought as they were for 25, 30 or 50 years ago, when we found the story behind the flies and how they were tied, I always wonder how the new generations will carry the tradition and pay respect to the pioneers. These are issues that sometimes make me sad. But when I see a young man with the same passion that I had more than 45 years ago and I see his hands tremble with emotion holding an original fly in his hand, I forget the moments of sadness and I am happy. We have many anonymous young people out there on the river, who will not forget to respect those who laid the foundations of modern fly fishing. I met them and they brightened those sad days with clouds and heavy rains. :)
Pierre,
You are so right, and it's a common problem in my eyes, that people tie flies inspired by other patterns, but still call them the original name. In the case of the Sunray Shadow, you are dealing with a really classic archetype of a fly pattern, and you owe to the originator, Ray Brooks, to stick to the brilliant simplicity of the pattern.
But it's a battle against windmills, and personally I kind of enjoy seeing the wealth of variation, but still feel annoyed by the mess that tyers add to a world of patterns, which is messed up already.
Viewers and readers can see the original Sunray Shadow here:
https://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/sunray-shadow
and read a story about how wild things can go when patterns catch on, and take on a life of their own here:
https://globalflyfisher.com/patterns-tie-better/the-evolution-of-a-fly
I will in all this say that I still highly appreciate the effort by tyers like Steffan who take the time to put together videos for me to share and all you to enjoy.
Thanks!
Martin
It is the simplest tubfly. Without a body defined by a moment of tying, only the plastic tube. Its name has been associated for decades with simplicity. Why call a long-winged fly The Sunray Shadow if it's not actually The SS? Altering the originals by the appearance of some variants does not do good to the new generations of fly tiers who learn that if a Kia resembles a Mercedes, we put the emblem in front and the name pasted there in the back, then we have a Mercedes. I can understand that this fly is inspired by a Sunray Shadow, but it can just as well be inspired by Spey Ghilli or another fly that has a long or very long wing. I'm sorry Steffan! :)
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