We’ve told you a little bit in the past about why you might want to tie your own leaders when you’re fishing in the saltwater.
A conversation with Bruce Chard at Andros South a couple weeks back got us thinking that there’s a really a lot to saltwater leader design and construction, so we asked Bruce to sit down and talk us through how and why he makes the leaders that he uses for bonefish.
Yes, this is actually a 12 1/2 minute video of a guy tying a leader. You will see no fish, no boats and no pretty sunrises. So why waste your time?
Because there is a whole boatload of expert-level information about tying leaders for bonefish in here. Seriously, yours truly learned a ton from Bruce on this one. He covers this stuff and more-
- Why the tippet is actually not the weakest part of the leader
- Which materials to use, and why
- Why there’s a cup of water on the table (hint: it’s not for drinking)
- What’s wrong with lots of commonly-used bonefish leaders
- How to straighten heavy mono
- The finer points of tying blood knots
- How to make a 12 foot leader that actually turns over easily
NOTE: If you’re viewing this in a newsletter or a reader, click here to become a bonefish leader expert on YouTube.
You just learned a lot about one tiny element of fishing for bonefish, right? Think how much you could learn by spending a week with Bruce at his Bonefishing School at Andros South! Drop us a line – we’d love to have you join us.
very good…well worth the 12+ mins spent!Thanks Andrew!
I plan to make my own before my next trip. In the past I couldn’t be bothered with making my own leaders but after not being able to turn the fly over on more than one occasion when I needed to back in February, I now see the importance. The video is quite informative, thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome, guys! Bill, you’ll be amazed at how much easier and straighter a leader like this will turn over. We’re looking forward to seeing you in a couple months.
What’s the flouro tippet for?
Bruce is just on his way back from South Andros so I’ll pass on what he’s told me in the past – mainly abrasion resistance. He feels like the small diameter of fluoro allows him to fish super-strong abrasion resistant tippets – even though other pieces of the leader are actually weaker.
Thanks! Are there lots of little shoots/corals/etc on the flats down there to cut you off? Just curious.
Very little coral – mangrove shoots and full-grown mangroves in some areas. I think he just likes not having to worry about abrasion and doesn’t feel like there’s much of a downside due to the small diameter.
Thanks for that information..is there a similar approach to permit leaders. Is there a significant difference in a permit leader?
Hello SteveO. I like to extend the permit leader by another equal length of 33# Rio Alloy. Since we use a longer leader in general for permit anyway this works out great. I like to have a stronger and thicker butt section of my permit leaders to help support the weight of the heavier permit flies.
What kind of setup do you use for a 9 foot long leader in windy conditions? And in my opinion putting uv seal on the knots would be a nice addition to prevent the tag ends to drag weed, but that’s personal!
How about a double surgeons knot to replace the blood knot?
Is clear mono a must? I use Big Game in freshwater but it only comes in muted green up here, to prevent glare I assume. Would this work on skinny water? Or, is any color/tint considered more visible on the flats compared to clear mono?
I have taken my micrometer to the 30# line which Rio says has a diameter of.027″, it miced out at only .025″-essentially the same as the 25# line. I let Rio know this but they did not seem to care. So I guess in terms of stiffness and diameter I feel that Maxima clear 40# is still the way to go.
Very enlightening Austin, thanks for chiming in!
I also used a micrometer on the Rio hard alloy and had same disapointing results as Austin. Also the 25# mic’ed at .021 rather than .024. WTF. Do you and Bruce still stand by your leader recomendations?
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Very interesting Art. I personally haven’t checked any of the Hard Alloy with a micrometer. However, from your’s and Austin’s findings, it appears that while both are off, they would still result in a similar difference in diameters allowing for a smooth taper. A consistent taper is what we’re most concerned about, not necessarily the exact diameters, so I’d say we’d still trust Bruce’s leader recommendations.
Also, its important to note that with any leader/tippet material there is some degree of diameter variation in the extrusion processes. This is why you may have seen IGFA approved tippets, mostly used by those looking to break records of specific tippet/leader test classes. The diameter on these materials provide a smaller degree of error but are also much more expensive to produce.
Nonetheless, this is very interesting and we’ll have to check it out! Thanks for sharing and best of luck out there!
I’ve been trying the recommended leader as outlined by Bruce. No trouble with any of the knots except the 16 to 12 knot. The 12 lb breaks almost every time I try to tighten. The 16 lb loops seem to hang up. I’m using 5 wraps with the 16 and 6 wraps with the 12. Tried a different spool of each and different lubricants with the same result. Any suggestion? Thanks.
Greg, I have the same problem. I think Bruce’s saliva is more slippery than my Kalik diluted spit. Actually my post is to discuss the Rio tippet material:
I tried up several leaders using the instruction in the video, 10, 12 and 14. I ended up making some 8 footers for the high wind conditions (and my crappy casting) on my last trip to the Bahamas last month. I bought my Rio Hard Alloy tippet. The 12 lb tippet broke off a few times with only small to medium bones early in the fight, twice before the fish began their first run. As far as I could tell it was a clean break and there was no coral heads/rocks or mangrove shoots around. I bought my material in 11/2013, and prepared my leaders for a year (13
Months since purchase) . On the flats I wondered if the tippet was too old. I know most anglers toss their mono each year and I forgot to do this. Rookie mistake #35?
Eric, I’ve since tried tying that 16 to 12 connection with the Stu Apt Improved Blood Knot and have had success if I use a water-based gel lubricant. Soft Soap also worked well. But I can’t get a simple blood knot to consistently tie down at that connection no matter what lubricant I use. To my eye there seems to be more size difference when going from 16 to 12 than the .003 it should be. Here’s a link to the improved blood knot as tied by George Anderson at Yellowstone Angler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm7g0PASKe8
It seems to be a good alternative when there is a large size difference between the two tippets.
That’s disappointing to hear about the breaks with the 12 pound Rio. I haven’t tested any of my leaders on the water yet. But I head to Grand Bahama in 10 days.
Hello, recent online published tests show that Ande has the highest breaking strength of all tested fluorocarbon tippet (much better than the Seaguar). http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1202/1202.5260.pdf
To improve my landing success in mangroves I substituted the Ande 15# ( 0.014″) fluoro tippet for the last two sections of the Chard leader. Ron Hamilton has suggested in his DIY BF blog that he has used 20# in mangroves with 50-50 success and in Kaufmann’s book “Bonefishing” discussion of leaders he wrote”…once fished for three days with a four-foot 20-pound leader and caught as many bonefish as anyone.” I also had great success with knots using Chapstick as suggested by none other than Lefty Kreh. Will post here in a few months after my next Bahamas trip.