I have talked about making your own leaders for the flats before, but an article I just read by Clint Kemp on tying leaders has reminded me that I should bring up the subject once again as everyone begins booking trips. Clint’s article is in Saltwater Sportsman Magazine and describes his formula for tying quick leaders. There are a bunch of formula’s out there and Clint really knows his stuff, so consider his ideas carefully. If you are a great caster, then by all means grab a bonefish leader off the rack at your fly store and you are good to go. But if you have trouble straightening out a leader into a 20 mph wind, my advice is to go with a much stiffer leader than you can buy off the rack. Whenever I see anglers having trouble casting in the wind, the first thing I do is over weight the rod (nine weight line on an eight weight rod), then build a super stiff nine foot leader. They think they should enter casting competitions. The change is dramatic. As I said there are lots of formulas out there, here is the one I use to make a ten foot bonefish leader: 60 inches of 40# 12 inches of 30# 12 inches of 20 # 12 inches of 15# 24 inches of tippet Use the same mono brand for each section (other than tippet). How do I say this nicely…………the more challenged you are as a caster, the stiffer the leader material should be. If you are new to casting in the wind, go with Mason Hard Mono.
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