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All sorts of leaders

By Martin Joergensen

See also the
Hyper-Compleat Principles of Leader Design
Leaders fall in several categories. These all serve the same purpose: transmitting the energy fra the fly line to the fly in a gentle, yet firm way. The different types each have their advantages and disadvantages, and selecting one is often a question of compromises.

  • Tapered
    The tapered leader is probably the most common. It consists of one piece of monofile line, that has been drawn to a taper from a thick base to a thin tip, that are made the normal range of tippet weights.
  • Knotted
    The knotted leader has been tied together by several peices of monofile line to form a similar taper. It's inexpensive and can be made to any taper, thickness, stiffness and hence purpose.
  • Braided
    The braided leader is made from thin braided monofile strands. It's normally tapered by leaving out moreand more threads towards the tip. The braided leaders are generally expensive, but also offer a supple presentation and high knot resistance
  • Twined
    The furled or twined leader is a home made leader that has the advantage of the braided leader (it's even better actually) and the price of the knotted one. There's a detalied description on how to make such leaders.

Leader and tippet sizes
'X-size'
 0X 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X
Tip dia. (mm) 0.28
 0.26
 0.23
 0.20
 0.18
 0.15
 0.13
 0.10
 0.07
Tip dia. (inches)
 0.011
 0.010
 0.009
 0.008
 0.007
 0.006
 0.005
 0.004
 0.003
Test (kg) 6.8
 5.5
 4.5
 3.2
 2.3
 1.8
 1.4
 0.9
 0.6
Test (lb.)
 15 12 10 7 5 4 3 2 1
The test weights are examples from Sunline (Siglon and other brands) and may vary quite a bit from brand to

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