Frogs Hair Leaders

[Stan]

Does anyone use these leaders and if so, what do you feel are the benefits?

[JW Murray]

I don't use the knotless leaders manufactured by Frogs Hair though I love the leader (tippet) material. The positive attributes of Frogs Hair are:
1- the gamma tx to the material makes it more difficult for the fish to see
2- I fish it as a tippet because it is more supple than fluorocarbon or standard mono.
3- The added suppleness doesn't allow Frogs Hair to turn large flies (> #12) over as well as standard mono but it does allow a more natural drift for your dries on the water. More natural in turn means less drag and in theory more strikes.

[Cas]

Jeff -- at the other end of the scale -- and taking into account that I'm a relatively new and middling flyfisherman at that somewhat advanced age and stage where manual dexterity is diminishing and knot-tying a frustration -- what is your assessment of the knotless systems you see in the Orvis catelog? Thanks, Cas.

[JW Murray]

Cas you hit on a tough one. In general I don't like the knotless leaders because of a few common flaws with them such as:
1- many don't turn flies over well at any distance i.e. #16 dry for brook trout when you only have 8 ft. of leader out of the rod tip.
2- once you start changing flies you cannot tell how much tippet you have used unless you carry a micrometer which is easy enough to do, the Mike Rite Leader Gauge is quite accurate and under $20
3- Once you use up the tippet you will need to replace the leader or the tippet. If you choose the latter, your are back to square one having to tie your tippet back onto the leader.

I would recommend going to a loop to loop system so you can attach your tippet to the next larger section of the leader with a double surgeons loop or a perfection loop. This loop to loop system will aslo work quite well attaching the fly line to the leader. For the line leader connection, I attach a piece of heavy mono (25lb) to the fly line with the traditional needle or nail knot, then tie a loop in the free end of this piece of mono.

If you don't like the loop to loop system you can tie double surgeons knots to connect the different sections of a compound tapered leader instead of a blood knot if you find that any easier. I have a good friend who uses a Cinch Tie Tool to help him tie double surgeons knots and after watching him since he has started using the tool, he has become quite proficient tying knots. By the way, he resorted to using the Cinch Tie because of his eyesight.

I wish I had an easy answer for you but I don't have one quite yet. If you are content replacing your leader when the tippet gets too short, a knotless leader with a loop to loop at the line leader connection will probably give you more time on the water.