Carrying a 3 wt., floating line, a 9′ leader tapered to 4X, and a size-10 black Bully Spider, I crunched across a gravel bar in search of Green Sunfish and Longear Sunfish. Deadfalls divert the current from protected pockets in the long pool chosen for my first casts. Solid strikes greeted my casts that were vertically dropped among the branches and logs. Several of the muscular green sunfish won the battle to stay at home but faar more were brought to hand and released. Many pockets held brightly-colored longear that hit like they wanted to steal my rod and reel. Their beauty rivals any fish that swims. Big fish are fun, but some evenings sunfish are “funner.”
Checking Out the Nooks And Crannies
Why such a long leader? I typically use a 6’or 7’ leader and seem to do well with that. Am I missing something?
Hi Bob, I also use 6-7 foot leaders, especially when fishing the surface or within 2 feet of it. Getting deeper offers 2 options: 1. Use a sinking or sink tip line (in which case I’ll often shorten my leader to 3-5 feet to prevent the unweighted fly from bowing back toward the surface). Or, 2. extend the length of the leader so that it can reach 3-5 feet of depth yet fall vertically in a more natural manner. That’s what I was doing but I failed to explain that and I’m glad you pointed that out. Wishing You Many Beautiful Vibrations, Terry Wilson