Great Lakes Fishing
Fly leader lengths for kings
6/30/14 @ 2:31 PM
Just wondering if people adjust their leader lengths throughout the season for kings and if so how you go about it. Do you just retie a bunch with longer lengths or is there some other way to do it? I have heard of some people starting with longer lengths earlier in the year and shorten them up as the season goes on but I have also heard of people starting around 23" then going up to 26" as the season progresses. What seems to work well for you guys? Right now I just have mine at 23".
Displaying 1 to 14 of 14 posts
Was watching a fishing program on the World Fishing Network and they were fishing Salmon with the same f/f combos we use here. The only difference was the leader length from the flasher/dodger to fly or spoon. It was 4 to 6 feet. I couldn't believe it so I tried it and it works.
I remember watching videos of Salmon trying to smack a fly but kept missing because the fly was darting around so much. The longer leader length makes sense. The longer the leader the less darting. The less darting the more strikes because they now can catch it....Try it, you'll like it.
My F/F bite has been very slow this year as well. A friend recommended longer leads so i increased from 23 to 28". Haven't fished enough yet to know if that made a difference. If the fish have been neutral to negative for a large portion of the season - my simple brain tells me that a longer lead might be better. Interestingly, i read an article on lake michigan angler the other night that discussed the amount of hardware not only attaches on the front end of the flasher but the back end as well - and i got to thinking - i do have a lot of hardware - large swivels - really large - on both side. My thinking was that larger had better ball bearings would tangle less but also the large ones have the - "easy load" - that's what i call - ends that allow for quick connections and disconnections. And i got to thinking that this might impact my slow bight more - maybe much more - than 3-4-5" either way on a lead.
The article suggested that minimizing the amount of hardware should increase the number of strikes. Can one of the veterans address that for this newbie. What i do know is that my f/f and wire dipsey f/f should be catching a lot more fish - they have significantly lagged all year - i have caught some bigger fish but the numbers are down - way down. thanks, rjs
To me there is a ton of variables and technics that go along with flasher flys. Let's just start at the fly . The fly can be made in 1000 different ways thus changing the weight and then changing the action of the fly . For instance treble hook or no treble hook . Treble hook and top octopuses hook . Beads made of plastic beads made of glass . Plastic head or tubing head. Reverse tie or standard tie .
Then we need to look at the flasher side of the fly is it attached with a single clasp , a swivel and clasp , the big swivel that comes with the flasher plus a second clasp and swivel . And then what is the standard way to measure loop to hook , loop to fly nose , swivel to fly nose swivel to end of hook .
One thing you gotta figure out is how to measure your leader length.. some guys measure it from the end of the loop to the top of the fly or from the top of the loop to the bottom of the hook. That can make all the difference right there.. anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 inches difference.
My advice for kings this time of year is a shorter leader on spindocters. My normal is 24 from top of loop to top of fly, but this time year on I usually go 22 inches.
Displaying 1 to 14 of 14 posts
