Just decided to try out the micro leader and tried this product in 8lb. Great stuff, the transition from 15lb Amnesia to this stuff was seamless. Even in 8lb this stuff is surprisingly stiff and turns over great but also doesn't hold any memory right off the reel. The sensitivity jump was huge. I was feeling the most subtle nibbles that I didn't even have a hope of getting a hookset on. The shop I went to didn't have the sighter material but it still went well with the rio 3x sighter. Definitely interested in still finding some of the tricolor and trying it.
I’ve been using Euro competitive leader & tippet setup. The leader material is Trout Techn mono which is very subtle. I use 2 rod lengths of leader plus tippet. I use 6.5x to 8x tippet. I prefer Arcay or Hanak Fluoro. Might try Stroft tippet. Europeans are years ahead of North Americans with Euro Nymphing. I haven’t tried any Cortland products but would like to compare. I use micro loops between flyline to leader to tippet. No micro rings. I stopped using clinch knots and only use uni knots.
It's easy to just spool 65 feet of 4x nylon monofilament and then put 36 inches of bicolor tipped in 4x or 5x, use a micro loop in the tip instead of a tippet ring and you can throw 2 #16 nymphs with 2.5mm beads like 30 feet's away if there is no wind...
A beneficial presentation is certainly the "Gold Standard".I will attempt to buy the Cortland products and take your advice. Thanks from down under in NZ. My only reservation is that the Tongariro River only allows 20 feet of leader and tippet so I will have to make a modified version for that river. Regards.
Just happened upon this and am glad I did. Very good presentation of valuable information. This formula seems like a great inroad to the micro leader realm. I'll give it a try, thank you!
Nice presentation Steve. Why do you use a single color leader instead of the multicolored slighter which is stronger and thinner? Why not the multicolored leader all the way and have one less knot ? Is it because the single colored leader is stiffer/goes through the guides better/slicker?
OK Steve, now look what you’ve done. Your leader is so popular that it’s hard to find the Cortland Mono in the right size and weight. If the Cortland rep isn’t taking you to lunch every time he comes by the shop, he is missing the boat! Bill Dodson Troy, Montana
Ha! Thanks for watching the video and for the kind words, Bill! We appreciate you watching along and are constantly on the hunt to keep this material and all of its sizes in stock on the website - we want to make sure folks have the opportunity to tie it up for themselves in whatever sizes they prefer for their style. Stay tuned as we almost always have this stuff on order in heavy quantities!
@@AvidMax I’ll look for your announcement that you are expanding the square footage of your store to accommodate the new inventory . . . or, however you get the message out that now have all the leader material in stock. Thanks, Bill
Spanish leader set up has no tapering of the line. 12 lbs triple e Berkeley mono to your 9” of white sighter is it. Tie your tippet ring onto the sighter and then use your tippet. Done deal. Very sensitive, very diverse. You can use 2 small nymphs, dry dropper, micro streamers. It does it all and keeps its sensitivity while maintaining cast ability.
I skipped steps 1 through 500. I just buy my usual leaders and put a three inch spot of fluorescent spray paint about three and six feet above the tippet. No knots to weaken already lite line.
Very well presented and explained you did a great job!! Question can you tell me how you have your floatant bottle attached to to your chest pack please?? Thanks
I use the Loon floatant caddy, it has a small carabiner clip which makes it great for moving around from pack to boat bag to a lanyard and everything in between!
I see one issue with the leader. When you went from 6 pound leader to 6.3 sighter I can see it already causing a turn over issue when casting. The leader I use is basically a modified French leader with 15 inches on 10lb butt material then around 9-10 feet of 8 pound sighter. It turns over well and I have made 30 foot drifts with ease with it
That sounds like a great formula to use as well! The nice thing about that sighter material is despite the difference in poundage, the diameter actually goes from .010 to .008 to .007, which doesn't adversely affect turnover in my experience. Not that there too much "turnover" in a leader this thin anyway! Thanks for watching and for the comment, cheers!
@@AvidMax from my time from doing the competitions turnover is everything when it comes to casting the rig and having your flies land where you want them. If the leader doesn’t turn over the way you want it to it will cause problems like more tangles
A great benefit to Euro nymphing is the direct contact to the flies and the mitigated drag. This means you can fish a tippet length that is fairly close to the depth of the water. Especially in slower moving water. While in indicator nymphing we suggest 1.5 to 2 x the depth of the water, with euro nymphing you don't need as much extra length to achieve the same depth and drift.
Shopping Euro lines is pretty simple. Most major manufactures are making solid level Euro lines. Give us a call if you want to talk it through a bit. 7208363619
The butt end of the leader is attached to your Euro-style fly line. Unless you are running a full mono rig that is. The tippet off the tippet ring is dependent on the size of the flies and the size of the fish you are targeting. Small flies or small fish = small tippet. Large flies or large fish = larger tippet. While the old rule of three exists (size 18 fly matched to 6x tippet). Divide the fly size by 3 to get an estimate of the tippet gauge. It is not an exact science, however. You don't want to break off a 22-inch fish just because you are fishing a small fly.
Dang why can't all leader formula videos be this detailed and well done?! I've worked my way down to an 8lb. leader of maxima chameleon and while I can cast fairly accurately now, I'm still struggling to cast lighter flies. I understand micro leaders allow for better drifts with lighter flies but is there any advice you have on being able to turn over something like a single 2.5mm fly for example? I feel like my formula is light enough to cast small flies but do I just need to go thinner?
Checkout Old Dominion Trout Bum. Cory has several good videos on casting. Check out his micro leader video. I tried the Pezon leader, but found it couldn't hold bigger trout. The 8 lb Cortland is the ticket.
Great tutorial. Would this leader formula be suitable while using a Euro nymph fly line (such as Cortland Euro Nymph Mono Core) ? If I want to have some fly line out , does the formula (length of 8 lb and 6 lb) need to be adjusted? I am using an 11ft 2/3 wt rod. Thanks !
I used this formula just like this for a long time with a euro line setup...I eventually moved over to an all mono system and no fly line out of the guides, similar system to the "mono-rig" by TroutBitten. There are a few of us in the shop that use a euro rig, you can always give us a ring and we can chat!
Thanks for the great video. I know it's heresy, but if you're not fishing competition regs, is there any practical reason not to keep the flies as light and natural as possible and use split shot on the tippet, or even go so far as to use the "drop shot" technique rather than a heavily weighted point fly? It would just seems that you would have all the benefits of the thin leader as well as more naturally moving flies and a point weight that gets the flies into the "zone" and keeps you bottom fly just off the bottom.
Glad you enjoyed the video. We have a blog (blog.avidmax.com/2020/10/20/how-to-tie-flies-for-euro-nymphing/) that helps to explain the benefits of heavy vs light flies.. One of the greatest benefits to avoiding split shot is the direct connection you retain to your flies. If you lead with shot the fish has to take the flies hard enough to move the shot so the strike can be detected. A drop shot rig is a good solution and works great in some water types/scenarios and not as well in others. If you want all of your flies close to the bottom typically a heavy lead fly is best. Experiment and let us know what works best for you!
Yes and no, 4-6 feet is definitely a pretty common amount of tippet to cover most situations, but usually I try to match the depth of what I'm working to keep things finely tuned for any given situation. As far as the size, I do run 6x a lot of the time, but occasionally beef up to 5x or even 4x depending on the make and model of tippet. Hope this helps! We're happy to answer any questions so don't hesitate to reach out and we can chat more. Cheers!
Hi question, my current euronymph line starts at .017. Shall I taper it down to .010 ? Why do we have the mono euro line anyway? If it’s never coming off the reel? Thanks!
Great questions! You can taper down to .010. If you do, this would be best facilitated by a tippet ring. It is difficult to get knots to seat well when transitioning more than .02" dimeters. One of the main reasons mono is used is to prevent line sag and to maintain contact throughout your drift.
Nail knot, splicing the fly line, Albright, whatever you prefer. I typically go for a nail knot and don't worry about it since I don't often get taken into my fly line anyhow!
Another good way to attach is a micro loop on the end of your fly line and then just clinch knot your leader on. Creates an ultra smooth transition that glides through your guides like nothing is there.
Whew - glad I didn't know that for the last _____ years of fishing. Had I known I probably wouldn't have been using a tippet ring so effectively off of my indicator. But dang, now I know. Thanks a lot - now I have no idea how I'm going to fish with my tippet ring on my indicator material. 🤥
Thanks for your feedback. We have seen from time to time certain tippet rings that have a flat inner edge (as apposed to rounded) can negatively affect your tippet strength regardless of material. This may be one thing to check and could solve the problem.
Excellent presention Steve. Complete. Concise, Articulate. Visual. Leaves nothing to question. Held my interest. Amazing. Subscribed and liked
Just decided to try out the micro leader and tried this product in 8lb. Great stuff, the transition from 15lb Amnesia to this stuff was seamless. Even in 8lb this stuff is surprisingly stiff and turns over great but also doesn't hold any memory right off the reel. The sensitivity jump was huge. I was feeling the most subtle nibbles that I didn't even have a hope of getting a hookset on. The shop I went to didn't have the sighter material but it still went well with the rio 3x sighter. Definitely interested in still finding some of the tricolor and trying it.
Very nice, Steve. Alot of detailed info on the new Cortland Euro Nymph leader material. Also helpful tips. Thanks, WayneO
Glad it was helpful!
Very good information Steve, thanks again for all the help you gave me at the store the other day.
Any time!
Great info Steve! I've watched a lot of videos about euro leaders and you said taught me a few things. Thanks.
That's great to hear! Thanks for watching.
nicely done! clearly explained with great visual detail. looking forward to trying this spring. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
I’ve been using Euro competitive leader & tippet setup. The leader material is Trout Techn mono which is very subtle. I use 2 rod lengths of leader plus tippet. I use 6.5x to 8x tippet. I prefer Arcay or Hanak Fluoro. Might try Stroft tippet. Europeans are years ahead of North Americans with Euro Nymphing. I haven’t tried any Cortland products but would like to compare.
I use micro loops between flyline to leader to tippet. No micro rings. I stopped using clinch knots and only use uni knots.
It's easy to just spool 65 feet of 4x nylon monofilament and then put 36 inches of bicolor tipped in 4x or 5x, use a micro loop in the tip instead of a tippet ring and you can throw 2 #16 nymphs with 2.5mm beads like 30 feet's away if there is no wind...
Excellent, simple, effective micro-leader setup. I'v used the camo material, but the white material is a lot more easier to pick up.
Glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching!
Wonderful tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing. Great help for me.
A beneficial presentation is certainly the "Gold Standard".I will attempt to buy the Cortland products and take your advice. Thanks from down under in NZ. My only reservation is that the Tongariro River only allows 20 feet of leader and tippet so I will have to make a modified version for that river. Regards.
Just happened upon this and am glad I did. Very good presentation of valuable information. This formula seems like a great inroad to the micro leader realm. I'll give it a try, thank you!
You're gonna have to let us know how it works for you!
Nice sweatshirt. Love the SWE
Well done. Troutbitten rules!!
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
Nice presentation Steve. Why do you use a single color leader instead of the multicolored slighter which is stronger and thinner? Why not the multicolored leader all the way and have one less knot ? Is it because the single colored leader is stiffer/goes through the guides better/slicker?
OK Steve, now look what you’ve done. Your leader is so popular that it’s hard to find the Cortland Mono in the right size and weight. If the Cortland rep isn’t taking you to lunch every time he comes by the shop, he is missing the boat!
Bill Dodson
Troy, Montana
Ha! Thanks for watching the video and for the kind words, Bill! We appreciate you watching along and are constantly on the hunt to keep this material and all of its sizes in stock on the website - we want to make sure folks have the opportunity to tie it up for themselves in whatever sizes they prefer for their style. Stay tuned as we almost always have this stuff on order in heavy quantities!
@@AvidMax I’ll look for your announcement that you are expanding the square footage of your store to accommodate the new inventory . . . or, however you get the message out that now have all the leader material in stock.
Thanks, Bill
Spanish leader set up has no tapering of the line. 12 lbs triple e Berkeley mono to your 9” of white sighter is it. Tie your tippet ring onto the sighter and then use your tippet. Done deal. Very sensitive, very diverse. You can use 2 small nymphs, dry dropper, micro streamers. It does it all and keeps its sensitivity while maintaining cast ability.
I skipped steps 1 through 500. I just buy my usual leaders and put a three inch spot of fluorescent spray paint about three and six feet above the tippet. No knots to weaken already lite line.
Super job, Steve. This was a tremendously valuable, and well delivered instruction video. I’ll be giving it a go. Keep up the good work.
Thank You
Thanks for watching!
Very well presented and explained you did a great job!!
Question can you tell me how you have your floatant bottle attached to to your chest pack please?? Thanks
I use the Loon floatant caddy, it has a small carabiner clip which makes it great for moving around from pack to boat bag to a lanyard and everything in between!
Great video.
Question: What do you tie to the 8 pound test to? Make, size, diameter. The backing of the reel? Thanks
I see one issue with the leader. When you went from 6 pound leader to 6.3 sighter I can see it already causing a turn over issue when casting. The leader I use is basically a modified French leader with 15 inches on 10lb butt material then around 9-10 feet of 8 pound sighter. It turns over well and I have made 30 foot drifts with ease with it
That sounds like a great formula to use as well! The nice thing about that sighter material is despite the difference in poundage, the diameter actually goes from .010 to .008 to .007, which doesn't adversely affect turnover in my experience. Not that there too much "turnover" in a leader this thin anyway! Thanks for watching and for the comment, cheers!
@@AvidMax from my time from doing the competitions turnover is everything when it comes to casting the rig and having your flies land where you want them. If the leader doesn’t turn over the way you want it to it will cause problems like more tangles
Great presentation!! Very helpful!! Thank you!!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Great video.
What tippet do you recommend after the tipper ring? Length, x, and kind? Thanks
Well-presented and informative. Question: What chest pack are you using?
Thanks for the feedback! I am using the Umpqua Overlook ZS2 500, found here: www.avidmax.com/umpqua-overlook-zs2-500-chest-pack/
How is that cortland rod?
How is the sighter 6.3# in a smaller diameter than the 6# leader material? Any issues to note?
Great video. Very knowledgeable.
How many feet of clear tippet should you use after your tippet ring on this particular set up?
A great benefit to Euro nymphing is the direct contact to the flies and the mitigated drag. This means you can fish a tippet length that is fairly close to the depth of the water. Especially in slower moving water. While in indicator nymphing we suggest 1.5 to 2 x the depth of the water, with euro nymphing you don't need as much extra length to achieve the same depth and drift.
Very informative. Fly line recommendations? Thanks
Shopping Euro lines is pretty simple. Most major manufactures are making solid level Euro lines. Give us a call if you want to talk it through a bit. 7208363619
What do you connect the butt end of the leader to? And, what size tippet do you attach to the tippet ring?
The butt end of the leader is attached to your Euro-style fly line. Unless you are running a full mono rig that is. The tippet off the tippet ring is dependent on the size of the flies and the size of the fish you are targeting. Small flies or small fish = small tippet. Large flies or large fish = larger tippet. While the old rule of three exists (size 18 fly matched to 6x tippet). Divide the fly size by 3 to get an estimate of the tippet gauge. It is not an exact science, however. You don't want to break off a 22-inch fish just because you are fishing a small fly.
I didn't
See how you secured the leader to the fly line ?
A nail knot or if you are feeling brave a needle nail knot are good options.
Dang why can't all leader formula videos be this detailed and well done?! I've worked my way down to an 8lb. leader of maxima chameleon and while I can cast fairly accurately now, I'm still struggling to cast lighter flies. I understand micro leaders allow for better drifts with lighter flies but is there any advice you have on being able to turn over something like a single 2.5mm fly for example? I feel like my formula is light enough to cast small flies but do I just need to go thinner?
Checkout Old Dominion Trout Bum. Cory has several good videos on casting. Check out his micro leader video. I tried the Pezon leader, but found it couldn't hold bigger trout. The 8 lb Cortland is the ticket.
Great tutorial. Would this leader formula be suitable while using a Euro nymph fly line (such as Cortland Euro Nymph Mono Core) ? If I want to have some fly line out , does the formula (length of 8 lb and 6 lb) need to be adjusted? I am using an 11ft 2/3 wt rod. Thanks !
I used this formula just like this for a long time with a euro line setup...I eventually moved over to an all mono system and no fly line out of the guides, similar system to the "mono-rig" by TroutBitten. There are a few of us in the shop that use a euro rig, you can always give us a ring and we can chat!
@@AvidMaxthanks for the reply - I will give it a try
Would this work for a steelhead setup with different tippet ?
Good pitch for Cortland, there are cheaper and better options
Thanks for the note!
Thanks for the great video. I know it's heresy, but if you're not fishing competition regs, is there any practical reason not to keep the flies as light and natural as possible and use split shot on the tippet, or even go so far as to use the "drop shot" technique rather than a heavily weighted point fly? It would just seems that you would have all the benefits of the thin leader as well as more naturally moving flies and a point weight that gets the flies into the "zone" and keeps you bottom fly just off the bottom.
Glad you enjoyed the video. We have a blog (blog.avidmax.com/2020/10/20/how-to-tie-flies-for-euro-nymphing/) that helps to explain the benefits of heavy vs light flies.. One of the greatest benefits to avoiding split shot is the direct connection you retain to your flies. If you lead with shot the fish has to take the flies hard enough to move the shot so the strike can be detected. A drop shot rig is a good solution and works great in some water types/scenarios and not as well in others. If you want all of your flies close to the bottom typically a heavy lead fly is best. Experiment and let us know what works best for you!
Do u just connect this directly to your fly line, or is there another transition?
Are you figuring 4-5 feet of 6x tippet off that leader?
Yes and no, 4-6 feet is definitely a pretty common amount of tippet to cover most situations, but usually I try to match the depth of what I'm working to keep things finely tuned for any given situation. As far as the size, I do run 6x a lot of the time, but occasionally beef up to 5x or even 4x depending on the make and model of tippet. Hope this helps! We're happy to answer any questions so don't hesitate to reach out and we can chat more. Cheers!
Are you running regular fly line or euro fly line or mono connecting to your leader?
Hi question, my current euronymph line starts at .017. Shall I taper it down to .010 ? Why do we have the mono euro line anyway? If it’s never coming off the reel? Thanks!
Great questions! You can taper down to .010. If you do, this would be best facilitated by a tippet ring. It is difficult to get knots to seat well when transitioning more than .02" dimeters. One of the main reasons mono is used is to prevent line sag and to maintain contact throughout your drift.
Do you tie the top of the leader directly to the fly line? If so, what kind of knot do you use to tie to the fly line?
You can use a nail knot, or another common connection is called a Superglue Splice!
How do you attach it to the fly line itself? Nail knot ?
Nail knot, splicing the fly line, Albright, whatever you prefer. I typically go for a nail knot and don't worry about it since I don't often get taken into my fly line anyhow!
Another good way to attach is a micro loop on the end of your fly line and then just clinch knot your leader on. Creates an ultra smooth transition that glides through your guides like nothing is there.
I try,try and try. and still cannot get it .I give up on your knot......
Standard four turn blood knot.
Get a tie-fast nail knot tying tool, easy peasy. Do a search on CZcams, there are videos. Much easier on the eyes too.
The indicator mono cannot hold a knot on a tippit ring. Doesn't matter what knot you tie, it will break when tightened.
Whew - glad I didn't know that for the last _____ years of fishing. Had I known I probably wouldn't have been using a tippet ring so effectively off of my indicator. But dang, now I know. Thanks a lot - now I have no idea how I'm going to fish with my tippet ring on my indicator material. 🤥
Thanks for your feedback. We have seen from time to time certain tippet rings that have a flat inner edge (as apposed to rounded) can negatively affect your tippet strength regardless of material. This may be one thing to check and could solve the problem.
Get Stroft tippet rings. They won’t cut your line.
I use SA tippet rings and they are perfectly rounded and never had any issues with them breaking tippet.