EURO Nymphing secret weapon: Micro-Leaders
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2020
- Not a secret but a great addition to your Euro nymphing toolkit, the micro-leader is a must-have.
Materials and Gear Used:
Euro Rods: store.flyfishfood.com/searchr...
Euro Line: store.flyfishfood.com/searchr...
Amnesia Material: store.flyfishfood.com/Sunset-...
Maxima Chameleon: store.flyfishfood.com/Maxima-...
Sighter Material: store.flyfishfood.com/searchr...
Neon Wax: store.flyfishfood.com/searchr...
Modern Nymphing Videos: store.flyfishfood.com/searchr...
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“Gotta have some red darts in your fly box” - Legit!
so glad to see new videos of u guys, thx for sharing
Thanks Lance, I’ve been looking for a little more information on the micro leader...good stuff
The Red Dart has become one of my go-to nymphs. Thing just flat out works
Many thanks. Micro leaders I've been speculating in for some time. In other forms of fishing I've seen incredible results with super thin materials and new techniques develop around them. Getting a fly down into some areas has been difficult if not impossible - this comes very close to solving quite a few situations and is important to know and have in the arsenal.
Hey! great instructional vid on Euro Nymphing! I love that you cover so much info on this, sadly this info is overlooked. I just subbed, you rock! Keep the good content coming!
I’m down to 8lb max and it’s going well. Thanks for all the info. 👍
Good stuff!
I put UV resin over my nail knots to smooth them out. They slide through the guides really well. I only do it for the fly lint to leader knot.
A well tied and trimmed blood knot needs no resin. Resin only adds bulk and weight. I’d suggest skipping the resin. Just tie and trim great knots.
@@Lanceeganflyfishing I should have clarified, I only put it on the fly line to leader connection. I don't put a lot on. just enough to smooth out the knot.
@@chach3 nail knot is smooth like a blood knot
Thank you for info.
Really useful video guys. Thanks. Just fished with a 6# Maxima butt leader for the first time and although it will take some getting used to the advantages were immediately apparent for the water I was fishing. However, with the ability to fish at greater distance, I found I had a harder time seeing the 2x sighter material I was using, but luckily had one tube of orange wax along and using that really helped. I think for the next outing I'm going to try some 0x sighter that's been boiled and wax it from the get go just to experiment. If I can't see the sighter well it kind of neutralizes the whole 'greater distance' thing. I think a second contrasting color of wax will help too.
*I bought these and used them at the river where I get snags often they have done a **enjoyable.fishing** recommend great job of not breaking along with some strong line I purchased as well. They are super durable and easy to use.*
THANK YOU for sharing
Thanks for the info on the red dart. Definitely a fine fishing fly no matter how you tie it. I tie flies for my son and I’m having trouble keeping him in red darts. That’s his lead fly and he catches a lot of fish in them.
With a three turn clinch knot I affixed a small tippet ring to my line. I then attached a 0.011 leader to that. I was surprised how well it worked. I’ve since replaced that leader attaching the new one with a nail knot.
Great video as always. Just wondering if there’s a diagram of this micro leader setup? Something similar to your 20-15-12 setup.
Thanks!
Great stuff Lance, thanks for helping all of us aspiring to become proficient(or hopefully better) at Euro Nymphing. One question: Do you ever coat your nail or needle-nail knot and if so, what do you prefer to coat them with?
I'm down to a mono-rig of only 8x tippet, no indicator (indicators are for wimps). So far I have only caught fish by snapping off the fly's while casting, hitting the fish in the head and netting them as they float by.....
Seriously I did try the micro leader and had a tough time, but this video made me realize that I jumped from 20 lb to 8 lb. I am definitely moving to 12 lb to start.
That's called an "oval stab cast" it originated in Europe with Gypsies
I would like to hear more about casting, and how the heavier vs lighter leaders behave. It seems the thicker leader has the benefit of being castable like a fly line to some degree, while the thinner leader depends more on being loaded to effect a forward movement. How do these leaders differ vis-a-vis the methods of casting that they work with?
One thing I think it also important to me anyways is how the leader behaves when your casting. I’m super picky on this and will cut and retie till I find something that works
I don't use line anymore. I use 30' of 6lb Amnesia, 24" of 4X sighter to a micro swivel (keeps my tag fly from wrapping around the main tippet), and end up with 10' of 4 or 5X tippet. Line handling is a bit of a challenge but you get used to it. I cast when I have a couple of feet of Amnesia past my rod tip. I can shoot about 20' of the Amnesia that way with 2 heavy nymphs. 10' stays in the rod. It's backed up with another 30" of 6 lb Amnesia in a different color. I'm going to try to get down to 4X Chameleon.
Great video ! What is the total length of your micro leader before you add tippit to the o ring? I see you add 24 inches of 6 pound amnesia but I didn’t hear how many feet you add of the 4 x sighter material you add? Thank you.
Hi Lance. Great stuff. Quick question: are you using a tuck cast for #20 and micro leader for a fly-first entry? Thanks!
Hi Lance, hope you are staying safe. In the video you mentioned the disadvantages and advantages of the Micro leader. One of the areas I didn't hear you mention, or maybe you did, is the performance of the micro leader with streamers fished as a nymph and as a streamer. Could you share some insight. Thanks
Micro leader setups allow you to fish farther away with nymphs or a streamer. I wouldn’t suggest stripping streamers with a euro setup. Drifting or jigging streamers during a drift is very effective with the euro setup.
I actually eliminated the taper effect from my fly line to tippet line...i run a maxima chameleon 9 to 10 feet 10 pound test, depending the pole length to a 18 inch to 24 inch strike indicator line of your choice. Casting w no issues for advanced casters. Its basic beginner but it works really well in shallow and deep water...Tippet rings are over rated imho so a double surgeons or triple from indicator to 10 to 11 pound tippet works for me...after that tippet of choice and range depending on depth of the river or hole of choice dictates the length here for me. and if I run multiple flies dropper loops work way better than more tippet rings without adding weight to my rig and keeping a symbiotic flow to my rig. Hands down I wouldn't have my rig to date without Lance so take his insight and find what works for yall no wrong answers yall ..God Bless
Just what I've been working towards. Thinner leader seems to mean a more natural drift. Thanks for the video as always! It seems like it's a difference with precision in casts vs precision in presentation.
As I scale down my leader, with practice, I notice accuracy in casts is no issue. Is this type of leader traditionally called the French Leader?
No, what has been a “traditional” French leader is a long tapered leader. The micro leader isn’t tapered much, if at all.
Hi Lance, thanks for the video, appreciate it. Would a slower action rod be better for casting micro leader setups?
I like a medium fast rod for euro setups. Too fast or too slow are not as easy to control the rig in my opinion.
I really couldn't see exactly what you were doing. I had to use my imagination.The needle nail knot is my favorite.
Hi what tippet do you use when jigging streamers in the micro thin leader? What is your current favorite WF line for dries on a euro rod? Thanks so much!
How much of the 4X do you use usually? I am assuming that you keep the 6lb test in your example in the eyes of the rod.
I have been bringing a "mono rig" leader and an extra long tapered leader for my "dry fly" rod so I can switch in between as needed, and a separate euro rod with a micro leader. It works great, best of both worlds.
Patrick ironic I just read your comment because I JUST had this convo with my brother & I used to do the same, putting a mono leader below my fly line. The problem is when I put it on a storage spool to switch to dries it always seems to get tangled on something even though I have it locked down under heavy rubber bands plus the tighter spool up makes the mono coil issue worse. I find the additional bulk on my Sage ESN reel with that setup is cumbersome. Last week I carried my 4 wt Lamson reel with me and when the sulphurs started coming off, it was quicker and easier to just cut my patterns off, stow the ESN & throw on the dry fly reel. If you don’t pack light I suppose carrying another reel might be a bit much but I’ve gone to a C&F Design all-in-one Chest lanyard vs a vest so carrying that reel is easy peasy. Whatever works for you as long as you have tight lines!
Best wishes.
@@Morgs914 I'm considering putting a floating 3wt delicate taper fly line on my esn reel, then using either the rio or SA euro nymphing shorty lines, and attaching a comp legal euro leader to that, so it all becomes more modular, without the coil issues of the mono rig. One reel, just a few foam spools to store the spare bits as needed.
@@patches152 I’d like to know how that works out. The tigjtline game is still pretty new to me (like a lot of peeps in its rapid rise in popularity) . Like everything, different strokes work and it’s all preference.
My biggest issue with the mono setup (mine goes from 20 to 15 to 12 to 8 to 0x slighter to a tippet ring then fluoro leader) I have is when I do get a big fish on the bloodknots tend to hang up as I bring the fish in. It doesn’t take much bcz the slightest of hesitations, also because I fish barbless, for some tank of a fish to throw the hook when my blood knot is trying to get in past the tip. I don’t care how tight or smooth a blood knot is, it definitely doesn’t help when you’re trying to do fish yoga and land that big fish….so anything to reduce the # of knots & changes.
I also have several Loon foam spools that at first i thought was a nifty idea to save time at the stream but I’ve gotten away from them. They always seem to hang up on something or they don’t quite come off right or I decide the tippet length between patterns isn’t quite right so I want to change it. Earlier this month I lost a few bigger fish on the lower Provo out west because I should’ve changed out my tippet rather than get max mileage out of it. Lesson learned and (I think) once tippet of off the spool, even if it’s right onto a foam spool, you’re exposing it to the elements, corners, wading staffs etc etc and I’ve lost SO many big fish this year, I need to look at the whys and work on it. …I digress.
Either way if you do it soon, and have luck shoot me a note with details, I’m open to trying what works best.
@@Morgs914 I've been using the micro thin leader with no knots, it's just umpqua bi color sighter 15' long with a tippet ring on the end, and I tie tippet of varying length onto that.
I have a few spare pre-tied tippet rigs on spools, but it's easy enough to quickly re-rig if it breaks off. Fishing micro leader means lighter flies, and less snags (still gotta be careful of trees).
Even re rigging the leader is simple, since it's one knot onto the whipped micro loop on my euro fly line, and a 16/20 knot onto the tippet ring. One spool of sighter makes plenty of leaders. You could even pre tie those on foam spools to make sure you always know what you have handy, but that takes up space.
You could even just fish the light tapered euro nymphing line from Courtland to fish light dry flies with, and forego the shorty nymph line, it's just a leader change at that point.
Update: i don't like the mono rig, i'm with lance and prefer to handle the euro fly line over the mono.
i now carry a 2nd spool for my euro rod with a light creek floating fly line so i can flow dry flies with the one rod. takes a little more time to switch out, but it's worth it to not carry two rods most days.
Lance, what is your opinion on euro fly line vs. french leader or just mono line set ups? Also, wanted to let you know your silver bullet pattern was the first pattern of my own tying to catch a fish. Thanks.
gotta keep in mind, for competition use mono instead of "thin" euro fly line is probably not allowed, so that is one reason some of these people might not use mono rigs
Awesome advice. Im new to euro style tight line nymphing, saw this vid, adjusted system as follows for my Moonshine Rods, 2wt, 10' Epiphany rod: attached a 9' furled thread leader with shorb loops both ends on a wf flyline (in case I want to cast drys), looped on a 15' 11lb indicator mono, looped a 3' 3x indicator mono, looped on a 6' 5x tippet section, tied on a Tazmanian Devil size 14 hanak 400bl with 3mm bead and a 12" dropper with an rs2 on the San Juan tailwater late afternoon and was catching almost every cast for about 2 hours. Works awesome! Lost count of landed fish and missed strikes.
Did you trail your RS2 behind the Tasmania Devil, or was it on a dropper tag. If the former (which is what I think you're saying), why did you go that way rather than use a tag?
@@alexargyros7186 the area I was fishing was deeper than 3' and I thought this was a better way to go. Sometimes I tie on a Rosenbauer's cdc rabbits foot beatis emerger on a tag with this rig, and it works great, but the tangles sometimes created landing a fish can be horrendous and I have to cut the whole thing off and re-tie my rig. One time I had a 14" rainbow and an about the same size brown at the same time on the 3 fly rig, but the brown slipped off before Icould try to net them, which would have been really difficult considering my net is only 16"x8"
@@lxmacuahuitl1079 Thanks for the reply. Now, let me ask you the same question I asked Lance: did you tend to feel your hits or see them by watching your sighter?
@@alexargyros7186 Good question, I actuall feel the eat more often than seeing the sighter move, which can be very slight. It also depends on the depth and swiftness of the current etc., amongst many other variables. Sometimes the eat is at the end of the drift on the rise and I have gotten into the habit of setting the hook at the end of the drift always. And sometimes I dont see or feel anything and set the hook and come up with a fish. All I can say is this style of nymphing is very effective and has increased my fish rate into the 20s and 30s. One note is if a trailing dropper is used behind a point fly, foul hooking can be an issue if less than 12" long. And one other note, tbis time of year on the San Juan the state stocks a lot of fish and the big browns, i.e., wild fish, will take junk flies (egg and worm patterns) and streamers like crazy. I just got a Moonshine 10' 4wt and plan on going to the Juan in a few days. You should have a look at Moonshine rods, they just redesigned their Epiphany rods. Really nice and affordable. They had a 15% off sale last month and I bought the 4 wt version.
Cheers.
What’s the 4x material you are using to the sighter? Regular nylon tippet?
I use a .20 mm (3X) mainline to a .18 mm (4X sighter) to a tippet ring to my 7X leader, the length of which depends on the depth I'm fishing. I never really see the back of that mainline, which is attached to my regular WF floating fly line.
What size needle do you use for the needle nail knot?
I know some guys who fish a black and or white sighter. What times to you think this is advantageous? Like a bad glare? Thinking about adding some black wax to my sighter if its beneficial in certain situations.
Black wax is best for glare. Otherwise I find it hard to see.
I use a 4 lb mono tippett section 12 lb sighter and butt section.
Aren't you adding sag to the micro line when you add neon wax to the sighter?
Please show your actual setup you were using for the micro.
I’ve advanced so much in fly fishing Euro style that I put a spin reel on my fly Rod just so I don’t have to piss with fly line anymore.. I use, about 300 yards 2lb test leader. No tippet..
Legendary. Just promise not to steal my girl.
I’ve gone down to 8 lb leader material and I love the sensitivity however when it rains the mono sticks to the rod. Do you have any suggestions to counter that?
Thanks
Wrap the blank in mono. Look up guideline tips and tricks on YT.
Lance, In Modern Nymphing your Euro leader formula was tapered with 20, 15, and 12 lb. Maxima to the sighter. Here you are using 20 lb. straight through to the sighter. I was wondering why you changed? Thanks.
20-15-12 is the recommended leader for new euro anglers. Once you get comfortable casting the rig with command you should go thinner diameter. I do like the control of a 20-15-12 leader for floating the sighter or for casting dries. When nymphing I prefer the micro setup.
@@Lanceeganflyfishing Thanks
I was wondering the exact same thing.
Great video, Lance. Could you tell me if the ration of felt to seen strikes increases as the diameter of the leader decreases? In other words, do you feel more strikes with a micro leader (as opposed to seeing your sighter move) than with a thicker leader?
Hard to say. I rarely feel a strike. Strikes should be seen in the sighter long before they are felt.
The question I have is I started with your 20# formula and now I'm down to 12-10-8 for my leader. In Montana, it's frequently "breezy" and neither formula does well. but when I watch both Modern Nymphing vids, you and Devon are both fishing in conditions where I see the foliage moving quite a bit but you're both fishing easily and catching fish. So just wondering what your setups are than you can fish in the "breeze" and it's not affecting the leader.
You can lead the leader into the wind to avoid impacting your drift.
The "about trout" channel has a video about euro nymphing in wind that demonstrates it well
David, thinner leader helps a lot with wind. Managing slack is also important. It’ll come with time and practice. That said, there is a certain amount of wind that isn’t euro friendly. Sometimes (though not very often) the indicator rig is the best option.
@@patches152 When there's an upstream breeze, I've learned to keep the rod low and lead the flies and generally do well. I will check out the other channel. Thanks!
I have a hard time seeing my sighter in some conditions. Since the sighter is so close to the tippet (which is mostly in the water), is there any compelling reason to not upsize the sighter (0x or 2x) for better visibility and keep the leader above the sighter lighter (4x)? Being at the end of the hanging line, it seems like the heavier sighter wont have that much influence on the line sag.
I have trouble seeing the sighter too, especially in low light, so I use a backing barrel as described on the Troutbitten blog. I attach one (with no tags) to the sighter and it helps a lot with visibility.
It’ll sag a bit more, but not too much. A leader that isn’t level or tapered isn’t competition legal, but most anglers won’t have to worry about that since they have zero interest in competing.
@@cs1089 Actually, two or three help even more. And they add no appreciable weight.
What type of boots are you using ?
Is the Euro fly line necessary? I've rarely even used since the euro leader is so long.
Fishing isn’t necessary. That said, I use the fly line on every drift. If you’re not using fly line it’s likely that your leader is too long. I really prefer handling fly line when taking up slack, setting the hook, and fighting fish. Monofilament often slips through my fingers during each of these techniques. I don’t enjoy when that happens so I use the fly line.
It's only necessary because of fips competition rules in my opinion.
Euro fly line is not necessary unless your in a competition.
How come you dont use like 10lbs rod lenght leader made from sighter material, 2 or 3 tone. And attach that to the tippet material with a small tippet ring?
Btw.. nothing doesnt stop you from using like just really long level leader with loop to loop with normal flyline if you dont compete in flyfishing. Competition rules doesnt apply when just fun fishing and you dont really need to buy that thin euro flyline.
?
Any chance of Lance doing a video on tying the needle nail knot connection?
Agreed I wanted to post this question as well would love to see it
@@richardcarbon20 images.app.goo.gl/UNespGJkKBbeYjfk8 this is a link to Rio Products vid on tying a needle knot.
I was watching this video again (it deserves multiple viewings, it's that good) when another question popped into my head. What is your opinion about using an upstream nymphing approach (either floating a fly line or a sighter) to accomplish similar goals as with a cross stream micro leader method? With an upstream cast there's no sag, the flies sink quickly (especially if one uses very fine tippet), and strike detection is relatively easy. I think that your teammates Pat Weiss and Josh Miller fish like this a lot, but I'd love your thoughts, Lance.
So is anything below 10lb considered micro?
Would you or have you, create a video speaking of dealing with windy days and euro?
Filmed and almost edited....
@@FlyFishFood fantastic!
Put on the smallest Thingambobber and make your tippet slightly longer.
Woooooo hooooo!
I’ve recently started stripping about 1.5” of the fly line coating on mono core Euro specific fly lines. Then, using a clinch knot, adding a tippet ring to the nylon core of the .022 (Cortland) fly line. This seems to work well and mitigates any guide drag when retrieving line and leader. Not sure this is acceptable, but it allows for quick leader changes on the river, as needed. Thoughts?
That is interesting.
I have the same line. I stripped the coating and blood knotted a length of Maxima to the core and added a tippet ring to the Maxima. Afterwards, I thought about what you did. It would be a lot easier.
Definitely acceptable. When I tried that setup it wasn’t as smooth as a needle nail or superglue splice. If it’s working for you it’s hard to argue with success!
Rewatching this and other videos to get ready for some upcoming trips, and noticed your snazzy shirts you've been wearing a lot recently. As another fair skinned sun worshiper, I'm always on the market for new long sleeved hoodies. Care to share the brand info with us?
In this video it’s the repyourwater hybrid shirt. They’re comfy and stylish-ish 😬
@@Lanceeganflyfishing cheers
If your using a mono rig where your fly line stays on the reel because you don’t compete, you won’t have to ruin a 90$ fly line
1- A high end euro line is $60. It can also be chopped back when the tip wears out because there is no taper.
2- hook sets are better when you have a fly line running through your fingers because there is better purchase.
Mono rig works for sure, but if you have $60 to last you two or three years, you can use a fly line.
Hey Lance did it ever occur to you that fishing weighted flies on mono is what spincasters have been doing for a century. You’re just doing it without the reel. When we were kids we just tied a piece of line to the end of a stick. Replace the stick with a $600 carbon stick and string from the garbage with mono and a hook and worm with a Perdigon and $1000 later you’re euro nymphing.
Hmmm. No worries Rick. We’ll do a skill builder for you to explain the differences!
Why refer to XXX?? Just say the breaking strain
That’s kind of how the fly fishing world works. It’s more common to mention X size than breaking strength.
Not all brands of mono or fluoro have the same breaking strength for any given diameter. However 4X, 5X, 6X etc. refers to a standard diameter which is the same no matter the manufacturer, and since stepping down the diameter of each section is how a tapered leader is constructed, X is the only way to insure that the leader is constructed properly. Of course that's if you mix brands and/or type of line in a leader build which is typical for Euro leaders.
Hi Lance, the problem I find in all videos, ( not just your videos ) is that we are never close enough to see what is going on with the sighter. I know that cameras are expensive and I know that there are logistical problems with getting a camera beside you ( and I mean right beside you ) so that we could see what you see.... The word video means " I see ".... I'm sorry but I saw nothing here.
I " heard " plenty, but saw hee haw!! Please don't take the hurt out of this, I meant it as constructive criticism. I would love to see more of what is going on, not just hear what is going on.....
I agree. I love all the videos on this channel including this one but it would help if the videographer was using a telephoto/ long lens do we can see the line action along the waterline. The audio on the other hand was done well and it was nice to have a more intimate recap at the end, further forward xplaining the setup. 🙌🏽
No hurt felt. To be candid, it would cost a lot more (monetarily), and take more time to setup, film, and edit the type of quality you are referring to. TH-cam is a free platform. I guess you get what you pay for 🤷♂️🤓😬.
@@Lanceeganflyfishing yeah I know you get what you pay for! lol!! I have bought modern nymphing, modern nymphing elevated and adaptive fly fishing......still can't see a bloody thing!!
But it is across all the nymphing video makers, we can't see as the viewer what the sighter is doing, we can't see the anglers perspective.
This is true no matter if it is your videos, aaron jasper, fish on videos, the list goes on and on, I have bought them all.
I even helped with the filming of one and I know how incredibly difficult it is to get the " money shot " .......
However, if somebody could figure out how to do that, let us see from the anglers perspective, just exactly what he is seeing, that would be a video worth buying and would set the creator a cut above the rest of the competition, I am absolutely sure of it.....
William, I hear you. I think the hardest part is capturing the sighter. It’s incredibly difficult to find the leader on camera. To do so often places the cameraman too close to the fish, eliminating the strike/catch. I get what you’re saying, but I think you understand why it hasn’t been captured. With an investment of some time on the water you’ll be able to read the sighter well. Happy angling!
.
That’s medium size? You must tell your wife it’s yuge.
The fish you caught that is....
Great stuff Lance, thanks for helping all of us aspiring to become proficient(or hopefully better) at Euro Nymphing. One question: Do you ever coat your nail or needle-nail knot and if so, what do you prefer to coat them with?
I don’t. A well tied and trimmed knot needs no coating as the coating only adds bulk and density.