Cabela's is great


Turkeygirl

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Yup, doing more and more of it. Get to do alot of summer in the camp pond..because the bluegills are so dumb, they'll eat anything,lol. what was cool there was a brown trout that took a dry off the top of the water! Did some steelhead fishing with the flyrod last spring, my 5 wt is too light though so getting a 7 weight to set up for those steelies!

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Yup, doing more and more of it. Get to do alot of summer in the camp pond..because the bluegills are so dumb, they'll eat anything,lol. what was cool there was a brown trout that took a dry off the top of the water! Did some steelhead fishing with the flyrod last spring, my 5 wt is too light though so getting a 7 weight to set up for those steelies!

Ruth, do you tie your own leaders for steelies? If not you should, it will save you a lot of money. I use Maxima for mine, very durable stuff and it does well in cold water.

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It's easy. You won't need the knot tier, but they are nice to have for hard-to-tie knots like nail knots.

Just tie the different test lines together with a surgeon's knot, which is basically just two overhand knots. You can find an animation explaining how to tie them if you google it.

Here's the recipe:

1' length of 12# Maxima, tie a surgeon's loop in one end, this loop is connected to the loop on the end of your fly line

tie a 2' length of 10# Maxima tied into the non-loop end.

tie 2' length of 8# Maxima tied into the that

tie in a micro barrel swivel (Blackbird brand are good for steelies)

off the opposite end of the swivel tie in flourocarbon, water clarity should determine the lenght of that

tie your fly to the fluorocarbon.

you can clip your split-shot to the 8# Maxima, above the swivel so it doesn't slide around.

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Yeah, you got it. No snap on these swivels. This is a barrel swivel. The heavier Maxima stuff is tied into one end, and then yes, you tie your flouro which is your tippet section to the other end.

It gives you a few advantates. One, you can put your split shot above it so it doesn't slide down near your flies so you're having to constantly adjust it. Two, if you get snagged on the streambed the lighter flourocarbon usually breaks off at the swivel so you only lose your flies and tippet, not a huge portion of your leader. Three, it prevents a lot of line twist.

You can find them at any tackle shop or Cabela's. Just make sure you get micro ones that are strong and small. Steelhead are very line-shy and they'll see a big swivel. Blackbird Micro Swivels are 40 lbs. test and are tiny. They're best.

In most conditions I use 8 lbs. flouro as my tippet, now when the water is gin clear, I'll drop down to 6 lbs. and if they're still not hitting, I'll go to 5 lbs. and lessen my drag. You don't want to go much lower than that. Sounds like you're good there.

I tie up about 8 leaders and keep them in my vest. Since you tie a loop in the end that joins the fly line, you can change it guick. I usually tie them as long as my rod, so my leaders are usually 9 or 10 feet long.

barrel_swivel.jpg

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Found those blackbird swivels, over on fishusa.com...They also have the Maxima spools and fly line with the loop at the end...Scientific anglers I think, $50...but cheapest I can find besides Cabelas...Think I might place an order with them. The rod and rell I ordered from Cabelas come with fly line and backing on it already but the line doesn't have the loop on the end so I figure I'll replace it.

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For the loop on the end. Just tie on a regular leader, then after your about done with that leader. Cut it and add your own loop, with about 2-3 inches of the old leader at the end of the fly line. This will not float very well, but you will be able to change leaders like having a fly line with the loop.

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So I got the maxima in ultragreen in 12#,10# and 8 lb and according to the chart on the sit I ordered it from, the 8lb is also tippet so will probably use that as my tippet as well....

Muggs, when I do my leaders, should I do 12, 10, then swivel then 8 lb tippet or do 12, 10, 8, swivel, then 8 for the tippet?

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Hey muggs, also what color in the Maxima would you suggest, the ultragreen or the chameleon? Usually where I steelhead fish is pretty rocky...the water is usually murky...once in a while it'll be clear-ish. Would chameleon be the way to go?

I like the chameleon myself.

For your knot questions, I use a Duncan Loop (aka a Uni Knot). IMO that is the strongest knot you can tie for a connection like that. I usually re-tie after I catch my third fish on the knot.

Learn how to tie all these knots, and you should be good to go on stream:

surgeon's loop

surgeon's knot

Duncan loop

nail knot

arbor knot

Use the knot tying tool for the nail knot. It's used to connect backing to fly line and the arbor knot is for connecting your backing to your spool. You'll want at least 100 yards of backing on your spool.

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btw- if you're usually fishing murky water, you should use 8# flouro as your tippet section. I just buy I big spool of it. Use this recipe for such conditions.

1' of 12# maxima, looped.

3' of 10# maxima

3' of 8# maxima

split-shot

Blackbird swivel

2' of 8# flourocarbon

Flies

btw- most of the time I use two flies. I usually tie in an egg pattern, followed by a bug or wolly bugger. I just tie a Duncan loop on the bend of the first hook, and tie my second flie into that.

my favorite combo is sucker spawn with a stonefly trailer.

Edited by muggs
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So is the 12# the so called "butt" of the leader? I was reading somewhere else people suggested using like 20# for the leader "butt"...is that really necessary?

Too late anyway, already got itordered, should be here tomorrow. :)

Yeah, the 12# is the butt end. You can use #20 if you want. I don't like going from 20# to 10# though. I don't like tying two lines together that have such a difference in diameter...makes for weaker knots.

Some guys go from 20# to 18#, 16# etc... all the way down to 6#. I stick to the KISS method for fishing and hunting and also, having to buy all that different Maxima gets pricey.

The leader will "turnover" better when you cast if you taper it with more changes in line weight, but when you're steelheading fishing the Great Lakes tribs, you're already using all kinds of split shot, you're lines not casting in the traditional fly casting way as is, so I find 12, 10, 8, and then the tippet turns over just fine.

When I fish more traditional fly fishing techniques, I just use store bought tapered leaders that cast nicely.

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