There are two types of leaders: knotted and knotless.

 

Knotless or single-strand leaders are widely available in local fly fishing stores. They come in three lengths: 7.5, 9 and 12 feet. And as the name indicates, knotless leaders do not have any knot. They are continuous piece of monofilament gradually decreasing in diameter at a constant rate. Since knotless leaders are ready to use and you don’t have to tie any knots, they are mostly used by beginners. Other benefits are they don’t get caught up in weeds and the easiness to deal with when inevitable knot occurs. Although knotless knots are much more popular than knotted knots, they have some disadvantages. Knotless knots are not very suitable when you need an exceptional lengthy leader or you have to add a tippet to them after tying on and removing a few flies.

 

Knotted leaders consist of different sections of progressively lighter pieces of monofilament tied together to form one long tapered piece of line. Lots of fly fisherman opt to use knotted leaders as their experience grows because they can cast better and deliver a better presentation. Another big plus is knotted leaders save money. You can buy several spools of leader material and then you can produce your own leaders. You can tie up dozens of knotted leader for the same amount of money you would spend buying half a dozen knotless ones. Another advantages over the knotless leaders is you can make them as long and strong as you want. Of couse if you don’t bother to tie the leaders yourself, some companies offer hand-tied, prepackaged knotted leaders available to many local stores.

 

If you like to tie the knotted leaders yourself, you may follow the 60-20-20 formula: 60 percent of the leader length in the butt, 20 percent in the taper, and 20 percent in the tippet.

 

Some fly fishing leaders are for sale on eBay.