The goal for most fly fishers is to provide the fish with a drag-free drift. This means the fly must look like it is not attached to anything (the leader) as it drifts in the current. A leader designed to fall on the water with built in slack will help accomplish this.
The George Harvey leader formula is considered the most effective leader formula for trout fishing. Constructed of hard and soft nylon, this leader can be adapted to any fishing situation. Lengthening and shortening the leader sections will effect how the leader behaves in the air and on the water. These changes can be made in seconds, in accordance with casting style, fly size and type, wind, rain - whatever. This leader is not designed to straighten out on the water. Rather, it should lie in a series of s-curves.
Flourocarbon leader material has gained a lot of attention in recent years. Manufacturers claim that it is closer to the specific gravity and density of water, therefore less detectable by the fish. Other advantages to fluorocarbon include increased sinking rate and very good abrasion resistance. Disadvantages include poor knot strength, even poorer wet knot strength, incompatibility with nylon in most situations, and cost - between 10-15 dollars per 30-meter spool vs. 3-4 dollars for high quality nylon. You decide.
George Harvey leader formula for 4 and 5 weight lines:
- .017 10″
- .015 18″
- .013 18″
- .010 18″ (1X)
- .008 18″ (3X)
- .007 18″ (4X)
This creates a base leader tied entirely with a medium to hard nylon. Add soft tippet sections to get a perfect dead drift or swim your fly in any desired manner.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
The George Harvey leader formulas are the most effective leader for DRY FLY fishing only in sizes #12-#22.
Not all types of flyfishing as this article states. You would NOT want to use a G. Harvey leader for streamer, bass bug, nymphing, or any type of large salmonid fishing (think Salmon/Steelhead) or warmwater (Pike, LM/SM bass, or carp).
For streamer fishing or using large wind resistant deer hair bugs one can use a 4′ leader tapered down to 3x or 4x. For nymph fishing you may want to use a tapered leader to 5x but leave a 3 foot tag end to sink a heavier weighted nymph below the lead (or higher fly) as a dropper.
For deep lakes or large rivers one may want to consider just using a large piece of level mono incorporated with a sink tip or mini-sink tip for large weighted flies or a brace of wet flies. For more info on this please email Dave at jjsjigs@epix.net. I’ll set ya straight!