EURO Nymphing secret weapon: Micro-Leaders

Not a secret but a great addition to your Euro nymphing toolkit, the micro-leader is a must-have.

Materials and Gear Used:

Fly Fish Food

[chach]

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.

[OKCKettlebells]

“Gotta have some red darts in your fly box” - Legit!

[willjohnson]

*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.*

[riverrightoutdoors]

I’m down to 8lb max and it’s going well. Thanks for all the info. 👍

[keithchessell]

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.

[joeborgione]

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.

[neilfitch]

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
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.

[michaelkakaley]

Thanks Lance, I’ve been looking for a little more information on the micro leader...good stuff

[reserrvoirman]

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.

[gbossaboy]

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.

[StephenLorber-hsdr]

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.

[Chris-fgvj]

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!

[taeshank]

so glad to see new videos of u guys, thx for sharing

[ericlarsen]

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?

[DanAcondaOutdoors]

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!

[fishlipflycollective]

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

[niteshifi]

I really couldn't see exactly what you were doing. I had to use my imagination.The needle nail knot is my favorite.

[andyyun]

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.

[jp]

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?

[rjf]

Excellent video ! Thanks very much. I not clear of the characteristics of Amnesia. Why do you use Amnesia as a butt section between your flatline and micro leader ?