And when the Underground talks leaders, it talks to Underground Montana Correspondent Sully, who has spent a lifetime testing leader formulas to a state of perfection. (Well, not a whole lifetime. He’s not dead.)

This is perhaps the most unusual of all the Sully recommended leaders – a 16.5′ specimen that always turns over.

When asked about its origins, Sully simply said the original formula was found on twisted fragments of an alien-looking metal during a recent visit to Area 51. Then he pulled out an odd penlight, flashed it in my eyes, and… wait, where am I?

The low, clear flows of fall and winter mean BWOs – and long leaders.

Huh. Lost my train of thought.

Anyway, I see I’ve already pasted the leader formula below. Nobody knows where the formula comes from, though it’s easily the most extra-terrestrial of the Sully leaders, two of which we already passed along (links to those at the end of this post).

I use this leader extensively fishing small flies in the low, clear water of Fall and Winter. The turnover on this is truly amazing, and the drifts are spectacular.

It responds well to caster inputs, so pile and reach casts actually work like they’re supposed to.

Like any long leader, there’s little joy to be found fishing it in the wind. There is, however, a lot of joy in hooking tough fish.

Dia. Length
.025 4′ Rio Powerflex Butt Material (start with 4 feet but trim down length if leader doesn’t turn over well)
.022 3′ Rio Powerflex Butt Material
.017 8″ Rio Powerflex
.015 7″
.013 6″
.011 10″
.010 20″
.011 11″
.009 15″
.007 8″
.005 30″ (6x)

Sully’s pretty specific about materials, but this design will stand some tinkering.

He recently constructed a prototype using Orvis Hy-Flote butt material, which is smaller than the listed sizes and very flexible. It’s a perfect match for my more flexible fly lines (Cortland Sylk and 444 Peach).

I would definitely try a smaller butt diameter if I was trying this leader with a 4wt line.

Other Sully Leader Designs

Sully’s Big Bug Leader design: 10.5′ long and it turns over big dries beautifully. My favorite all-around leader spring and summer.

Sully’s short-range accuracy leader: 7.5′ long, but a small stream killer.

[tags]fly fishing, leader, leader design, BWO[/tags]

Forecasts for the weekend have similarly dropped a good 8-10 degrees, so your Quality Fly Fishing Experience should involve more fun and less heatstroke. Sometimes life gives you a good bounce (ever smack a tree limb with a cast only to have the fly fall in exactly the right spot?) and only the most morose would fail to take advantage.

Absolutely FREE Today Only….

And speaking of advantages, we’re offering a special treat today – another one of Sully’s marvelous leader “double taper” leader designs. This one’s a short 7.5′ model that I fished extensively in the tight Brookie streams of Tennessee. He describes casting it as being similar “to throwing darts” and I have to agree.

Pinpoint casting is the only way to catch fish in those tiny streams, and this design couldn’t have been better.

Sully’s Short Double Taper Design (note the alliteration)

Dia. Length (inches)
.019 27.5 (Rio Powerflex)
.017 9
.015 8
.013 7
.012 6 (Rio Salmon, Bass, Steelhead for this segment only)
.015 7
.011 6
.009 5
.007 (4x) 18 or more

Coming soon, the Big Leader Payoff — a 16.5′ design that really, really works. Like every time….

Also, we’ve got some Underground Entertainment headed your way, but I’m going to start separating those posts from the others. Easier that way. So until then, see you in the float tube, Tom Chandler

[Editor: Underground Montana Correspondent Sully knows leaders better than Hugh Hefner knows twenty-somethings, and today - in honor of the Golden Stone hatch - he graces us with his "Big Bug" leader design that (trust me) works like stink. I've fished this leader for years, and yes, it really does turn over huge bugs with aplomb...)

:::::::: Sully Post ::::::::

At a FFF Conclave in Steamboat Springs several decades ago, Lefty (yes THAT Lefty) told the assembled novitiates that the butts on trout leaders were too thin and too stiff.

Endearing characteristics on snow bunnies to be sure, but not the best prescription for smooth casting. Long story short — Lefty was right. Maxima, Mason and the like tie up into wonderful saltwater, steelhead and salmon leaders. Your trout leaders cast better with butts made from more pliable stuff, like: Hal Janssen Leader Control, Rio Powerflex Butt Material and the new Orvis (Monic) Hy-Flote.

The Double Taper Leader

Who knows when the concept of “double-taper leaders” first sprang on the scene? Ray Bergman included some double-taper recipes in Trout, first published in 1938. A.J. McClane included both a trout and a bass double-taper in The Practical Fly Fisherman.

My copy dates from 1975 and the tapers may have been included in the original 1953 edition. A.J. noted, “While not many people use double-tapers, this design has a definite place in casting fanwings, large bivisibles, or hairwings, all of which tend to increase drag on the unrolling line.”

These early designs basically started with small diameter butts and transitioned up. One of these designs really IS a double taper: McClane’s trout taper begins with a .015″ butt segment, works stepwise up to .018″ and then back down again. The design I favor was described in Fly Fisherman a while ago. My copy is hiding in a box in the basement. If YOU or a loved one wrote the article, write Chandler and he’ll provide full recognition and maybe a Beetle Bug.

This design basically adds a single large diameter segment at a strategic point. You must determine where the leader is loosing enthusiasm for turning over and tie the kicker segment there. Ultimately you can’t use an equation: empiricism is involved. It’s just crazy enough to work. And of course, it’s the last thing they’d expect us to do…

In practice these “double-tapers” work great. These are extremely smooth-casting leaders, lacking the herky-jerky whiplash you’re fearing as you read this.

Sully…

The Big Fly (just the thing for golden stones, etc.)

Dia. Length
.021 30″ Janssen’s Leader Control 25# OR Orvis Hi-Flote 40# .021”
.019 22″ Rio Powerflex OR Orvis Hi-Flote 30# .019”
.017 15″ Rio Powerflex
.015 11″
.013 8″
.015 10″
.012 7″ Rio Salmon/Bass/Steelhead
.009 6″ your Favorite tippet
.008 12″ (3x)