Page 36 - Joseph B. Healy "The Pocket Guide to Fishing Knots"

“In fly-fishing, the knots we talk about are mainly for the leader. And the
leader is an extension of the fly line—you’re making the rest of the line

connection, and you want to make that leader turn over just as the fly line
does. One of the rules of thumb that I advocate, and that has worked for
me forever, is using a butt section that’s at least 50 percent of your leader
length. For example, if you have a ten-foot leader, at least five feet should
be the butt section. If you have less, it won’t turn over, especially in the
saltwater world, but even in freshwater if you’re casting with a lighter rod,
like a 3-weight, you need about 50 percent. Some people adhere to the

leader formula that Charles Ritz came up with in the 1930s of sixty-
twenty-twenty in which sixty is the butt section and twenty and twenty are
the tapered sections. If you have the right butt section, everything will
turn over (when you cast). The 60 percent is a little more aggressive and
will turn over a hard-bodied popper or Woolly Bugger in Alaska or a deer-

hair bug. You can fluctuate between that 50 and 60 percent butt section,
and that will work.
“Now, how heavy should the butt section be? Most people don’t use a
butt section that’s heavy enough. If you use monofilament, you need to
have a butt section that’s thick enough and heavy enough so the fly line
transmits power to the leader. It’s not just diameter, it’s weight. If you use
common sense, you know that the weight casts the fly line. (Think of