Dave Southall shares deatils of leader construction used in the Italian Style of casting
As mentioned in previous articles the Italian Style of casting is very dynamic, generating very high line speed and very tight loops. Furthermore most of the casts aim at a fly-first presentation to ensure that the first thing the fish detect is the fly and not the line and leader landing on the water. The style also aims at delaying drag. The cast is aimed at just above the water surface rather than a meter above as with our more conventional casting. To these ends a technique-specific leader is an integral part of the whole casting system. It has been designed to fully dissipate all the energy before the fly hits the water so the fly lands gently and there is some slack in the leader to delay drag. The long leader is particularly important for some of the more advanced ‘slack line’/’anti drag’ casts, in one of which, during an upstream cast, the whole leader is overturned upstream of the fly without the fly moving on the water (more of this in a later article). Of course a fly-first presentation also delays drag because no drag can set in until leader and line land on the water. In addition the leader sections are usually joined with small interlinking perfection loops so that the leader articulates easily, further delaying the dreaded drag. These loop joins are particularly important in the thicker sections of the leader where the monofilament is relatively inflexible (I join tippet to the perfection loop at the end of the 3rd section with a conventional knot).
Whilst tying these leaders is a bit fiddly and the advantages of their extra flexibility is probably only marginal it can be an accumulation of little things that often make all the difference between success and failure when we are trying to tempt a fussy trout or grayling. (Having said that I must confess to often fishing this style with a 12’ Rio Powerflex tapered copolymer leader tapering to 4x with an additional 4’ of 5x tippet to which I may attach a further length of 3’ of 6x or 7x tippet if I’m fishing with small flies. The advantage of the tapered leader is that I can join it to my fly line with a knotless, Super Glue Join).
Leader details- Maxima copolymer
Section
|
Diameter
|
Length
|
Butt
|
.50mm
|
180cm
|
1st
|
.40mm
|
90cm
|
2nd
|
.30mm
|
60cm
|
3rd
|
.20mm
|
30cm
|
Tippet
|
5x, 6x or 7x
|
140cm
|
Total length 5metres
Series of 10 pictures showing how to tie connected perfection loops
1. Form a loop
2. Wrap a 2nd loop around the first
3. Form another loop between the
4. Pull the front loop (2nd) over the 3rd first two& through the 1st. Before tightening adjust the size of the loop formed by pulling the tag end
5. Form a loop in the 2nd strand of line
6. Slide the 1st Perfection loop over the tag end
7. Form the 2nd loop as in 2.
8. Form the 3rd loop between the first 2 with the 1st section of line attached to the middle of the 2nd loop
9. Pull the 2nd loop & the attached line through the 1st loop
10 Adjust the size of this Perfection loop by pulling on the tag end then tighten & trim the tags
For more details of the Italian Style of casting please visit their website