Why tapered leaders are the biggest con in fly fishing

There may be no more confusing and vexing element in all of fly fishing than leaders. Even worse, 90 per cent of everything you’ve ever been told about leaders is just plain wrong. Or more correctly, most leader lore is needlessly complicated and decades out of date.

How do I know? Because almost 20 years ago, I threw away the leader rulebook, yet I kept catching more and bigger fish. Emerging from the Dark Ages of leader understanding has improved and simplified my fly fishing life more than anything else I have ever done. And it can do the same for you, too, if you follow me into the light. Here’s how…