fly fishing setup

**Nymphmeister** · 02-26-2008, 11:02 PM

Mike, are you just looking for a leader with better turnover, or one for fish with sharp teeth like Pike & Pickerel?

**Troutfishing4life** · 02-26-2008, 11:12 PM

just for a leader in general for a better turn over

**Nymphmeister** · 02-26-2008, 11:17 PM

Toothy Critter has a wire bite tippet built in, so you don't want that for general purpose. Just use a heavy butted, not overly long leader and you will do fine. Left Kreh has some great formulas for this in "Presenting the Fly". He recommends making the leader butt section 50% the length of the leader, and out of relatively heavy mono. I think each section after that is half the length of the preceding one, and then the final tippet is about 18". This is a leader designed for a powerful turnover, not for dead drifting dries or nymphs.

Fascist Killer · 02-27-2008, 11:36 AM

Yeah, don't bother with toothy critter unless you're in danger of having mono or fluoro sawed off by soemthing. I use it in lakes in up state NY when fishing for largemouth because up there you never know when a pickerel or pike is gonna join the fun, and it helps with fishing around blowdowns etc. The bite tippet is VERY strong, so be careful if it does get hung up that you don't break your rod before you break the leader.

**modification**The wire thing Torrey mentioned threw me because my toothy critters didn't have a wire section. I don't think the new toothy critter si something I would use in freshwater. The old one I have had a picture of a pike on the packaging and had a braided mono section.

**Nymphmeister** · 02-27-2008, 08:55 PM

I think it's actually braided wire, but I may be wrong.

Fascist Killer · 02-28-2008, 12:00 AM

I looked up the old toothy critter. its actually wire covered with nylon.

**sammy** · 05-22-2008, 08:46 AM

Hi i had a quick question about pike. I know absolutely nothing about them and i dont think ill ever fish for them . Maybe but im not sure. If i caught one how would i handle those beasts?

alanb_ct · 05-22-2008, 08:52 AM

If you grab them firmly right behind the head, you will have no problems. For really big pike, most people use a Boga grip. Keep your fingers away from their teeth.