Brown vs. clear Maxima leader material

[Andy]

Being frustrated by not being able to permantly remove the "coil springs" from my knotless tapered leaders, I've been thinking of doing a 360-degree turn and going back to making my own tapered leaders like the old days. I still have many spools of the original brown Maxima but I think I like to use the clear material. However, I heard a rumor that the clear Maxima wasn't as stiff as the old brown stuff. Any truth to this rumor?

 

[Joe D]

Andy,

The brown stuff is stiffer.

 

[afishinado]

I used to make my own knotted leaders too, but I went in a different direction. I've found that the stiff mono causes drag and doesn't allow slack casts. I now make my owned furled leaders and find them to be great. They lay out the leader and fly well if necessary, and you have the ability make a slack cast for less drag on the drift if needed. They are supple, thus creating less drag on the water. I coat them with green muscillin and they float well all day. Give them a try. Good luck.

 

[Andy]

I'll have to look into furled leaders. I've never paid much attention to them because of my experience with the old braided leaders. Those leaders held water and sprayed the surface when the next cast was made.

 

[Mayfly]

Furled leaders may cast well and lay out nicely in calm conditions. However, try casting them in wind or once they become waterlogged. They do not have the backbone that mono has and 'they do not respond well to wind', to paraphrase Sean Connery's character in the movie Search For Red October. Then there's the floating issue ...

Not sure which Maxima I prefer. They both seem to work well. Just use a piece of leather or rubber to stretch the line otherwise you may cut/burn yourself.

Allan

 

[Andy]

Thanks for your input, Allan. I always use a treated piece of leather. It seems to work okay on a brand new tapered leader, however once that leader has been in use for a while it's useless. The permanent coils are only on a portion of the taper which makes me think it's a result of being drawn through the dies. I don't know for sure, but I'm frustrated and giving up on them.

 

[afishinado]

Green Muscilin makes them float all day, and I don't seem to have any issues in the wind with furled leaders. As I said, the stiff mono in the butt section causes drag for both dry fly and nymphing. I find the furled leades work better for me, but your mileage may very......

 

[coolkyle]

I like to start out with a knotless leader until it's too worn to use the mid-section. Then I add 20lb, 14lb and 10lb brown maxima to the middle and keep the butt from the old leader. This keeps leader costs down, and it actually casts better than the knotless leaders.

 

[Burtbords149]

I've been tying my own leaders for a while now and I use Art Lee's recipe for leaders. He uses brown maxima for the butt, standard mono for the mid and copolymer for the tippet. These leaders make incredibly accurate casts and turn over well yet provide some slack in the end. PM me for details and measurements Andy or whomever.