

Ideally we need to load as much mass as possible in the leader itself, and preferably well away from the rod tip. If this area of the leader is moved quickly through the air during fore and back casts then sufficient momentum is achieved. The weight forward profile of distance casting fly lines utilise this principle, while those of us preferring double taper profiles simply aerialise more line, or increase the rod tip speed (and thus the line speed). Early French leaders (and even now those commercially available) adhered to a gradual taper, though steep, and could not achieve a high enough mass, far enough from the rod tip, in order to cast a dry fly at any significant range, approaching 10 metres. My own 'presentation leader' was designed to have enough mass, in the correct place, in the form of a braided or furled section between leader and tippet.

Progressive tenkara anglers, aided by generally softer, longer rods, have been ahead of the game, by giving better consideration to taper, and also the materials used in leader construction, such that today we have forward loading of mass (like the WF fly line profile), and also incorporation of stiff, comparatively high-mass materials such as furled fluorocarbon and horse hair. The latter has been a wonderful re-discovery, taking me back to the retro period of wild fly fishing in my youth, and I wonder now at what we have missed, because it is an outstanding material in terms of its properties, which include stiffness, lack of water absorption, easy application and retention of grease, and comparatively high mass (or density).
My presentation leader was developed for leader-only (western-style), principally for nymph and dry fly on the river. A year ago I adapted this to a fixed line version. The overall length is 12' (3.6m) and consists of a thread loop (for lilian attachment) whipped onto 0.55mm copolymer tapering down to 0.25mm. This is connected to a 12” (30cm) section of 12 strand furled horse hair, looped at each end. This latter section therefore provides the connectivity between leader and tippet sections. It also provides (particularly when greased) the most significant mass in the entire leader construction, in precisely the correct position for controlled casting and turnover. It is possible, of course, to construct the entire leader from sections of furls (snoods), though I am currently dissatisfied with the connectivity between these sections. Any form of knotting is crude and the best (smoothest) junctions are obtained by whipping each section together with fly tying thread, though this process is time-consuming. As mentioned in my last post, we would welcome readers sharing their findings in the context of connectivity of discontinuous leader sections, especially using horse hair.
As I write this the weather is plummeting towards deep winter and the river (Eden) seems an inhospitable place. The blue winged olives, so abundant only a month ago, are now completely absent and rises rarely to be seen. We are in the midst of a 'nymphy' period, in pursuit of the deep-lying grayling. Most anglers we see out during this period are nowadays fishing leader-to-hand with double or triple nymph rigs; essentially Czech nymph in the developed Euro-style. The longer (than western-style) tenkara rods offer excellent presentation and control for such rigs, fished at very short range. It helps hugely, however, to use only one heavy nymph on the team, and to have this on the point position. With two or even three heavy flies, the rod flex is too extreme and there is significant loss of control over the dead-drifting nymphs.
I will shortly be putting the calendar of next year's courses and hosted trips (which will include Eden in Cumbria, Slovenia, Czech and the San in Poland) up on my website (www.presentationflyfishing.com). Do take a look and get in touch with me if you are interested in any of these.
