TIPS & TRICKS · RIGGING

Build a Better Leader

Joe is blunt: one of the secrets of this whole game is your leader. A store-bought leader turns over tight and drags your fly. The George Harvey leader lands with slack and drifts free.

THE TIP

Stiff Butt, Soft Tippet, Soft Landing

A factory leader is built to turn over hard and straight - great for casting tight loops, terrible for a drag-free drift, because the second it lands tight the current grabs it and pulls your fly. The George Harvey leader that Joe inherited and teaches does the opposite. It graduates from a thick, stiff butt down to a long, fine tippet so the last few feet land in soft S-curves. That slack is what lets the fly drift the way the current moves.

Start with a stiff, thick butt. The butt section connects to your fly line and carries the energy of the cast. Make it stiff and heavy - this is what turns the leader over and points it at the target.

Graduate down in steps. Step the diameter down gradually, not all at once. Each section is a little thinner than the last, so energy bleeds off smoothly instead of slamming straight.

Keep the last 30 inches of tippet long. Joe’s key move: a long, fine tippet section. As it unrolls it ‘comes down stacking’ in soft S-curves on the water instead of straightening tight.

Stop the rod high - the shock. Stop your cast high and let the rod tip drop. Joe calls this the shock: it bounces those S-curves of slack into the tippet right where you need them.

Match tippet to fly size. Use the reference: 3X for #14 nymphs, 4X for most dry flies, 5X for #18, 6X for #20 to 22 midges, 7X for #24 and finer. Too thick and the fly drags; too thin and it breaks.

JOE SAYS

“We care about slack because we care about tension. Our flies, leaders, and fly lines are impacted by current from the instant they hit the water until we remove them for the next cast.”

- Joe Humphreys, on why the leader is the secret

PRACTICE THIS

Five Minutes. Test Your Turnover.

THE 5-MINUTE DRILL

On grass or water, make a cast and freeze. Look at the last three feet of leader. If it landed bowstring-tight and straight, it will drag - that ‘kills you,’ in Joe’s word. You want soft S-curves in that tippet. Stop the rod higher, let the tip drop, and watch the slack stack. Do 10 casts and read the leader after each one.

Build the full leader, step by step →

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Build the Whole Harvey Leader

This is the leader that the entire Humphreys method depends on. The leader page walks the full build, the five core knots that hold it together, and the tippet-to-fly chart, all printable.

Build Your Leader

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