Well being new to the light weight stuff i never thought about what to use for leaders and tippet? i have just been using a 9 foot 5x leader  and tying on short pieces of 4 wt maxima , its working for now but think the performance may be better if i match the leader and tippet to the rod . This subject came up with a phone call from theron.

I ment to speak to koda reguarding this but had a time limit and forgot LOL so little time with lots to talk about we never did get into much conversation about much but the rods and reels , i wanna go visit the bears and photographt them someday

i plan on getting some stuff in the next couple of days i need new wading boots and gonna pick up a cheap pair until the ones i like are back in stock 4-6 week backorder puts me in bass fishing too late , along with some leaders and tippet , along with some hooks for tying , i am out of everything LOL

The game changes some when going to the UL rods. I use 5x,6x, and 7x knotless leaders when I use knotless leaders And when I do, I get em from Wally World. Those Cortland 333+ jobbers in a 9 foot length. Right around a buck. When I take one out I measure the length of the rod I'll be using it on and cut the loop end off. So now the 9 footer is a say 7 1/2 footer.  Then I nail knot it on the fly line. Loops offer bulk and you don't want that on the low weight lines, well I don't anyways

Now for the good stuff, and this is where you can dial it in. Get a spool of 17-20 pound test fluro carbon, a spool of 8 or 10 pound, and a spool of 2 or 4 pound test. Again, the "basic" rule of leader length the length of the fly rod. Make the butt end 40% of the length, the middle 40%, and the tippet 20%. So on a 7 1/2 foot rod the butt would be 36", the mid section 36", and the tippet 18 inches, that's if my math is correct.

Depending on the bulk of the flies, you can go say 50% on the heavier butt material, 30% or more on the mid. The end game is to get the fly to roll over. I blood knot the sections together. Done deal.

If you find the trout hitting the knots, that's the time to be dropping down to super small flies, they're telling you that's what they want. As far a leader shy trout, to that, I say poppycock.  I believe what really happens on the heavier lines is the splash down is what alerts them something isn't right in Denmark. Often times when trolling with a weight comped line I'll fish 2 or 3 foot leaders to get the fly down to the right depth.  Here again, when trout leave the hatchery they haven't been taught that fly line means bad news. It could be grass in the water or a host of other things.  All they know is something is moving by that looks like something to eat. They don't have all day to inspect it, and if they dick around long enough their buddy will get it first.

Think about it, when we ice fish we use chalk line that a blind man can see, tied direct to the hook. Wow! And we catch fish. Most of the waters around here are gin clear and I've never had to go to long leaders to get them to smash a fly. Maybe other places it's different, but here, not so.

9 foot leaders are common because most rods used to be 9 feet. But as rods improved in performance they got to be shorter. In the UL game a 7 1/2 footer is a long rod, and a 5 or 6 foot rod in a 1 or 2 weight is common. The lighter lines don't have the grain weight to turn over long leaders. Rather they rely on speed given them by a proper rod for the weight.

Here's a hint for you if you really want to play the short game. With a WF1 or 2  line, flip it around on the spool. In other words, cast the running end of the line.  It will blow your mind how much better control you have in the short game. Not so good though if you need to reach out and touch em.

That's my 2 cents guys