From the archives: How to build a wet fly leader for a team of three flies

This old post tells you everything you need to know about building a team of three for wet flies. Well, almost everything. Looking back at the directions and diagram, I see how my leader formula has evolved. For starters, the tags should be a minimum of 6″, not 4″-6″. Certainly that old 4-6″ length works, but for me, the current sweet spot is probably more like 6″-7″. Next, the spacing between flies should be 24″-30″, not 18″-24″. My current thinking is that 18″ is too close. My current leaders are probably closer to the flies being 30″ apart, which I believe allows you to cover more water and achieve great depth. I almost always use a 3x tapered leader section for the butt. And no, I don’t use tippet rings.

Here’s the link to the post.

She of the many pounds and bright pink band who fell for one of the flies on a three fly team.

7 comments on “From the archives: How to build a wet fly leader for a team of three flies

  1. tlapinski33's avatar tlapinski33 says:

    That original post on the wet fly leader was one of my first exposures to the Current Seams blog and the world of Steve Culton, found through the old Google machine.

  2. David Deitz's avatar David Deitz says:

    So, recognizing the 2024 updates, for those of us poor souls who fish Massachusetts waters where only 2 flies are legal, would you do anything different w/ regards to basic spacing? 6-8″ dropper and 24″ down to point fly seems good to me.

  3. […] Tie these up, place them over a rise, and hold on. Oh. And be prepared to clip one or two flies off your three-fly team. Such are the travails of the angler getting doubles and […]

  4. […] and you see a scene like that, do you automatically go to a a dry/dropper? A: No. I will start with a wet fly team of three, and two of them will likely be sulphur patterns. There’s a lot to unpack here in terms of […]

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