fly line setup

if you're gonna fish steelies. use a 7 to 9 foot tapered knotless leader in a 4x or 3x size. i prefer 3x.  make a loop on the thick end of the leader & attach it to the short piece you mentioned loop to loop

You can use the same setup. You will be fine to just use 4lb test. I do.

Since you're new to fly fishing, i'd buy a couple 9' 3x, and a couple 9' 4x TAPERED leaders.  Since you're fairly new to this, you're going to mess up an entire leader from time to time, and having some extras will be a good idea. If you don't know how to tie a perfection loop or a mono loop, buy leaders with them pre-tied, but plan on learning to tie the loops on your own eventually.
 
Attaching the leader is easy when you have a loop on the end of your fly line like you already do. Simply put the loop on your fly line through the loop on your leader, then pull the rest of the leader throught the loop on the end of your fly line.
 
You're going to want to buy some 2x, 3x, and 4x tippet to repair the leaders after you break off or fray some of the leader from getting stuck or fighting fish. When I say "repair" I mean replacing the different diameters of the leader that broke off, or need replaced. So... if you break off the last couple of feet off your 3x leader, which will be the tippet section, tie on 2-3 feet of new 3x tippet. If you break off more of the leader, you'll need to taper it back down to the size of tippet you are using. Google "blood knot, or "surgeons knot" if you need to know how to tie tippet on.
 
Do not tie any tippet on to a new leader. For example, if you buy a 3x tapered leader, it already has a couple feet of 3x tippet on it. If you add more you'll end up with your leader in a mess every cast.
 
As far as droppers go.... fish one fly for the time being, at least until you get used to casting/fishing

ORIGINAL: thedrake

Since you're new to fly fishing, i'd buy a couple 9' 3x, and a couple 9' 4x TAPERED leaders.  Since you're fairly new to this, you're going to mess up an entire leader from time to time, and having some extras will be a good idea. If you don't know how to tie a perfection loop or a mono loop, buy leaders with them pre-tied, but plan on learning to tie the loops on your own eventually.

Attaching the leader is easy when you have a loop on the end of your fly line like you already do. Simply put the loop on your fly line through the loop on your leader, then pull the rest of the leader throught the loop on the end of your fly line.

You're going to want to buy some 2x, 3x, and 4x tippet to repair the leaders after you break off or fray some of the leader from getting stuck or fighting fish. When I say "repair" I mean replacing the different diameters of the leader that broke off, or need replaced. So... if you break off the last couple of feet off your 3x leader, which will be the tippet section, tie on 2-3 feet of new 3x tippet. If you break off more of the leader, you'll need to taper it back down to the size of tippet you are using. Google "blood knot, or "surgeons knot" if you need to know how to tie tippet on.

Do not tie any tippet on to a new leader. For example, if you buy a 3x tapered leader, it already has a couple feet of 3x tippet on it. If you add more you'll end up with your leader in a mess every cast.

As far as droppers go.... fish one fly for the time being, at least until you get used to casting/fishing

 

You should be a fly fishing guide.

very very helpful thanks guys

Jigpro,

Not to start an arguement on here, but.... While a several foot piece of mono or flouro will work somewhat, it's going to be hard to roll out on your cast, and will tangle more often. A tapered leader is not that expensive and if you buy a couple, you can replace the leader in no time on the stream, and take the damaged one home to repair for use another day.

Don't start out by cutting corners. I see it all the time.... guys who just picked up fly fishing 2 or 3 years ago that have caught only a couple fish, and are ready to give it up. Something I see often with these guys when I have them on the water is cutting corners. I can tell it right away as i'm clipping off the 4lb stren they have tied to their braided loop, so I can set up their leaders correctly. When I ask them why they haven't been using tapered leaders, I always hear 2 excuses.... The first being "I'm not good at tying all those knots", the second being "I don't want to spend all that time repairing them". To me, this translates into "I'm too lazy to take a few minutes to learn how to do it, and decided half-assing it would be a better idea". The first time they break off, I show them how to repair the leader. The next time, they do it themselves as I give them a few pointers...and within a few more times, their fixing their leader on thier own, and are fishing again only a minute or 2 after breaking off. I guess my point is, after they truly take the time to learn it, and practice it a few times, it's no big deal to tie on tippet or repair a leader on the stream. There's plenty of good beginners books out there, not to mention a lot of fly shops you could go to. Both are a valuable resources to learn how to do these kinds of things.

In fly fishing, what you get out of it is directly tied to what you put into it. If you cut corners and fail to learn it properly, you won't get much out of the sport besides tangles, and long days on the water with few fish.

Sorry for the rant. I see a lot of bad advice given on these boards, and sometimes can't keep my mouth shut. When I have clients on the water, a lot of my day is spent correcting the bad advice they were given in the past. When I see it on this board, it's often too hard to bite my tongue.

I take back the wasting time comment. I am sure there are many good steel fishermen that only use tapered leaders and nothing wrong with that. I just dont like someone saying I gave bad advise because he has a different view of it.

jigpro17, as you see there are different ways to catch steel off a fly rod. most guys that fly fish year after year for fish, other than steelhead, will use taperer leader or make their own leader with line and diameters for fly fishing. sure we can use 4lb-12lb stren, berkley trilene and other spools of conventional fishing line. hey, it's cheaper and easier to replace it on the fly line or snap swivels than to piece a tippet on the a leader. it's all up to you as to what you want to accomplish in the learning process. if you want to fish for other species other than steelhead using dry flies, casting beyond a few yards with your nymphs of streamers and learn the technique of fly fishing you shouled listen to thedrake. if you just want to make it easy and less fuss just to say you caught a steel on a fly rod, you'll get more different set ups with many different fishing angles than i can put in words. many lines will do the job of catching a steelie.

it's nice to have a variety of different ways to rig up, there realy is no wrong answer as to 'how to catch steelhead' i'm sure all have caught fish with their set ups, be it with fly fishing lines and leaders or stren, trilene etc. it's your choice as how far you want to get into fly fishing and how much you want to learn

i think thedrake was guiding you in the direction of fly fishing in general and giving you expert info on tech. and why you might want to learn those technique's.

~just my 2 cents. i don't mean to hurt any buddies feelings.

i keep it simple.  i use a heavy steelhead/salmon tapered leader, cut it down to about 4-5 foot, use a micro barrel swivel, then use whatever tippet the conditions call for.  usually 5x.  on erie tribs the swivel doesnt mess up casting any because very rarely are you making anything more than a chuck and duck roll cast.  big rivers in NY or OH might be a different story.

i quit nymphing in '08

thedrake.. Good post. A level leader, swivels, ya got to be kidding me.

A well tied leader is the most important component from rod tip to fly. In any situation. From Bouncing a big egg pattern on the bottom for steel. To fishing say, a number 28 midge. Its all about the leader. I am constantly making agjustments and trying differant recipes. If the leader is not right on, you will not catch many fish.

ORIGINAL: rollcaster

You should listen to Drake. That is if you want to wast time when you are fishing for steel. I dont think you should rule out tapered leaders with all fly fishing just dont see the need for them fishing for steel. If you are getting tangled alot I dont think it is you leader. Every time I go to Erie I see the fly guys fishing a egg pattern and casting it like they have a dry fly on the end of their line(or I'm sure those guys are using tapered leaders). Dont over think it. I dont think he was given bad advice but then again I am no guide.

There are ways to do things that get you by -- like using a hammer to install a screw and then there is the right way to do things.  Using a tapered leader to fly fish, whether that is dry fly fishing, nymph fishing, streamer fishing, or any other type of fly fishing is the right way to do it.