Quote Originally Posted by ezgo View Post
Still trying to understand things like tippet vs. plane mono or the tapered leaders vs.???
Briefly ...

A tapered leader is a piece of mono 7-9' long. (You can buy longer ones, but that's the usual lengths.) Bass Pro, Cabela's or any fly shop will sell them. In addition to the length, they will be marked with an "X" description (2X, 3X, 6X, etc.) That tells you what diameter the tippet section is. The bigger the number, the thinner the tippet. 3X tippet breaks at around 8#, but it is thinner than regular 8# mono. 6X will break at 3-4#.

For most bluegill/crappie/trout flies, 3X to 5X leaders should be fine. For bass, you might use 0X to 2X leaders. These are general guidelines.