Are you looking for an answer on how long of a leader you need between your dipsy and flasher and between your flasher and fly? The honest truth is there are probably as many opinions on the subject as there are salmon fishermen and women. In this video Chris from Tangled Tackle Fishing shares his approach to leader length for dispy/flasher fly setup and storage.

I have to say like Chris’ approach because its simple and clean.

Quick Notes

  • Divers
    • Prefers black divers
    • If you have colored divers, you can easily paint them black with spray paint
  • Leader running from Flasher to Fly
    • To measure leader length: Hold hook in hand with hand bent up towards shoulder and extend arm out fully and then run leader from your hand to tip of collar bone. This will give you a leader between 20 and 24 inches for most adults
    • Use a double loop knot to connect fly leader to flasher by feeding loop through swivel and running fly through loop.
  • Leader running from Dispy to Flasher
    • Uses Trilene Big Game Mono 50lb test for leader material between the dipsy and flasher
    • For salmon: Measure 3 times the length of your arm span when your arms are spread wide. If you’re 6 feet tall then approximately 18 feet.
    • For trout: Measure 2 times the length of your arm span when your arms are spread wide or 12 feet.
    • Place a snubber between the back of the dispy and the leader that goes to your flasher. Always use a snubber because kings hit so hard things will break if you don’t use them.
    • Tie leader to snubber using a double clinch knot.
    • Then tie other end of leader to barrel end of the swivel on the front of the flasher.
    • Recommends you not run double swivels where you attach your leader to the front of your flasher.
  • Storing flasher fly combos
    • Use a small bit of pool noodle or pipe insulation
    • Chris also has a cool method for storing his dipsy/leader combination by wrapping the leader around the display in a specific way. To see more on this, go to about 20:00 minutes into the video.

Products Mentioned

Follow the links below, if you are interested in any of the products mentioned in this video.