Favorite leader material

title says it all!.. well most of it anyways. what is your favorite leader material for winter steelhead? i know it's sorta out of season but the question sorta just popped into my head. i used 3-4 different leader materials last season and noticed my leader was getting damaged from walking through thick coastal trails,it cost me the first steelhead i ever hooked on a fly. i'm hoping to find something that wont get damaged too easily, flouro isn't really an option because it's too expensive for me

I'm going to tell you a little secret brandon:

P-Line CXX. The stuff is indestructable. Very abrasion resistant. Try it. You won't be dissapointed. It may not be kosher with fly guys, but whatever, it works.

i caught my first steelhead using berkley trilene so using different lines doesn't bother me one bit :lol:

thanks jeanna

If you are going to use CXX for steelhead I would use a pretty light leader. I used to use the 10 lb CXX for salmon in California! Its supper strong. Very good line though, like most of P-Lines products.

I can't seem to get myself to use anything but Maxima ultragreen.....watched mosd land a 20+ chrome fall nook on 8lb leader and a 12ish lb springer on 8 lb as well....personally in the winter when the water is stained or "steelhead green" I think you could use anything you want and still get bit, its when the water is low and clear, and the fish have been pressured that they become "leader shy"....unmolested steelhead aren't "leader shy"....especially nates....just my experience....it's worth what you paid for it.....

8 lb maxima breaks at over 16 lbs so its plenty strong for salmon! Same with CXX its 8 lb breaks above 16 lbs. You could also run 15 lb cx or similar mono and be in the same boat as the 8 lb maxima. For summers I would stay away from the really heavy mono lines like CXX or Maxima. Winters they work fine.

Izorline. I have total confidence in it.

UG in 8 or 10# test.

Yup I use either pline cxx or maxima ultragreen. I have tried the berkley trilene before and hated it. Thought it was the crappiest line ever. I will never use trilene or spiderwire ever again... Probably use ultragreen the most. I use it for my mainline for most of my rods as well

Not too big of a fan of the P-line. I use UG as well. Izorline is tougher than nails too. I got a 12.5 lb summer on some 6lb UG leader.

i use trilene ET 8 for steelhead 10 for early season salmon, then drop down to 8 for springers. never broke a fish off.

I tie my long leaders use Maxima Chameleon for the butt (stiff material great for turning over a fly) Maxima Ultragreen for the midsection and transition to Umpqua Nylon for the last three or four sections, including the tippet. I fished straight Maxima leader material for years and caught plenty of fish. I think flourocarbon is highly overrated for fish, but very effective on emptying fishermen's wallets.

On my sink tips I run the same 5-foot tapered leader set up for winter and summer steelhead: 15" of .020 Maxima (25lb test) Ultra Green/ 15" .015 (15lb test) and 30" of .012 (10lb test). A lot of guys will run five or six feet of straight mono with sink tips, which I've found has a tendencies to collapse on itself and not straighten out. I get fewer knots with the short tapered leader.

I buy Maxima in the 250 yd spools for tying leaders at home. Works out to just pennies a foot.