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.