>>2739709autism inbound
>pic relatedthe leader is just a leader but its not just a leader, its mono or flouro that tapers from thick to thin. the thick part is called the butt section, the thin part is called the tippet, and the mid section is called the mid section
backing can be anything but dacron is the most popular material. backing is mostly to help fill up the reel, or if you're targeting big game it gives you extra line to fight the fish
back to tippet, it can be just normal mono or flouro, i tie my leaders out of berkley trilene. start with thick mono and tie in progressively thinner lines to create a taper down to your desired tippet size
*weight forward fly leaders are a thing, they're uncommon, niche, and im out of space so google it
there are also leaders that are tapered from the factory.
>fly line taper and weightingthat is a relatively modern thing. once upon a time, the only lines out there were level lines- the same thickness the whole way along. somewhere along the line someone put a taper at each end and double taper lines were invented. a while after that someone cut a fly line in half, tied string to the back side, and made a shooting head. seeing this someone went "what if we just made the fly line that shape" and so the "weight forward" fly line was born and has since become the industry standard- level lines, shooting heads, and double tapers have turned in to specialty lines, but they still exist.
a weight forward fly line has some basic anatomy. lets start at the back. the thin part at the back is called "running line" and it is thinner so that it feeds through your guides better while shooting line. after that comes the "rear taper" which is where the thinner running line tapers up to the thick part of the line. the thick part is referred to as a head, and that part has the most mass per foot and casts the best. there is then another taper called the front taper, where the belly tapers down to a place to affix your leader.
