Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 7 June 2025
I have a memory of some weightlifting article that mentioned a competition that was harder to win than the world championships. I think it was some competition that was used to pick the soviet weightlifting team. Next weekend I’m attending a small competition that feels like that. I’m going to Piteå to compete with the living legends there. I think that the sport of fly casting probably has that club quite a bit to thank for. At least here in Sweden that’s where it all started.
My preparations for the competition could’ve been better I must admit. But not wanting to push the elbow and take steps back with the healing and the weather had reduced the volume and what I’ve been practicing. The majority of the spring has been shit. Strong winds almost everyday. I’ve been able to take the boat out once during whole May. I’m starting to understand the saying that a boat owner is happy twice. Once when he buys the boat and once when he sells the boat.
But there are more preparations to be done than just casting. The equipment must be ready also. Leaders and spare leaders must be tied and ready. I have a spare leader straightened and ready under my shirt when I’m on the platform. So if I get a tangle on the leader I’m ready to just cut it and nail knot a new leader instantly. And that’s something you could train during the winter. Your knots. By practicing knots during the winter the time on the water will be more enjoyable.
Practicing knots is also good for leader creation. I know how much extra line I must cut when making a section. So I can do these silly leaders with 8 cm of that and 5 cm of that.
I start from the butt section and tie it together with the next section cut the butt section with a bit of extra line so I can attach it to the fly line at correct length. And the second section is cut with the extra line I need to get it in correct length. I work my way down the leader like that. Put it away and make the next on. Then I take the leader and give the knots an extra check and tightening and the trim the tag ends. Doing it like that gives me a bit of extra confidence in the leader.
It might sound like all my leaders have complex designs. Well the distance leader I used at WCs was two parts Maxima Chameleon. 170 cm 0.50 mm and 130 cm 0.37 mm. If you think it is a good idea to measure diameter in weight you’ll have to do some googling I won’t help you to live in sin. But on the other hand I’m a strong advocate for AFFTA line rating.
Cheers, Rickard
PoD: Leader prep.