Steelhead Leader Setup For Nymphing: The 3 Most Effective Leaders

There are many steelhead leader setups that I have tried over the last 37 years and there are many that my guides and other guides use. These are the 3 most effective steelhead leader setups and the ones most steelhead guides use.

The steelhead leader setup includes everything from the tip of the fly line to the bottom fly. Anglers that have a good leader setup and that know how to fish it properly will catch more steelhead.

Steelhead Leader Setup – What You Need

For the steelhead leader setup that I use for nymphing, you will need the following items.

Tapered leader – 0X to 3X
Indicator – See my Best Indicators Page
Tippets – 1X, 2X and 3X
Weights – AA, AB, or BB Split Shots in lead or tin. See the Best Split Shots page
Tippet Rings or Micro Swivels are optional. I mostly use Tripel Surgeon’s Knot
Flies – See my page on the Best Steelhead Flies

Tippet Size For Steelhead

Use 3X Tippet For your steelhead leader — On most rivers around this size, I will use 3X tippets to tie my fly on.

For most great lakes steelhead fishing on the small to medium-sized rivers that are 60 feet wide or less, the best tippet size for steelhead is a 3x tippet. For larger faster rivers, the best tippet size for steelhead is 2 x or even 1x if the water is not super clear.

Those are the sizes I use when nymphing and what I use on my steelhead nymph leader formulas. My go-to size on most great lakes steelhead rivers in clear water is 3X

Best Fluorocarbon Leader For Steelhead

As many anglers and guides will tell you, not all fluorocarbon is good for steelhead fishing. In fact, some brands are just crap and will break easier. The best Fluorocarbon leader for steelhead fishing is RIO Fluoroflex Strong Tippet.

If you are like me and you go through a lot of tippets or you want to buy in bulk and have enough tippet to last you a few years, which will also save you money then I highly suggest 6lb Sunline FC Super Sniper Fluorocarbon.

Best Leader For Steelhead – For 3 to 9 feet deep

This is my best steelhead leader for nymphing with indicators and I start this off with a 2 or 3x standard tapered leader of 7 to 9 feet. I can actually use almost any 9-foot leader bigger than 5x.

I take my tapered leader and cut it off a slightly thicker than the 1x or 2 x portion of my tippet. I then add my indicator to the main part of the leader and then I connect the 1x / 2x tippet and start building the rest of the leader from there. see below.

The Dropper Fly in the diagram is optional and may not be legal in some areas so check the fishing rules for the river that you want to fish.

If I fish deeper than 9 feet, I will extend the 1X/2X tippet section that is directly connected to the tapered leader. I will extend it only as long as I need to go to get my fly 6 inches off the bottom.

Steelhead Nymph Leader Formula # 2

Another leader that I see being used all the time and one I use is this two-fly leader formula. The leader setup above puts the weight between the two flies which is better for getting the flies down, but this common steelhead leader formula places the weights above the flies.

The benefits to this steelhead leader formula is that it is simple to set up, it’s easy to cast and fish with, and it catches steelhead.

The downside to this is the weight are high in the water column and in faster turbid water the flies may not sink deep enough or they may rise up at times.

This is a good setup and one that I use with 1 or 2 weighted flies. I will often have a fly with a tungsten bead head in the upper fly position. Using weight flies on one or both is a great way to keep the flies down and get them down faster.

Having the bottom fly weight might cause the flies to go too deep and you may snag up. Also having two weighted flies might make it too heavy for your indicator and that might sink your indicator. Therefore you may need to adjust your flies and their weights.

Common 2 fly steelhead leader setup — This is a very common 2 fly steelhead leader setup that work in most situations.

Drop Shot Style 2 Fly Steelhead Leader Rig

This is a method I’ve been using for over 10 years and I have shown this to many of my clients. It’s similar to the drop shotting method used by bass anglers except it is used under an indicator with a set of flies.

I’ve heard this method called Drop Shot Nymphing or Bounce Nymphing. Whatever you call it many guys like it and it can be very effective, especially in areas with lots of wood on the bottom and lots of rocks.

Drop Shot Nymphing steelhead leader setup — Known as the Drop Shot Nymphing steelhead leader or the Bounce nymphing leader setup, this method can be very effective.

There are two primary benefits of this method. One is you can keep your flies in the strike zone better, and two is that you will lose fewer flies to snags.

As you can see the weight are all on the very bottom of the setup and the flies are above the weights. With this method, it’s almost like suspending your flies.

You can keep your flies close to the bottom by using a short weight tag or you can suspend them 12″ or more off the bottom but going with a much longer tag.

With the two previous setups, the flies are on the bottom and they can easily get snagged on wood or rocks on the river bottom. But with this method, the weight can bounce across the bottom and over wood and rocks with fewer snags. Some anglers even use a slinky rig for fewer snags.

I did find that I would lose a lot more split shots with this method but I lost far fewer flies. However, I may lose 20 split shots more with this method, it’s a lot cheaper to replace 20 shots than to replace 20 flies.

As you can see in the diagram, I use a very light tippet on the weight dropper tag because if I do get hung up on the bottom I want the weights or the weight tag to break off easily so I don’t lose my flies.

NOTE: If you find your weight keeps slipping off, tie a simple overhand knot that the very bottom of the weight dropper tag to prevent slippage.