These are the leaders Phil uses as the backbone for his indicator presentations. These leaders are all 10-feet long and feature a short, less than 3-foot, butt section. The balance of the leader is thin and level.
It is critical to consistent success to have a level leader between your indicator and fly to ensure your fly suspends at the set depth. Traditional tapered leaders feature long thick butt sections that typically occupy at least 50% of their length. Thick diameter material sinks slower than thinner diameter material so even though you might have your leader set to a certain depth it typically won't suspend where you want as a standard tapered leader sinks in an arc.
The Indicator leader ensures your fly hangs straight down when you position your indicator at the junction between the short butt section and the main leader. To reach deeper water simply add a section of equal or lesser diameter tippet material to the leader using a triple surgeon's knot.
The short butt section of this leader provides support between your Quick Release Indicator and fly line helping to reduce tangles and the thicker diameter loop won't bite into and damage the welded loop of an expensive fly line as is the case with thinner diameter material.
