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Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article:

• Fly fishing tips

Whilst it would be nice to have the right rod, line and leader set up for each sort of water in a river or stream it is not always possible. In competitions in particular you can loose a lot of time swapping fly rods and rigs.

Unless you are fortunate to have a controller that will follow you along the bank holding your spare rod or rods, which you can't bank on (excuse the pun), you need to get out of the water and back to where you left your gear and then get back to where you want to fish. River beets in competitions seem to be getting longer and longer and beats around 1/2 a km in length are no longer uncommon.

This set up allows to fish a whole session with just one rod.

Whilst almost any light to mid range rod can be used for this type of "one rod" set up my preference are rods that are 9 to 11 foot long and in the #3 and #4 weight range. The choice of rod doesn't end there and the best types of rods for a one rod set up have delicate tips and powerful butts. The delicate tip allows you to present a range of flies both accurately and delicately but also adds sensitivity that may be the difference between you knowing if your fly has been taken by a fish. On top of that it adds an extra spring into your set up that may be the difference between a fish staying on or throwing the hook if a little loose line creeps into your rig as you strike or fight a fish. The powerful butt is equally important and allows you to put pressure on larger fish so that you can bring them to the net quicker than many would expect is possible with light rods. Length of rod also is a consideration and whilst I favour shorter rods for tighter rivers and streams my preference is to use a longer rod wherever space permits. Longer rods generally allow for much better line control in all but those rivers where you can only effectively manoeuvre a short rod.

Choice of fly line is often overlooked and I always opt for a good quality olive or clear floating line for my one rod set up. Replace the loop on the end of the fly line, or add if there is no loop there, a bright braided loop on the end of the fly line.

I then set up a number of specialised leaders that I carry, already loaded with appropriate teams of flies, in my fly vest, wrapped around a piece of foam.

The options for the teams are obviously unlimited but its always worth having a couple of casts of flies ready to swap over to as the river terrain changes or if you get irrevocably tangled or broke off say at the top fly.

I certainly carry casts covering: short leader that I use for Czech nymphing and other short leader techniques;
a longer leader that is great for nymphing, fishing across and down with spiders, wee wets, buggers and other streamers; and finally a dedicated dry fly leader.

As you mover up the river it's a very simple task to remove one leader and replace it with one of the alternative leaders. The leaders are connected to the braided loop, at the end of the fly line, using an open loop locked with a blood knot.
 

Short and longer leader set ups.

Have at least 2 of these leaders in your kit. One with a short butt section for Czech nymphing and other short line nymphing techniques and a second with an extend butt section. This second leader will never be as stealthy as a true French leader but it will allow reasonably stealthy presentations at longer ranges and works well for nymphing, fishing across and down and swinging spiders, also fished wee wets and weighted woolly buggers well.

1. Coloured braided loop connected to the fly line. There are a number coloured braided loops available but one that is easy to find and very visible is the Umpqua 'Drews Speed Loop" it's available in a couple of colours and sizes but my preference is Orange 3-7.
2. The butt of the leader is connected to the braided loop using a open loop locked with a blood knot.
3. The butt section itself on the short leader can be as short as just 50 cm of 0.30 mm in diameter leader followed by 50 cm of 0.24 mm leader material. For longer leaders target butt sections extended out to arouns 2 meters.
4. The tippet itself is either 1.6 or 2.0 meters long depending on if its a 2 or 3 fly rig.
5. For a 2 fly rig the dropper is 80 cm from the point.
6. For a 3 fly rig the second dropper is 70 cm above the dropper for the 2 fly rig..
7. The overall length of the standard leader is 3 meters.

I also carry a dry fly leader

This is the same as the standard leader set up above except that the material used is floating co-polymer, there are no droppers, and of course it's loaded with a single dry fly.

Alternatively of course you can use a tapered leader for your dry fly set up. If your doing that I recommend 4.5 meter Hends Camou leaders as a good option.

Alternative set up including a length of coloured leader to act as an indicator.

I am really happy with the bright braided loop as my indicator but if you need an additional indicator to focus on the leader can be set up as follows.

1. Coloured braided loop connected to the fly line. There are a number coloured braided loops available but one that is easy to find and very visible is the Umpqua 'Drews Speed Loop" it's available in a couple of colours and sizes but my preference is Orange 3-7.
2. The butt of the leader is connected to the braided loop using a open loop locked with a blood knot.
3. The butt section itself on the standard river leader is made up of  50 cm of coloured indicator line of 0.30 mm in diameter followed by 50 cm of  0.24 mm leader material.
4. The tippet itself is either 1.6 or 2.0 meters long depending on if its a 2 or 3  fly rig.
5. For a 2 fly rig the dropper is 80 cm from the point.
6. For a 3 fly rig the second dropper is 70 cm above the dropper for the 2 fly rig..
7. The overall length of the standard leader is 3 meters.

With practice I have found that I can comfortably change between these three leader set ups in an average time of around just a couple of minutes. That's a lot quicker and much less stressful than getting out of the water and jogging back to where my second rod is and of course with one set of terminal tackle on my rod when I start and two alternative set up in my fly vest I have traditional fishing up stream, Czech nymphing, longer leader nymphing, across and down, swinging flies, duo and trio, and dry fly fishing all covered.
 

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