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Fly Fishing Leader Builder

Split a leader into butt, taper and tippet sections you can tie from spools.

extending adds one tippet section
results also show centimetres
3 to 30 feet
butt / taper / tippet share of the length
0.015 to 0.030 in
0X is thickest, 8X thinnest

Enter the leader details.

Leader plan

Section lengths will appear here.

Section lengths are rounded to 0.1 in (2.5 mm), and the largest remainder keeps the three sections adding up to the total. The X scale is treated as a definition: 0X is 0.011 in and each size down is 0.001 in thinner. Spool labels vary by brand, so check the diameter printed on your own material.

Tippet reference

Nominal tippet diameters on the conventional X scale.
SizeInchesMillimetres