VPass, thanks for sharing what I am sure is a lot of hard earned knowledge over the years.

I will practice the Homer Rhode Loop knot tonight; I am already familiar with the Alberto knot.

My fly line has a welded loop (RIO Outbound 8WT floating) on the tag end and I made some spare 20lb leaders with a perfection loop knot on the tag end. Is this where you would use the Albright or Alberto knot instead of a perfection loop?

The other day when I was out I realized first hand why steel leaders are no good for flies. It curls up and even a slight curl combined with a light fly ruins the presentation.

I am just thinking out loud here to better understand why these are the preferred methods. Teach a man how to fish analogy…

For floating line a 8-9ft leader will help in not having a bunch of heavy fly line hit the water and spook any nearby fish and it will also let the fly sink a little for a better presentation.

With a sinking line we no longer have to worry about the above two issues and it now becomes a reduced visibility and chaffing leader.