Keep your terminal tackle as heavy as you can when you're using these larger flies. As the year progresses, you may have to use lighter tippet to get strikes. However, if you do change to lighter tippet you will probably break off more fish on the strike, which is always the risk. Your best leader length is somewhere between six feet and seven and one half feet. Longer leaders fished with sinking lines and flies can make the fly float up on the retrieve.
Straight mono works fine for leader material and it's cheaper than buying tapered leaders.
An excellent fly all year, this bug fishes well all day. It's especially productive in low light situations, however. Fish will often grab it as it sinks or after it's settled on the bottom, but before you begin retrieving it. This is a great imitation of the brown dace in the ponds. Sunk and stripped back, these flies produce especially well spring and fall.