Gather Your Leadership Materials and Tools. To construct the various portions of the leader, you'll need a few different types of line in various diameters. You can use either monofilament or fluorocarbon, but to keep things simple, we'll stick to nylon monofilament. Fly leaders are usually made out of three sections: a shank, a tip, and a body. The shank is the part that goes into the water first; it should be long enough so that if you don't catch anything after putting a hook on it, you won't waste any more of your precious time by sticking it further down into the water. The tip is what contacts the fish. It should be sharp enough to cut through the skin but not so sharp that it will injure the fish upon removal. The body consists of a thin section of line between the tip and the shank that controls how far back the leader will slip off the end of your fly rod. Some people also call this portion of the leader the throat because it helps guide larger fish to your fly. You need to make sure that you leave enough room at the end of the shank for you to attach a hook (usually a split-shot hook). This way, you won't have to buy extra hooks for different lengths of leaders. Now that you have your materials gathered, let's go over some basic leader construction techniques.