The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

the reason I use florocarbon leader is it sinks better than mono, it has superior abrasion resistance, it is less visable to the fish and it is smaller diameter than similar sized mono so the fly will swim better. I used to be a Maxima faithful, but their leader material is way oversized, and if you test it, 12lb tests out at 16+lb.

Those tungsten leaders are for guys with floating lines that don't want to spring for a sinking tip. They hinge real bad too.