Last year my son Jacob took one of the flies off my paddle and put it on the Spin doctor, 36" leader and all. That setup was smoking hot, till it got cut off. Put out what works for you, and be happy. FYI, what we do (why, because it works for us) 11" paddle gets a 36" leader 8" spin doctor gets a 21" leader 8" paddle gets a 26" leader.