When fishing a floater or intermediate line I use a 7 to 9 foot
leader. For bottom dredging with a teeny line it's 4 to 6.
In general I tie three section leaders following a 60-20-20 formula.
60% butt section, 20% mid and about 20% tippet (usually a bit less).
For the teeny line I just use a straight shot of 20lb with some lighter tippet.
I have about 18" of 40lb hard mono nail-knotted to the fly line.
For knots I use double surgeon's loop from the loop of a bimini twist
for leader to the hard mono. and then blood knots for joining sections.
this setup has worked for me in a variety of saltwater situations.
I've had pretty good luck with Maxima and for stripers currently use:
25lb butt section, 20lb mid and 12-15lb tippet.
What else is there to do while watching TV?