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What Do You Use For A Fly Line to Leader Connection?

5K views 41 replies 24 participants last post by  Red Arch 
#1 ·
Probably lots of strong opinions on this one. If the line has a factory loop, I use it. Some cut them off. If not, I usually nail knot on a few inches of Amnesia with a perfection loop for a deeper sinker; if it's a floater I'll use 15-20lb. Maxima. Sometimes I'll have the fly shop weld on a loop if they can do it; it's about 50/50 I've found and depends on the line. Some people take a lot of time and braid their own loops. Even though I've never had a connection fail, I don't know the best system.

What's yours?
 
#5 ·
If there is a loop I usually cut it off. Nail knot leader directly to end of line. Coat nail knot with knot sense to create a smooth elongated football shape. No loops=no snags. A quick change loop to loop connection becomes irrelevant when you only change your entire leader once or twice each season.

TC
 
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#6 ·
If there is a loop I usually cut it off. Nail knot leader directly to end of line. Coat nail knot with knot sense to create a smooth elongated football shape. No loops=no snags. A quick change loop to loop connection becomes irrelevant when you only change your entire leader once or twice each season.

TC
If you're only changing your leader once or twice a season, you need to fish more! :D
 
#7 ·
Back in the day, it was considered, by my mentors and peer group, to take a length of heavy mono, say 20 or 24 stuff, and thread it in a needle and push it up the end of the fly line about 1/2 inch and take it out the side of the fly line. Secure with a nail not and some pliobond. Tie a prefection loop in the other end with a small section of leader coming out of the fly line.

In all honesty, I use the factory loops now, or tie on a small piece of mono with a nail not. Sometimes, old school is old school for a good reason.
 
#8 ·
I must fish way different than a lot of folks, because I burn through leaders. I fish tight to cover and break my tippet and leaders a ton. I am also using multi nymph rigs when I do that. I don't break off hardly ever if I am just using dry flies though.
Anyhow, I mostly use loop to loop since I change them often.
 
#10 ·
LC, a few winters back someone asked this same question and many guys supported the loop to loop system. Since it was winter and I had little to do I decided to try L2L and see how it works. I went overboard and tied heavy mono perfection knots and nail knotted them to all my fly lines-about 15 at the time. Then I ordered a bunch of new tippits for spring fishing and was ready to be L2L hip like everyone else. Once the season started reality set in. Loops don't go through guides well and have a tendency to pluck vegetable matter out of the water on retrieves. I didn't like the way they cast or how they fell on the water.

Bottom line for me was that the price for a couple of minutes of convenience there were more negatives than positives. I have carried the same smooth ended bobbin in my vest for over 30 years and can nail knot a leader on in just a couple of minutes. Not a big deal and I probably need the break anyway.

So I started over and got rid of all the loops, nail knotted leaders to the lines, smoothed them over with Pliobond and never had another problem with leader to fly line connections. So yeah, I am one of those anachronisms that cuts the loop off of the new fly line and the new leader and puts them together with a proper connection. Sometimes the efficiency of the old ways trumps the convenience of today's hurry-up society.

Ive
 
#11 ·
I've tried both loop to loop and knots. To me, it seems the loop to loop system casts a little strange (hinge effect) but what bothers me most is the double loops passing through the rod tip-top line guide. A knot, such as the nail-less knot that I use, passes through the tip-top much easier than two loops.

Of course for an interchangeable head system you must use loops but attaching a knot-less tapered leader to my fly line, I prefer using a nail-less knot. I coat the knot with Knot-Sense and it passes through the line guides like butter.
 
#12 ·
I use a tool (Tie-On?) for nail knots, and it's fast. I use the nail knot for both ends of the fly line. I like to use Amnesia whenever I can for the perfection loop. It's thin for its strength and passes through the guides well. The problem comes with the leader butts as they are pretty thick with a perfection loop. Using a polyleader helps as the connection point is thinner.I have no choice as I do use tips and polyleaders and tend to change them out given what is working at the time. I also find the need to lengthen or shorten leaders depending on the size of fly, and sometime you get up in the taper too far with a short leader so that needs to be changed out. I do agree loops are used for convenience over utility.

That's one reason I love striper fishing. So simple. Two rod setups, one floater and one sinker, and maybe four flies 90% of the time. No screwing with tips, leader sizes and lengths, etc.
 
#15 ·
You shouldn't of brought this up. I suck big time at trying to do a nail knot. I even have trouble with the tool to tie a nail knot. Before the fly lines had loops I usually had the fly shop tie me on a butt section. Loops came out and I was in seventh heaven. No more knots to tie and fuddle with my mind.

All other knots are all right to tie. Tippet to leader is no problem, Tippet to fly no problem. These two knots are easy. I just shake so it does take me awhile to tie them up.
 
#18 ·
That's what I do if the general leader construction is appropriate. I use blood knots for the tippet. Double surgeons seem to break easily in my hands.

With a poly leader you only need to replace a couple of feet of tippet once in awhile. I haven't used them long enough to know how long they last, but probably a couple of years easily. They don't always cast well but I sure like the ease of use and flexibility in quick changes.
 
#19 ·
That's what I do if the general leader construction is appropriate. I use blood knots for the tippet. Double surgeons seem to break easily in my hands.

With a poly leader you only need to replace a couple of feet of tippet once in awhile. I haven't used them long enough to know how long they last, but probably a couple of years easily. They don't always cast well but I sure like the ease of use and flexibility in quick changes.
Do you use tippet rings? The time I tried a polyleader I kept having to strip coating to expose more mono. That thing got really short! I have leader OCD, however.
 
G
#22 ·
I keep going back to my old school ways. I tried the loops but didn't like them for the reasons people cite -- they collect detritus, hang on the tip top eye, and the hinge impedes the energy transfer of the cast. The loops make the process easier especially for those folks who have problems with knots, but I'm not convinced that in this case "New and Improved" is anything but "New" and it's obviously not even that any more.

I nail knot (I used to use a paper clip but graduated to that great little nail knot tool) an 18" piece of 40lb Maxima to the fly line, coat it with any of the many products out there (years ago I used Aqua Seal), and then tie my leaders (I build my own using blood knots) to the butt section Maxima. I don't change leaders very often. Like others I just rebuild them. I have different leaders on different reels for the various line weights.

Trapper
 
#24 ·
nail knot (using tie-fast takes about 30 seconds) i use a leader w/ a similar flex in the butt as the fly line (i like the 12' trouthunter finesse for 3-6wt) no redundant crap on the leader. will often last a whole year just replacing tippet, and eventually adding a length of 3 or 4X when i've cut back a bit. that leaves 2 blood knots on the leader at the end of the year. rio is coming out with a one piece line/leader this year, 90 bucks and you'll never change a leader again. just un-spool the line, and throw it out. tie a new backing knot, reel it up and be done. for 2015, ross reels will have a 1 piece reel/backing/line/leader combo. your choice of an elk hair caddis, or parachute adams pre-tied on the end. 500 bucks. only comes in gold anodized. sadly, you'll still have to atttach reel to rod at least once.
 
#25 ·
For steelhead and salmon fishing I use loop to to loop. I add a small heavy mono section at the end of the fly line (to keep the leader from digging into the factory loop) and then loop on the leader. I do not use tapered leaders for steel or salmon, so its straight mono or fluoro (10#-15# for the most part).

Trout on small stream, I nail not home built leaders. Mono fro dry work, fluorocarbon for wet work.
 
#26 ·
After I read this again, it got me thinking(I know I shouldn't do this) on what I used when I first started out in this sport. It was a little plastic thingy that was about 3/4 of a inch long. You inserted your fly line in one end and tied a knot in it and then you inserted in the other end you heavy leader and tied a knot in it. You then pulled on both lines to set the lines in the thingy. It was called a leader to line connection. I believe it was put out by Wright and McGill. It was something I used about 45 years ago. You can still find some now and then. They seemed to work for me.

I just remembered where I saw some. On my next trip I make to the big city(Butte) I'm going to get some to use on my 3wt's. See what thinking does for me.
 
#29 ·
I've used both the loop-to-loop and the nail knot method, and the inbetween (where the line doesn't have a factory loop) option of a short (~2-3") length of heavy mono nail knotted on, with a perfection loop tied into it...and for my fishing, the factory welded loop (on a quality line where it holds up) can't be beat. The little knotsense bulge, for me, hangs up in guides just as often as a new loop-to-loop connection, and after the loop on the fly line has a chance to set (a month or so of fishing), that connection actually goes through the guides better.

That being said, I tend to fish in a way that sees me changing leaders quite often, from a greased furled mono leader for dries, emergers, and high-water-column presentations, to an Ex. Super Fast sinking poly leader for streamers (and occasionally an extruded knotless fluoro leader if I'm forced to dredge a nymph). I may change my leader (everything from the fly line down) a dozen times in a given day if I'm seeing occasional risers, but taking more fish on streamers, and for this, the loop-to-loop can't be beat.
 
#30 ·
I use loop to loop. Pretty much the only time the loop ever passes through the rod tip is when I'm first stripping out the line and when I'm breaking the rod down at the end of the day. If i've got a a fish on, by the time I'm getting near the loop to loop connection I just grab the leader anyhow.

I guess you stillwater jokers might have crazy long leaders so it may come in to play on a regular basis.
 
#33 ·
Make it easy: loop to loop.

I even tie a perfection loop onto the end of my poly leaders for streamers and then run a perfection loop fly line to the streamer.

My casting is so bad, the least of my problems is a bad hinge or unsightly loop to loop connection.

I've never had a loop to loop break (knock on wood), but I've had non slip mono loops and improved clinch knots break.
 
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