Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Mike Barrio

Braided Leader Loops?
« on: 08/02/2010 at 20:46 »
Braided leader loops can be a real pain in the butt :z6

What is the best alternative method for connecting your leader to your fly line?

Best wishes
Mike

Barry Robertson

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #1 on: 08/02/2010 at 20:47 »
I make my own loops, keep them short and they are great i think  :z18

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #2 on: 08/02/2010 at 20:53 »
Do you still have problems with the hinge effect with the short ones Baz? As soon as there is a stiff section of tubing, superglue etc, it always seems to lead to split fly lines, no matter what the brand of line :z6

I see this all the time at the fishery and it makes braided leaders a top selling accessory.

Cheers
Mike

Barry Robertson

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #3 on: 08/02/2010 at 21:04 »
I hate custom braided leaders as most either fall apart or open up and have poor hinging with them!
My small ones are around an inch long and have a very small loop which i whip on with tying thread , so happy i learnt how to make them as i feel more confident when catching / landing fish!

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #4 on: 08/02/2010 at 21:10 »
Do you fancy doing a "step by step" sometime Baz?

This is a topic that I think a lot of folk will be interested in :wink

Best wishes
Mike

Barry Robertson

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #5 on: 08/02/2010 at 21:12 »
Hmmmm i will try once i get some braid, hopefully Mr Doyle will read this and bring some along tomorrow night for me  :z18

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #6 on: 08/02/2010 at 21:15 »
Great stuff :z16

Ben Dixon

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #7 on: 08/02/2010 at 22:38 »
Hi Mike,

Strip about 1cm of coating to expose the core.  Whip the core back to the coating to leave a loop of coated flyline, make three whippings with tying thread.  coat with Aquasure and leave to dry.  same a I do with shooint head loops, use it on all my lines now.  Bit of a hassle but best method I have found, think I posted a pic in a thread on shooting heads a while back.

Cheers

Ben

Iain Goolager

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #8 on: 08/02/2010 at 23:16 »

Mike,
I know leader attachment methods have been discussed before but I still like the braided sleeve for any line system where polyleaders are seldom if ever used.
Roman Moser braided loops are the only ones I'd use where a neat, short & slim finish is required. The RM silicon sleeve is the sleekest I've seen but that said I've reverted back to whipping the braid on as it makes an even nicer finish. I think that the merest (and I mean just a 'thought') of Zap-A-GAP or similar applied to the whip finish of the thread and then a slim coat of aquasure make for a finish that is nice.
Some of the vulgar braided sleeves are ok for connecting the backing to fly line but again I whip these onto the line. The thick silicone tube supplied with these is good for chewing while this process is performed.
I have in the past (and quite recently) attached backing to fly line using a nail style knot on 2 & 3 wt lines with the thinking being that the chances of this knot being outside of the tip ring very doubtful - wrong! A nice following wind coupled with a decent cast and an instant hook up and a lively fish had the backing well out of the tip on the 3 wt, with the subsequent swearing at myself for never learning from mistakes as the knot fouled most rings on the way in. twat!  My point is that a slim  braided loop is good here too, ok you still have to tie a grinner or blood knot for example but the transition through the rings is more than acceptable IMHO.

One last thing, I used to make my own loops but it's hard to beat the double skinned RM loops which have a very short and flexible 'ferrule bit' at the base of the loop - make them yourself 'traditionally'  and you typically superglue the point where the loop re-enters the braid (or very near there) and this is where the stiffness occurs - I would suggest that the braid is double skinned to negate the need for superglue.

Just my thoughts
 Two intermediate lines with double whip (just fancied a bit of patter) awaiting aquasure treatment
Iain

Iain

Iain Goolager

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #9 on: 08/02/2010 at 23:23 »
Quote
Whip the core back to the coating to leave a loop of coated flyline, make three whippings with tying thread.  coat with Aquasure and leave to dry.

Yes, nice and useful for my Salmon stuff.  :z16

Iain

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #10 on: 08/02/2010 at 23:31 »
Hi Iain :z16

Quick question, does your second whip, the one nearer the loop, not do away with the gripping function of the sleeve when it is pulled on?

Best wishes
Mike

Iain Goolager

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #11 on: 08/02/2010 at 23:49 »
Yes Mike,
absolutely no need for it but I was in the mood for fanciful playing. I could have also used Black or a darker thread but liked the look of Red?

 :z3
Iain

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #12 on: 08/02/2010 at 23:57 »
Tis good to play ..... it keeps one sane :z4

The reason for my umpteenth topic on this, is that I've always thought that there has to be a better and more simple method of joining a fly line to a leader ...... there is bound to be one, I've just never found it :z7

Cheers
Mike

Iain Goolager

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #13 on: 09/02/2010 at 00:06 »
One day we'll see the back of the braided loops for sure, can't see it being soon though.  :z8

Iain

Ben Dixon

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #14 on: 09/02/2010 at 00:18 »
Tis good to play ..... it keeps one sane :z4

The reason for my umpteenth topic on this, is that I've always thought that there has to be a better and more simple method of joining a fly line to a leader ...... there is bound to be one, I've just never found it :z7

Cheers
Mike

On #4 lines & lighter I tend not to use the method I post above, I nail knot about 8" of floating (hollow) mono of 0.021" / .530mm to the line and put a perfection loop in it and then loop to loop connect a tapered leader to it.  The line does eventually crack behind the nail knot but it is much further towards the tip of the line therefore it looses less of the line everytime i is re-done.  I hate braided loops or braided connections of any kind on the front of the line.  For your purposes Mike, an aquasured loop willl outlast most other methods.

Cheers

Ben

Mike Barrio

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #15 on: 09/02/2010 at 00:30 »
The most pleasing set up that I have used myself, is nail knotting the last foot to 2 ft of a furled leader on to the end of my fly line, a furled leader with a seamless ring on the end to enable a loop to loop connection.

I like this method .......... but many anglers find it a tad tricky to do the nail knot :z6

Cheers
Mike

Dutchfly

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #16 on: 09/02/2010 at 19:57 »
I take a braided leader from Orvis and snip off the back loop. Then I stick the point of the flyline into the leader and whipfinish. Sort of a very, very long braided loop...

CU

Jeroen

gunner100

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #17 on: 09/02/2010 at 20:35 »
Like others I also make my own braided loops. The only innovation I can claim is to use TWO silicone tubes. The braided loop is about 6" long, 3" 0f which is slid up the fly line and the other 3" contains the loop. One of the tubes is at the top of the braid on the fly line and the other covers the fly line/braided loop join. This is the part which gets a blob of superglue. I never get a cracked flyline unless the line is several years old. The extra silicone tube seems to take up the flex and  strain on the upper fly line/braided line so avoiding the cracking.

Lyall

Irvine Ross

Re: Braided Leader Loops?
« Reply #18 on: 09/02/2010 at 20:41 »
I'm not fond of furled leaders. They tend to get in a mess when you catch them on brambles and thistles.

I just needle knot a tapered leader directly onto the end of the fly line. Then I cut it back to where the diameter is about the same as 6lb breaking strain  material and tie in a leader ring. The butt section lasts for many outings and all you need to do is replace the section of the leader below the leader ring as required. The needle knot slides through the rings nae bother.

It's easy to do and you lose very little of the fly line when you have to needle knot in a new tapered leader.

Irvine

 




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