Clipping Off the Tip of Your Fly Line

[jeffroey]

I found myself clipping a an inch or two off of my DT4 today so I can re-do my line loop. On my lines that don't come with factory loops, I usually double the line over and finish it with a 20 lb mono nail knot.

Got me thinking and I figured I'd ask the dumbest forum question you'll read today. Here it goes . . .

How much line can you trim off the front of a fly line before you have to worry about it affecting the performance of the taper, regardless of what the line happens to be?

Regardless if it's a DT, WF, or something else, is there a rule of thumb for this kind of thing or am I relying on the specifics of the taper to guide me? In this case it's an Airflo DT with a 1' tip before a 5' front taper. Can I eat up all of that 1' tip?

 

[tomgamber]

Being the cheapskate that I am I'd say, yes, unless its no longer staying afloat. Then you can turn the line around and start with a brand new other end.

 

[afishinado]

jeffroey wrote:
I found myself clipping a an inch or two off of my DT4 today so I can re-do my line loop. On my lines that don't come with factory loops, I usually double the line over and finish it with a 20 lb mono nail knot.

Got me thinking and I figured I'd ask the dumbest forum question you'll read today. Here it goes . . .

How much line can you trim off the front of a fly line before you have to worry about it affecting the performance of the taper, regardless of what the line happens to be?

Regardless if it's a DT, WF, or something else, is there a rule of thumb for this kind of thing or am I relying on the specifics of the taper to guide me? In this case it's an Airflo DT with a 1' tip before a 5' front taper. Can I eat up all of that 1' tip?

With most fly lines you have about 1' of thin untapered line to make your loop before you fly line begins to increase in diameter (click on diagram below). You can make your loop with the thicker diameter line but it may tend to land hard on the water's surface. You have to judge that for yourself.

I attached my furled leaders to my line using a nail knot (you can also retie a loop) and end up cutting off and retying a few times as the connection wears out. By the time I retie a few times, the line is usually worn out and has to be replaced anyway. With Double Taper line you can simply flip the line around and use the other end to fish.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bamboozle]

jeffroey wrote:
I found myself clipping a an inch or two off of my DT4 today so I can re-do my line loop. On my lines that don't come with factory loops, I usually double the line over and finish it with a 20 lb mono nail knot.

Got me thinking and I figured I'd ask the dumbest forum question you'll read today. Here it goes . . .

How much line can you trim off the front of a fly line before you have to worry about it affecting the performance of the taper, regardless of what the line happens to be?

Regardless if it's a DT, WF, or something else, is there a rule of thumb for this kind of thing or am I relying on the specifics of the taper to guide me? In this case it's an Airflo DT with a 1' tip before a 5' front taper. Can I eat up all of that 1' tip?

IF you like the loops and IF you don't want to lose the level tip section, try a braided loops BUT buy the Rio versions, keeping these tips in mind:

IF you cut the very end of your fly line off on an angle, it goes in easier.

Work the fly line all the way to where the loop is actually formed in the braid and actually up into the loop if you can.

Put a tiny amount of UV Knot Sense at that loop junction to keep the loop from ever pulling apart.

If you don't like the slip-on rubber sleeve Rio uses in lieu of heat shrink like the Cortland loops use, try heat shrink instead OR wrap thread over the back end of the braided portion and coat with UV Knot Sense OR just use Knot Sense and skip the thread.

If you want to use heat shrink, invest in a cheapo hair straightening flat iron like this from your favorite retailer. They work fantastic for shrinking heat shrink tubing and are way less risky on your fly line versus a lighter.

I have been using loops installed this way for years and have zero issues and non existent hinging because I push the fly line so far up the sleeve.

Good luck whatever you do!

 

[RLeep2]

Good, easy to understand chart from Afish..

I've been using a simple (so-called) speed or nailless nail knot for attach fly tines to butt sections for the last 40 years and have never had one fail. It's basically a Uni-Knot of the butt material directly to the fly line. I knot in a 10-14" section of butt material and then put a perfection or even double overhand loop in the other end to do a loop to loop with my actual leader. All you need is 3 or so turns in the Uni and then squinch the turns together as tight as you can and cinch the knot tight enough that it bites into the fly line coating. Coat the knot with just enough UV stuff or even something like Fabric Fusion (I used to use Pliobond, but it is getting scarce these days..) to take the rough edge or hump out of the connection and away you go.

A lot of words, but its actually pretty easy. The whole thing takes all of 3 minutes once you get the hang of it. Looks something (but not exactly..) like this: https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=SARtXvjLJYjGsAWn7I6ICw&q=speed+nail+knot%2C+uni+knot&oq=speed+nail+knot%2C+uni+knot&gs_l=psy-ab.12..33i299.2457.10815..13324...0.0..0.135.2062.24j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j0i10j0i22i30j33i22i29i30.gdEp8aoYgeo&ved=0ahUKEwj4j_S0r5roAhUII6wKHSe2A7EQ4dUDCAs#kpvalbx=_VgRtXpX5KIS8sAWmurzACA33

FWIW.. Never had one fail.

 

[kbobb]

I put about a 10" piece of 0.020 or 0.022 mono on each end of a new fly line and put a perfection loop in that mono. Then i can attach whatever i want (backing, change leader, swap ends, etc) without further cutting the fly line -it is all done via the perfection loop.

 

[shakey]

i generally use level line.
you can flip it like one would do with double taper.
you could also cut a few inches at a time,up to,say , 60 feet ,without changing much about how one fishes most PA steams.