Do's and Don'ts of Leader Connection to fly Line

[albud1962]

I was at Falling Spring yesterday when I noticed the first 4 or 5 inches of fly line were frayed. I ended up cutting the line and secured a hastily tied nail knot with the butt end of the leader. It is a 4wt weight forward line. Have I compromised the performance of the fly line? It seems when I cast knotted leaders I have a problem with the leader wrapping around the main fly line. Inevitably as I am trying to untangle the leader, I ended up slicing the fly line. I guess I will need to stick to tapered leaders and discard them when I start connecting multiple sections of tippet together.

 

[RonB]

You can also tie a loop in the leader and a loop on tippet material and then attach the 2 loops together or blood knot tippet material to the tapered leader when needed

 

[krayfish]

Bud,

You can ruin a line by cutting too much off the front. I've done it. Cast it and if it seems ok, keep using it. If you did cut too much off, you'd know it. When I cut my line back, it would cast like crap. The line tip would drive down and smash the water. It was virtually impossible to make a good presentation.

For connection, I've used the braided loops for years. They're durable. I cut the braided section back an inch or so, work it over the line and secure with 4-5 evenly spaced nail knots of fluoro. Hit the knots with a drop of zap a gap. Make sure you connect by threading the braided loop through the loop on the butt of the leader. You then take the tippet end of the leader through the braided loop.

 

[RCFetter]

You can cut the tip section of your fly line so long as you don't get too close to the taper. 4" to 5" is a lot. Some say you can cut right up to the taper and others say you need a few inches of tip or level line to cast properly.

 

[sandfly]

sounds like you are not casting right if the knots are catching. its not the leader but your casting. tie a piece of mono to line end then a perfection knot. do a loop to loop to the leader.

 

[fly_doggie]

I've used both the braided loops and the mono loop to loop and either way works fine. If your flyline is fraying you may want to check out the first 30 feet or so. If it's worn and cracked then a new line is in order. Unfortunately they don't last forever.

 

[Stenonema]

I agree with Sandfly. It's hard to tell from the description but usually the leader hitting into the fly line is the result of a tailing loop.