Hook Missing

[Serve]

Hook got snagged on rock. Liter broke. Used a clinch knot. Not sure of the strength of the liter. It came with the Orvis set I recently purchased. Should I use a stronger liter? I was nymphing.

Thanks.

 

[NewSal]

Serve wrote:
Hook got snagged on rock. Liter broke. Used a clinch knot. Not sure of the strength of the liter. It came with the Orvis set I recently purchased. Should I use a stronger liter? I was nymphing.

Thanks.

What the heck is a liter man? You mean tippet ring or something?

 

[troutbert]

"Leader," not liter.

I recommend going to a fly shop and ask them to help you get your leader stuff figured out.

Here is a good system for beginners:

Cut back the end of your leader, which is called the tippet, to a thickness of about 3x. (The fly shop guy will know what that means.)

Then tie on a tippet ring to that with a clinch or improved clinch knot.

Then buy some spools of tippet material. Get a spool of 5x (the most commonly used final tippet size) and a spool of 4x, which is heavier.

You can keep that base section of leader with the tippet ring on there for quite a while.

And just tie a piece of either 5x or 4x of tippet to the tippet ring using a clinch or improved clinch knot.

Then tie your nymph to that, and fish.

That should get you started. Eventually you should learn a knot for tying tippet material to other tippet material, such as the blood knot or surgeons knot.

 

[ryansheehan]

NewSal wrote:

Serve wrote:
Hook got snagged on rock. Liter broke. Used a clinch knot. Not sure of the strength of the liter. It came with the Orvis set I recently purchased. Should I use a stronger liter? I was nymphing.

Thanks.

What the heck is a liter man? You mean tippet ring or something?

Its the beginner section Sal, ease up a little bit. Have to admit I did chuckle at the spelling though.

 

[Dave_W]

Serve wrote:
Hook got snagged on rock. Liter broke. Used a clinch knot. Not sure of the strength of the liter. It came with the Orvis set I recently purchased. Should I use a stronger liter? I was nymphing.

Yes, you should probably use a somewhat stronger leader.

It takes time for a newbie fly fishermen to get a feel for how hard they can pull on a snagged fly without breaking off. Store bought leaders, such as the one you were using, typcially have a break strength at the fly of only about 3 or 4 pounds (this is called "3lb test" or "4 lb test" or roughly 5X or 6X) When you purchase a leader, check on the packet for this break strength. I prefer somewhat stronger leaders in the range of 6lb test for nymphing.

Troutbert gave you good advice on visiting a fly shop for help. There are some good fly shops near you. Flyfishers Paradise up the road above State College is a good place to start.

With this said, don't worry too much about breaking flies off when fishing. This is normal and is common when nymph fishing.

 

[jifigz]

Everyone offers good points above but I'll ad my 2 cents. First off, what was the "lb test" or "x" value of your leader, if you know? There are a lot of variables here that we don't know. How hard were you pulling, were you actually using a leader too light for the style, maybe the leader was dry rotted (I've had that happen with "brand new" leaders/tippet,) and finally, what was the integrity of your knot like?

There is a good possibility that it may have been your knot, especially given that you were using a clinch knot. If it was the regular old clinch knot, which is very easy to tie, you really have to use caution when tightening. It has a tendency to slip, especially in lighter tippet, so I recommend making more than the standard 5 turns around the standing line. The improved clinch is only slightly better in my opinion and, once again, if care isn't taken when tightening and seating the knot it can be rather weak as well. Always lubricate your knot before accurately seating it for best performance. Also, try to look into and learn a few other knots for a attaching flies. Duncan loop, trilene knot, Palomar knot, etc.

 

[JackM]

Once I learned the Uni-knot for fastening terminal tackle through an eye, I never looked back. Once I have threaded the eye, I can execute this one with my eyes closed. I suspect it was the knot or line abrasion.

Periodically, wet your thumb and forefinger and glide it along your leader from thick to thin. You will feel any significant line abrasions and can rebuild your leader from there on down.

Fly fishing leaders are built so that energy/motion transfers from the heavy fly line down to the fly, To accomplish this they are graduated on weight and diameter from heavy/thick to light and thin. The final section is called the tippet. Choose the tippet based upon the size of fly you are using and also the size of fish you are fishing for.

When a leader must be rebuilt, you just estimate the diameter of the remaining terminal end and add more line (tippet), usually just another segment of 24-36 inches of the prior tippet.

 

[jifigz]

Just to clarify, the Duncan Loop that I recommended and Jack's Uni-knot are the same knot. A fantastic knot for sure.

 

[JackM]

I knew the knot and had to look it up to get the name, so whatever it is called, I like it for it's simplicity-- I have never thought much about it's strength. Since it is a "slip-knot" you can leave the loop- open to allow wiggle, and you should always lubricate it before cinching.

 

[Serve]

Thanks for the feedback and most importantly, the spelling lesson!

 

[afishinado]

Here is a short article on choosing a leader for trout fishing:

https://www.vailvalleyanglers.com/blog/billperry/how-to-choose-leader-size-and-length-when-fly-fishing-trout


This is a chart to use as a guide for matching the tippet size for various size flies:

https://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/how-to-articles/tippet-chart/


Good luck.